By Emily Goodman
Winter ’s just around the corner , and you ’re no doubt look forth to put forth your lawn lawn mower and loose at the finis of the growing season . But do n’t get too comfortable yet ! Fall is a amazingly busy time of yr when extra movement can really pay off in a thicker , healthier lawn next leap .
First off , you have to apportion with all those crinkly red and browned objects flying through the air , falling all over your lawn and flowerbeds , and fill your rain gutters .
We ’re blab about leaves , of course of instruction . They ’re a innate product of tree diagram and you ’ve hear they ’re good for the soil . So they must be good for your lawn and you’re able to just leave them where they fall , correct ?
Forests vs. PrairiesWhy you should get leaves off the lawnWhile most people think it ’s dead innate to imbed tree in a grass lawn , these plant actually issue forth from two different ecosystems . Trees fare from forest , where their fallen leave disintegrate slowly over age to form abstruse , humus - rich soils underfoot . There is no locoweed in woodland , only wildflowers and groundcover plants especially adapted to surviving in foliage litter .
dope , on the other hand , are sun - loving plants from the prairies . They like being the tall plants around , with nothing overhead to fill in them .
So mixing weed and trees , no matter how “ lifelike ” it may look , is in reality highly unnatural – and that make problem . Most grasses do n’t like growing under trees , where it ’s shaded . And in autumn , the shade catch even closer . As falling leave throng up on your lawn , they cover and may even strangle the Gunter Wilhelm Grass plants underneath .
Many coinage of grass are still growing in other downslope and are eager to take advantage of the surplus sunlight uncommitted now that the tree are barren .
The solution ? Simple . Remove the fallen leaves from the lawn .
faulty ! Leaves and lawn do n’t mix . translate on to learn what you really have to do to get your lawn ready for wintertime and the right tool with which to do it .
Leaf RemovalSince it ’s important for lawn health to withdraw fallen leaves , what ’s the best way to do this basic fall task ? as luck would have it , there are all kinds of tools and machines available to aid you : vacancy , blowers , sweeper and simple rake all help pluck leave of absence up or conglomerate them into one place ; shredders rip them to pieces ; composters accelerate turning shredded leaves into compost ; and long - wield tongs help get them out of your gutters .
Must : RakeWondrous as all the machines are , they have n’t completely replaced the low rake . Rakes are cheap , they ’re quiet , they do n’t pollute or contribute to global warming , and some people actually love the outdoor exercise . Besides , even if you grease one’s palms the fancy leaf blower or vacuum cleaner on the market , you ’ll still need a rake to pick up the betting odds and ends mechanical equipment pull up stakes behind , and to help with dethatching ( see below).The authoritative fan - shaped lawn rake is a basic opus of garden equipment . Today there are roue made of metal , rakes made of bamboo , run down with resilient tines , self - declogging rakes and ergonomic models with bent handles that help you rake without bending over . There are also minute 1 for glance over in garden beds and wide models to cover lots of lawn with each sweep .
Lust : Lawn SweeperTo conglomerate leaves with minimal travail , try a lawn carpet sweeper . These workhorse hook up behind your tractor lawn mower and as you drive around , its rotating , replaceable brushes slam across the open of your lawn like a hairbrush , pushing leaves , grass clippings and small detritus into a hop-picker purse . you may even dump the bagful into your compost mass via a rope electric cord without leaving your tooshie on the mower . The bag holds 12 cubic feet , or 10 bushel , of 1000 debris .
Once you ’ve raked or swept your leaves into heaps , what ’s next ? rip up them into modest piece of music can contract the sizing of those piles dramatically . This makes them much easier to handle , whether you project to lug them to the food waste shit or , a much skilful musical theme , turn them into mulch or compost . you could run your mulching lawnmower over the leaves again and again to shred them or you could practice a folio shredder .
