The Lawn Coach™
The Men in Black Socks
By: Christopher J. Brown
Q. I have a dog that seems to feel the need to evacuate his bladder from time to time. This habit seems to be having a detrimental effect on my lawn. I’ve heard that tomato juice will help. Any suggestions?
A. Let me begin this answer by saying that there is actually a top secret branch of our federal government that is dedicated to keeping pets off of lawns. They are the “Men in Black Socks” (or MIBS). My next door neighbor Herman is our local agent. He wears the trademark mid-calf black socks along with seersucker plaid shorts and a skin tight white tank top with a rank-designating coffee stain. Just look down our street any day during the Summer and you’ll see “H” yelling at some child or animal to get off his lawn!
While just about every neighborhood has at least one agent by now, they don’t seem to be having much of an overall effect on the damage done by doggie wee wee. So let’s take a more scientific approach to this matter and help save the government all those wasted salaries.
Dog urine has a very high concentration of ammonia. Human urine probably does too, but whenever I’ve tried to test this theory, my neighbors got pretty upset. One of the main components of ammonia is nitrogen. This is also the primary nutrient in fertilizer. Now, I’m always trying to hammer home the point that there can be too much of a good thing. This is the perfect example.
The concentration of the ammonia right at the um, “point of impact” is simply too high, and the grass dies off from a NOD (Nitrogen Overdose). If you’ll look though, you’ll notice that the grass surrounding the dead stuff is actually lusher and thicker than the rest of the lawn. This is because the edges get a lower concentration of the nitrogen that is more akin to a localized fertilizing.
Before you feed your dog any sort of dietary addition to lower the ammonia concentration, please speak to your veterinarian. Unlike lawns, the NFL, and the entire Police Academy movie series, this is not an issue I can intelligently speak on. Suffice it to say, I have heard many conflicting reports as to the effectiveness of this approach. My belief is that these remedies may lower the ammonia concentration by a certain amount. If your dog naturally produces just a bit too much ammonia, the slight reduction may just do the trick. If your dog naturally produces way too much, then I doubt any dietary changes will help.
I can tell you that watering the areas that the dog prefers will help by dissipating the ammonia before it has a chance to kill the grass. This will take some diligence, and it’s not foolproof, but it should help depending on how well you keep up with it. Just make sure the area in question is being watered daily. If you have any unplanted areas of the yard, you may also wish to train Fluffy to take care of business in those spots. With a combination of watering and training, you should be able to minimize the damage.
By the way, I overheard Herman speaking with another agent through his chewed cigar-butt communicator this morning. Apparently once you join the MIBS, your friends and relatives actually will continue to recognize and remember you. They’ll just pretend not to.
Got any questions? E-mail me at TheLawnCoach@aol.com. Maybe your question will be answered next time!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Column: Crabgrass as party animal!
The Lawn Coach™
Crabgrass as Party Animal.
By Christopher J. Brown
I am often asked about whether or not crabgrass is truly a significant problem in home lawns. If it is, what is the best way to deal with it? I have not been asked this question recently, because as I write this there is about 6 inches of crusty, icy snow on the ground. Once the snow melts, my phone will start ringing and likely will not stop until the temperatures are sufficient to fry bacon on a sidewalk.
The truth is that crabgrass is not simply an otherwise harmless type of grass with a bad name. It’s a very invasive species of southern grass that absolutely loves heat.
Imagine that every Summer, our beautiful northeastern temperate climate was overrun by a bunch of hedonistic, beer swilling college kids who had simply never stopped partying from Spring Break. Since our Summer temperatures are similar to those of South Beach in Spring, the kids simply worked their way up the east coast in order to keep the party going indefinitely. In the meantime, the fed-up locals abandon their houses and move to Ohio to get away from the ruckus.
Once the temperatures cool in the Fall and the bikini contests taper off, the unruly band of partiers begins to gradually work their way south again and leaves behind their empty beer cans and scratched Jimmy Buffet CD’s. All that’s left is a bunch of trash and empty homes with only a scattering of die hard residents to clean up the mess.
Crabgrass is basically the agronomic version of these youths, except there really isn’t any fun involved. During very hot months, crabgrass thrives impressively and your existing lawn suffers terribly. Instead of moving to Ohio though, your lawn dies off since it is completely unable to compete. When the cool weather arrives, the crabgrass dies off and leaves you with a bunch of dead, empty patches where decent grass used to be.