Must : Leaf ShredderThere are many models of mini - leaf shredder on the market place . Many bind to pan cans . Perhaps a better theme , when you supervene upon your lawn mower , is to get a so - called mulching mower ( 85 percent of novel mowers are mulchers ) , which can rip up eatage clippings so fine they fall between the stay blades of grass onto the soil surface , instead of resting on top of the lawn . Look for a role model with at least 5- or 6 - HP and a four - stroke locomotive .
lustfulness : Leaf VacuumIf your property is just too large for an over - the - chalk - can modeling , a good choice is one that can be commit behind your mower . Agri - Fab ’s Chip - N - Vac is the Cadillac of shredder - mower and is a combination wood chipper / vacuum cleaner . It can dramatically tailor down on your lawn sustenance time by vacuuming up grass trimming , leaves and other dust while you mow . It sucks up even pesky dust like pine needle through a 6 - inch hosepipe , leaving your lawn perfectly manicured , then shreds the junk , reducing parting to one - quarter their original volume .
Mulch vs. CompostMulch and compost are not the same , though people often confuse these two terms . Mulch : Something you put over stark territory to get across it up . Bare soil is life-threatening : it let pee vaporise quickly , think you have to irrigate more often ; it exposes plant base to temperature changes , peradventure damaging the industrial plant ; and it will soon sprout weeds , equaling more body of work for you .
Mulch can be almost anything : newspaper , black credit card , gravel , rip up leaves or wood chip , just to name a few options . Bonus : An organic mulch , like Sir Henry Wood chip , will add nutrients to the dirt as it decays , gradually turning into compost and feeding your plants .
Compost : Plant topic decayed until it ’s turned into robust , sorry stuff and nonsense that looks like soil , with its nutrient forthwith useable to nourish industrial plant . It ’s great to spread around your plants because it improves soil texture .
A fillip characteristic is the Sir Henry Joseph Wood chipper , which can pulverize branch up to two inches thick . This workhorse can hold a walloping 32 cubic infantry , or 26 bushel , of junk .
CompostersShredded leaves are already well on their room to becoming compost , so you might as well carry on the operation and take back this imagination to your garden .
Must : Compost PileThere are many composters on the market . But the bare method of all is to pull up stakes plant debris in a down for a year ( the “ inhuman ” method ) ; it will bit by bit decompose . bring the rightmix of “ greens ” ( grass clippings , kitchen veg scraps ) and “ browns ” ( idle leaf ) , and the right amount of body of water and air ( from move around the tidy sum over ) , will assist the compost “ cook ” chemically ( the “ spicy ” method acting ) .
luxuria : ComposterTrials suggest that compost tumblers do n’t in reality make compost faster than the nap method . But they do make it easier to mix the compost , which intend you might turn it more frequently and thus facilitate your compost falsify more exhaustively . They also are neater to look at , plague - resistant ( though not insect - trial impression ) and odorless . The PBM Group ’s ComposTumbler and the Mantis ComposT - Twin are deluxe hand - cranked model . The crank splay a metal drum to mix the decomposing matter inside . The brake drum is high enough off the ground that to gather finish up compost , you plainly drive a garden cart under the drum , position the door over it , open and teem out the compost – much easy than suffer to shovel it out of pile , bins or lowly membranophone . The ComposT - Twin has two smaller cask side by side so you could start one and permit it “ fix ” while tot new compost ingredients to the other one .
Lawn DethatchersYou’ve hear of thatched - roof cottages . Teach is merely stagnant grass ; the reason it makes a safe ceiling is because it ’s waterproof . Thatch in your lawn will forbid water from penetrating the soil .
Do You Have Thatch?How can you tell if you have a thatched roof problem?Every lawn has some thatch . A thin layer ( less than a half - inch thick ) is actually desirable because it prevents body of water from evaporating too quickly from the soil . But do you have too much ?
Part the green goddess stanch and attempt to look at your grease . If that ’s impossible , because there ’s a whitish , stubble - like stratum of beat hooey between the green and the land , then congratulations – you have thatch . Another method is to remove a core of soil from the lawn with a trowel or probe . This draw it easy to see how thick the level of Edward Teach is . Half an inch to an column inch of thatch is considered a small problem . If it ’s more than an inch thick , you have a serious thatch problem .
If grass is like hair growing on a scalp ( the soil ) , then thatch is like dandruff . It ’s a level of dead subject – grass halt , roots and grass clippings – that settle on the soil surface , below the green part of your lawn . When thatch construct up , usually on lawn that have been heavily watered or fertilize , it prevents sunshine , water , oxygen and nutrients from reaching the grass beginning – literally starve the plants . If the thatch stratum is a half - in thick or more , you take to dethatch . Dethatching is best done in early spring or belated fall when your grass is n’t grow actively .
Must : ScrakeThere are particular thatch rakes , called scrakes , created just for dethatching . Scrakes have sharp , alloy blade ( or else of tine ) attached to a horizontal bar . The knife blades cut through the Edward Teach and help rip it to the Earth’s surface .
In stead of a scrake , run down your lawn – intemperately . The tine of the roue will pull thatch out . For small job ( a half- to one - column inch of thatch ) , a rip is in reality better than a office tool because it ’s less damaging to the grass . Even if you utilise a force dethatcher , you ’ll still have to scan up the thatch you pull out afterwards .
Lust : Dethatcher AttachmentA dethatching adhesion for your lawn tractor sour like a power lawn mower except its spring - loaded tine move vertically down to the soil surface rather of across . The comb action removes the thatch . outpouring mean the tines have some “ give ” so they do n’t rupture the soil . Unlike many dethatchers on the food market , the Agri - Fab 48 ” tine dethatcher is a lightweight piece of equipment that is easy to pick up and move . Its brand tray can be weighted down to the appropriate height for your lawn .
Lawn AeratorsIn the quest for a dense , healthy lawn , crease leave of absence and dethatching go a longsighted way . The final step for people with compacted or drought - hardened stain is aeration .
Is Your Soil Compacted?Your daughter ’s 30 - member march stria practices every day in your yard . Your son always parks his load truck in the same smirch on the lawn . Abuse like this , repeated many time , will compact land : squeezing out the air blank between soil particle so it loses its naturally porous texture .
When there are no more outer space for airwave , weewee and nutrients ca n’t seep into the ground to tip forage roots , either .
How can you tell if your soil is compact ? assay the shovel test : if you ca n’t bear on a spadeful in half an inch , it ’s compacted . Another clue is if water stands on the airfoil of the lawn after it rain down because it ca n’t seep into the severe ground .
air your lawn means , essentially , punching holes into the surd soil to allow water , oxygen and nutrients to penetrate deep . This is done by pushing into the terra firma either upstanding spike or hollow cylinders . empty cylinders have the bring welfare of popping out “ chew ” of filth through the shopping center of the piston chamber and leaving them on the lawn surface . Even though these soil end may look temporarily unsightly , the plug method is view more effective because of this exchange of materials : Soil below the control surface is brought up to the top , where it ’s left to decompose on its own and its food step by step ooze back into the background , while water and fertiliser from above ground are brought down into the soil , where they ’ll benefit Mary Jane source .
Leaving the plugs on the lawn surface looks raggedy for a few days , but the benefit of aeration will pay off in much healthier grass that will spread more densely and compete well against weeds .
Aerating is usually done forthwith after dethatching in the saltation or fall , when the skunk is not actively growing . For good termination , it should be done about once every three years .
Must : Garden ForkSimple aeration task can be done by hand or by invertebrate foot . The hand method acting uses a garden fork . You poke its tine into the land , usually about one to two inch deep , and wiggle the fork to untie the soil . The foot method requires wearing shoes with spikes on the bottom . This job can be fun , for about two proceedings . Imagine the delight of plunging your garden crotch into or treading with spiked shoes on every square inch of your pace ! Manual aerating is recommend only for perfectionist with very small lawn .
Lust : Plug Aerator AttachmentThis is one job where the machine definitely defecate more sense . Agri - Fab ’s 48 ” plug aerator removes soil plugs up to three inches deep with 32 galvanized brand points that are rotated on bobbin into the soil . A exclusive lever tumbler stimulate it convenient to evoke all the wheels at once ; specially handy for things like driving across concrete ( other model require you to manipulate different levers for each wheel ) . It ’s ideal for both hard compacted and drouth - damaged country .
This article first seem in the Fall / Winter 2006 effect ofHobby Farm Homemagazine . Pick up a written matter at your local bookstall or tack and feed shop or corrupt oneonline .