In order to stop the youths from a repeat performance, let’s pretend that local officials create ordinances making it illegal to drink beer that costs less than $2.00 for a six pack. The trick is to create an environment in which these people do not want to live.
The same approach can be used effectively for crabgrass. There are a variety of products that can prevent new crabgrass from growing. Generally, these products do so by blocking the key hormone that triggers seed germination. If the application is done correctly and timely, you should get some very good control. These products must be applied before crabgrass starts germinating. Crabgrass germinates when the soil temperature reaches about 60 degrees, which is usually after the air temperature is closer to 70 degrees consistently.
There are many different chemical products that can offer control over crabgrass in this way. There are also several brands of corn gluten that claim to offer similar benefits chemical free. To be fair, the corn gluten does not provide results that are even remotely close to the results achieved with the chemical products. That said, if you are looking to avoid chemicals, corn gluten is probably your best choice. You just need to accept that avoidance of chemicals will result in less consistent and dependable results. As long as you are aware of this, I feel strongly that you should move forward in the way that you feel best.
As with many things in life, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Prevent the crabgrass before it becomes a problem, and you won’t have to deal with the headaches it can cause once it has shown up to party.
Crabgrass as Party Animal.
By Christopher J. Brown
I am often asked about whether or not crabgrass is truly a significant problem in home lawns. If it is, what is the best way to deal with it? I have not been asked this question recently, because as I write this there is about 6 inches of crusty, icy snow on the ground. Once the snow melts, my phone will start ringing and likely will not stop until the temperatures are sufficient to fry bacon on a sidewalk.
The truth is that crabgrass is not simply an otherwise harmless type of grass with a bad name. It’s a very invasive species of southern grass that absolutely loves heat.
Imagine that every Summer, our beautiful northeastern temperate climate was overrun by a bunch of hedonistic, beer swilling college kids who had simply never stopped partying from Spring Break. Since our Summer temperatures are similar to those of South Beach in Spring, the kids simply worked their way up the east coast in order to keep the party going indefinitely. In the meantime, the fed-up locals abandon their houses and move to Ohio to get away from the ruckus.
Once the temperatures cool in the Fall and the bikini contests taper off, the unruly band of partiers begins to gradually work their way south again and leaves behind their empty beer cans and scratched Jimmy Buffet CD’s. All that’s left is a bunch of trash and empty homes with only a scattering of die hard residents to clean up the mess.
Crabgrass is basically the agronomic version of these youths, except there really isn’t any fun involved. During very hot months, crabgrass thrives impressively and your existing lawn suffers terribly. Instead of moving to Ohio though, your lawn dies off since it is completely unable to compete. When the cool weather arrives, the crabgrass dies off and leaves you with a bunch of dead, empty patches where decent grass used to be.
In order to stop the youths from a repeat performance, let’s pretend that local officials create ordinances making it illegal to drink beer that costs less than $2.00 for a six pack. The trick is to create an environment in which these people do not want to live.
The same approach can be used effectively for crabgrass. There are a variety of products that can prevent new crabgrass from growing. Generally, these products do so by blocking the key hormone that triggers seed germination. If the application is done correctly and timely, you should get some very good control. These products must be applied before crabgrass starts germinating. Crabgrass germinates when the soil temperature reaches about 60 degrees, which is usually after the air temperature is closer to 70 degrees consistently.
There are many different chemical products that can offer control over crabgrass in this way. There are also several brands of corn gluten that claim to offer similar benefits chemical free. To be fair, the corn gluten does not provide results that are even remotely close to the results achieved with the chemical products. That said, if you are looking to avoid chemicals, corn gluten is probably your best choice. You just need to accept that avoidance of chemicals will result in less consistent and dependable results. As long as you are aware of this, I feel strongly that you should move forward in the way that you feel best.
As with many things in life, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Prevent the crabgrass before it becomes a problem, and you won’t have to deal with the headaches it can cause once it has shown up to party.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Column: TTTF is A-OK!
The Lawn Coach™
FYI, TLC with TTTF is AOK.
By Christopher J. Brown
Q: I read one of your previous columns, which had some recommendations for watering lawns. Well, I thought I would pass along my own experiences as a good lesson for those who are battling drought stress. I have been living in my house for several years, and our lawn was the worst on the street when we first moved in. I wanted a nice lawn, but I also wanted to take an environmentally friendly approach. I decided upon a good variety blend of Turf Type Tall Fescue (TTTF), and over-seeded my lawn with it two years in a row. Now, I have never had to water my lawn, and it is now the best on the block. Perhaps you could pass along my experiences with planting a heartier variety of grass instead of using chemicals and excessive water to maintain weaker, more popular varieties.
A: This is an excellent point, and I thank you for bringing it up. I believe that balancing beauty with responsible land stewardship is an important goal we should all strive for. In fact, I have a recurring nightmare in which Al Gore shows up at my house to show me an impromptu two hour long slide show on environmentally friendly lawn care practices. Before you jump to the wring conclusion though, I want to point out that the environmentally friendly part doesn’t scare me. It’s just that in order to keep me focused throughout the slide show, well… did you ever see “A Clockwork Orange?”
TTTF is a variety of grass that has been bred from Tall Fescue, which is a very hearty but coarse type of grass. The original types were also very patchy, and were often mistaken for crabgrass. Through extensive cross breeding efforts in a laboratory with lots of steaming beakers, scientists were able to create varieties that are less coarse, and grow far more evenly. These are the “Turf Type” varieties. These became very popular for “transition zone” lawns because they bridged the gap between warm season grasses and cool season grasses. In areas like Maryland, Virginia, Tennesee, Kansas, etc., lawn nuts like me are in a bit of a pickle. See, the warm season grasses that are so popular in Florida, Texas, and other southern states will turn straw brown during the cooler winter months. The cool season grasses that we use in Connecticut will simply not tolerate the intense Summer heat. Tall Fescue seems to be one of the few grasses that is well suited to this environment.
Since Summers can often get ugly even up north here, TTTF is a very viable option that can reduce your efforts, water bills, and headaches considerably. It will also withstand wear and tear from weekend soccer games much better than the other, more popular grasses like Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass. If I have learned anything from watching 3:00 am infomercials with a credit card nearby, it is that nothing is actually a miracle product. TTTF is coarser than varieties of grass that you may be used to. It is a bit harder to grow in from seed, and it absolutely will not help you lose 30 pounds in 30 days with only 3 minutes per week of effort.
If you are a) not all-consumed with the notion of having a golf course fairway for a yard, and b) tired of the constant struggle to keep your current lawn alive, then TTTF is a great option that you should strongly consider. To do it, rent a core-aerator and punch a ton of holes throughout your yard. This usually means that you’ll have to go over the lawn twice. Then take a normal fertilizer spreader and spread about 5 lbs of seed to every 1,000 square feet of lawn area. Finally, water daily until the grass grows in fully. I know I already said that TTTF doesn’t need as much water, but the seed does. Once you have a good lawn, you can stop watering. It may go a bit dormant from time to time, but it should withstand most summers far better than the rest.
Plan on over-seeding with TTTF for at least two years in a row. After only one season, the coverage may not be 100%, and the lawn could look a bit patchy. The second aeration and seeding should fill that in nicely. If you feel as though you’d like to give this procedure a try, you have my blessing and utmost support. In the meantime, if you see Al Gore walking around Connecticut with a slide projector, please tell him I’ve moved.
FYI, TLC with TTTF is AOK.
By Christopher J. Brown
Q: I read one of your previous columns, which had some recommendations for watering lawns. Well, I thought I would pass along my own experiences as a good lesson for those who are battling drought stress. I have been living in my house for several years, and our lawn was the worst on the street when we first moved in. I wanted a nice lawn, but I also wanted to take an environmentally friendly approach. I decided upon a good variety blend of Turf Type Tall Fescue (TTTF), and over-seeded my lawn with it two years in a row. Now, I have never had to water my lawn, and it is now the best on the block. Perhaps you could pass along my experiences with planting a heartier variety of grass instead of using chemicals and excessive water to maintain weaker, more popular varieties.
A: This is an excellent point, and I thank you for bringing it up. I believe that balancing beauty with responsible land stewardship is an important goal we should all strive for. In fact, I have a recurring nightmare in which Al Gore shows up at my house to show me an impromptu two hour long slide show on environmentally friendly lawn care practices. Before you jump to the wring conclusion though, I want to point out that the environmentally friendly part doesn’t scare me. It’s just that in order to keep me focused throughout the slide show, well… did you ever see “A Clockwork Orange?”
TTTF is a variety of grass that has been bred from Tall Fescue, which is a very hearty but coarse type of grass. The original types were also very patchy, and were often mistaken for crabgrass. Through extensive cross breeding efforts in a laboratory with lots of steaming beakers, scientists were able to create varieties that are less coarse, and grow far more evenly. These are the “Turf Type” varieties. These became very popular for “transition zone” lawns because they bridged the gap between warm season grasses and cool season grasses. In areas like Maryland, Virginia, Tennesee, Kansas, etc., lawn nuts like me are in a bit of a pickle. See, the warm season grasses that are so popular in Florida, Texas, and other southern states will turn straw brown during the cooler winter months. The cool season grasses that we use in Connecticut will simply not tolerate the intense Summer heat. Tall Fescue seems to be one of the few grasses that is well suited to this environment.
Since Summers can often get ugly even up north here, TTTF is a very viable option that can reduce your efforts, water bills, and headaches considerably. It will also withstand wear and tear from weekend soccer games much better than the other, more popular grasses like Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass. If I have learned anything from watching 3:00 am infomercials with a credit card nearby, it is that nothing is actually a miracle product. TTTF is coarser than varieties of grass that you may be used to. It is a bit harder to grow in from seed, and it absolutely will not help you lose 30 pounds in 30 days with only 3 minutes per week of effort.
If you are a) not all-consumed with the notion of having a golf course fairway for a yard, and b) tired of the constant struggle to keep your current lawn alive, then TTTF is a great option that you should strongly consider. To do it, rent a core-aerator and punch a ton of holes throughout your yard. This usually means that you’ll have to go over the lawn twice. Then take a normal fertilizer spreader and spread about 5 lbs of seed to every 1,000 square feet of lawn area. Finally, water daily until the grass grows in fully. I know I already said that TTTF doesn’t need as much water, but the seed does. Once you have a good lawn, you can stop watering. It may go a bit dormant from time to time, but it should withstand most summers far better than the rest.
Plan on over-seeding with TTTF for at least two years in a row. After only one season, the coverage may not be 100%, and the lawn could look a bit patchy. The second aeration and seeding should fill that in nicely. If you feel as though you’d like to give this procedure a try, you have my blessing and utmost support. In the meantime, if you see Al Gore walking around Connecticut with a slide projector, please tell him I’ve moved.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Column: Let Them Eat Processed Sewage!
The Lawn Coach™
Let Them Eat Processed Sewage!
By Christopher J. Brown
Q: A friend recommended that I use Milorganite to fertilize my lawn. What is this, and is it as good as regular fertilizer?
A: Milorganite is simply a type of fertilizer, but it has a few characteristics that set it apart. In fact, if you have any relatives in Milwaukee, you may well be utilizing their leftovers. When I use the term “leftovers”, I ain’t talking about the uneaten food.
The name “Milorganite” is actually a composite of MILwaukee ORGAnic NITrogen. In a nod to the peculiar rules of English spelling, an E was added on the end to make the word sound better.
This product was first made as a by-product of Milwaukee’s sewage treatment plant in 1926. Some scientists analyzed the nutrient content and found that it had the grade of 6-2-0 (more common, synthetic fertilizers are more like 20-5-10). You may recall from a previous column that this means it has 6% Nitrogen, 2% Phosphorus, and 0% Potassium. In truth, there is a little potassium, just not enough to make the label. Since the nutrient concentration is three to four times lower than typical fertilizers, you would need to apply three to four times as much for the same effect.
When you open a bag of Milorganite, you’ll immediately notice that it smells like a warm apple pie that has been carefully and lovingly dropped into fifteen thousand gallons of raw sewage. Actually in all fairness, they do a heck of a job in reducing the odor. Still, you’ll find it less preferable to the fertilizers you are probably used to. Keep in mind though that in 1926, this stuff was practically Chanel #5 compared to the actual sewage sludge that was previously used.
The only drawback to using all organic fertilizers like Milorganite is that they are temperature dependent. Organics require soil microorganisms to break them down before the nutrients become available. The microorganisms in question happen to be quite lazy when the soil temperatures are cool. If you were to fertilize your lawn with Milorganite in Early April, you may not see any significant results for up to a month and a half. This can get frustrating.
One of the added benefits to using an organic source like Milorganite is that you are literally feeding the microorganisms in the soil. Without getting too technical, that’s a good thing. In fact, the nutrients your lawn gets are actually by-products of the microorganisms feeding. If you think about it, your lawn is actually getting nutrition from a by-product of a processed by-product of last year’s Thanksgiving dinner. If that isn’t the perfect circle of life, I don’t know what is.
I do have one added suggestion though. Since the Potassium concentration is so low, you should consider picking up some inexpensive potassium fertilizer in the form of sulfate of potash. The grade on this will be 0-0-7. As I struggle with the urge to make a James Bond joke, I’ll point out that one application per year of the potassium will be completely sufficient. The other thing I’ll point out is that sulfate of potash is basically crushed up rocks. You can feel comfortable that this is also a natural product.
Though Milorganite shouldn’t be looked at as some sort of panacea, in certainly can be used as a positive addition to your overall lawn care strategy.
Visit me on the web at http://thelawncoach.blogspot.com/ or e-mail me at TheLawnCoach@aol.com. Let me help you be the envy of the neighborhood!
Let Them Eat Processed Sewage!
By Christopher J. Brown
Q: A friend recommended that I use Milorganite to fertilize my lawn. What is this, and is it as good as regular fertilizer?
A: Milorganite is simply a type of fertilizer, but it has a few characteristics that set it apart. In fact, if you have any relatives in Milwaukee, you may well be utilizing their leftovers. When I use the term “leftovers”, I ain’t talking about the uneaten food.
The name “Milorganite” is actually a composite of MILwaukee ORGAnic NITrogen. In a nod to the peculiar rules of English spelling, an E was added on the end to make the word sound better.
This product was first made as a by-product of Milwaukee’s sewage treatment plant in 1926. Some scientists analyzed the nutrient content and found that it had the grade of 6-2-0 (more common, synthetic fertilizers are more like 20-5-10). You may recall from a previous column that this means it has 6% Nitrogen, 2% Phosphorus, and 0% Potassium. In truth, there is a little potassium, just not enough to make the label. Since the nutrient concentration is three to four times lower than typical fertilizers, you would need to apply three to four times as much for the same effect.
When you open a bag of Milorganite, you’ll immediately notice that it smells like a warm apple pie that has been carefully and lovingly dropped into fifteen thousand gallons of raw sewage. Actually in all fairness, they do a heck of a job in reducing the odor. Still, you’ll find it less preferable to the fertilizers you are probably used to. Keep in mind though that in 1926, this stuff was practically Chanel #5 compared to the actual sewage sludge that was previously used.
The only drawback to using all organic fertilizers like Milorganite is that they are temperature dependent. Organics require soil microorganisms to break them down before the nutrients become available. The microorganisms in question happen to be quite lazy when the soil temperatures are cool. If you were to fertilize your lawn with Milorganite in Early April, you may not see any significant results for up to a month and a half. This can get frustrating.
One of the added benefits to using an organic source like Milorganite is that you are literally feeding the microorganisms in the soil. Without getting too technical, that’s a good thing. In fact, the nutrients your lawn gets are actually by-products of the microorganisms feeding. If you think about it, your lawn is actually getting nutrition from a by-product of a processed by-product of last year’s Thanksgiving dinner. If that isn’t the perfect circle of life, I don’t know what is.
I do have one added suggestion though. Since the Potassium concentration is so low, you should consider picking up some inexpensive potassium fertilizer in the form of sulfate of potash. The grade on this will be 0-0-7. As I struggle with the urge to make a James Bond joke, I’ll point out that one application per year of the potassium will be completely sufficient. The other thing I’ll point out is that sulfate of potash is basically crushed up rocks. You can feel comfortable that this is also a natural product.
Though Milorganite shouldn’t be looked at as some sort of panacea, in certainly can be used as a positive addition to your overall lawn care strategy.
Visit me on the web at http://thelawncoach.blogspot.com/ or e-mail me at TheLawnCoach@aol.com. Let me help you be the envy of the neighborhood!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
