In a lawn or garden environment, most of us have a hard time seeing any virtues in any plants that are trying to compete with our grass or peas and carrots. Oftentimes, however, those weeds can be very valuable in telling us something about the condition of the soil below. Changing your mind about weeds starts with learning to identify them.

Weeds are messengers sent by Mother Nature to teach us about the soil. We can kill the messenger — with a chemical, with a tool, a blowtorch or a tarp, or with boiling hot water or by simply bending over and pulling it out — but it doesn’t change the message. The weeds will always grow back unless we change the soil conditions. Here are a couple of examples:

If you have excess plantain, you almost certainly have heavily compacted clay soil.

If you have excess dandelions, your soil probably needs more calcium and less magnesium.

For a great rundown on this fascinating subject, look for a copy of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s book Weeds and What They Tell. It’s long out of print, but readily available online ($24 at amazon.com).

The post Listen to Nature’s Messengers (Weeds) first appeared on Second Nature.

The product is recognizable by the heavy, white paper 40-pound bags. With acid rain increasing in much of the nation, that might seem like a good thing to do. If you’re concerned about weeds, however, the dolomitic lime can be a problem.

In ideal lawn soil, the ratio of calcium to magnesium should be 7:1; in dolomitic limestone, the ratio of those two key nutrients is 3:2. The high level of magnesium compacts the soil and actually promotes weed growth.

A better source of calcium for lawns is a product known as high-calcium limestone. It’s also a good idea to have a soil test if you haven’t for a while prior to putting down any limestone or soil additives; most Cooperative Extension offices in the nation still offer basic soil tests, or you can contact the Soil Foodweb laboratory on Long Island in New York for a more comprehensive test. A good source for the limestone is Mag-I-Cal from jonathangreen.com. ($17.90-$30.50 at amazon.com)

The post Before You Spread Lime, Read This first appeared on Second Nature.

These diagnostic results — available from virtually all Cooperative Extension offices across the U.S. — will tell you exactly how much N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus) or K (potassium), lime, sulphur or other nutrients to add. Too much nitrogen and phosphorus can harm oceans, lakes, rivers and drinking water. Other excess nutrients can weaken and even kill grass and other plants.

The bottom line, in other words, is to avoid guessing. That can be bad, for the environment, for your landscape and for your pocketbook.

You can buy at-home DIY soil test kits for as little as $0.35 per test at amazon.com or gardeners.com. Or, try this electronic soil tester ($18.95 at burpee.com).

The post Test Your Soil First, Buy Nutrients Later first appeared on Second Nature.

Spring

Spring is the season when a lawn really needs some tender loving care as temperatures rise and the grass starts to grow, increasing its reliance on water and fertilizer.

Lay Sod and Sow Seed

Early spring is a good time for laying turf because the risk of frost is lower, making the soil more workable. Spring is also the ideal time for sowing seed as the soil warms up and rainy days speed germination.

Fertilize

A spring feed is essential to keep the lawn looking green. There are many pre-packaged feeds available; whichever one you choose make sure that the main ingredient is nitrogen, which encourages strong growth.

Water, If Necessary

Toward the end of spring it may be necessary to water occasionally if the last few months have been dry.

Mow Regularly

Cut the grass once a week, ensuring that the mower is raised to its highest setting (about 1 inch) for the first few cuts.

Scarify to Remove Thatch

Lightly scarify the lawn, using a spring-tined rake or a mechanical scarifier to remove dead grass, also known as thatch.

Aerate

Use a pitchfork or aerator to spike the lawn, this allows air to circulate to the grass roots and breaks up compacted soil.

Summer

Summer is the period when grass is at its most stressed, which means that some lawn care techniques, such as scarifying or aerating, should be avoided in periods of drought.

Feed

If necessary, lawns can receive another dose of fertilizer during the summer, but only if rainfall is predicted. In extremely dry or hot weather fertilizer will scorch and stress the lawn. As an alternative to granular fertilizer, liquid feeds, such as kelp tonics, can be applied.

Water

To keep the lawn looking green during a dry summer, it may be necessary to water it either with an irrigation system or manually with a garden hose or sprinkler. However, lawns can recover quickly from drought, so to conserve water, try to avoid watering except in extreme conditions.

Mow When Needed

Lawns will need mowing once or twice a week, although this should be stopped during extremely dry periods.

Eliminate Weeds

Remove pernicious weeds, such as dandelions, by digging them out of the ground, taking care to remove the whole root. Others, such as speedwell, clovers and daisies, usually need spraying to remove them; however, this should be avoided during periods of drought.

Fall

Autumn is the key season for lawn renovations. Fall care will help to ensure that the grass survives the low temperatures of winter. It will also help the lawn to recover from heavy usage during spring and summer.

Remove Leaves

Once you have raked up fallen leaves, shred them using a rotary mower then add them to the compost.

Compost Leaves

Leaves that fall onto the lawn must be raked up and removed to prevent the lawn from dying back due to lack of light. However, the fallen leaves can easily be converted into a rich, nutritious leaf mold that’s an excellent soil conditioner for shade-loving plants in beds and is also a great addition to potting soil mixes.

Fertilize

Whereas spring feeds are high in nitrogen to encourage the lawn to grow, the key ingredient in fall fertilizer mixes is potassium because this encourages strong growth and will toughen up the grass for winter.

Aerate

The lawn should be spiked down to about 3 to 4 inches with either a pitchfork or a mechanical aerator. Solid tining should be done every year, and about every three or four years hollow tining, shown above, can be performed instead.

Apply Top-Dressing

Spread a good quality top-dressing evenly over the lawn then brush it into the holes created by aerating; ensuring that it’s all brushed in, otherwise it will kill the grass. Commercial mixes can be bought, but you can make your own by mixing sand, good quality compost and loam.

Lay Sod and Sow Seed

This is a good time to lay turf or seed the lawn since the soil will be warm. This should also allow enough time for the lawn to establish itself before the onset of winter. Patches can be returfed, and hollows and bumps smoothed out. Small, bare patches are best covered by sowing grass seed.

Scarify to Remove Thatch

Use a spring-tined rake or a mechanical scarifier to rip the thatch out of the lawn. Scarify in two directions, the second time deeper than the first; this scarification should be more vigorous than the spring scarification. Rake up all the removed thatch and add it to the compost heap.

Winter

There is little to do with the lawn during winter while grass is dormant. If possible, avoid walking on it during frosty periods since this can leave black marks where the grass will eventually die back.

Clear Any Remaining Leaves

In mild conditions any remaining fallen leaves should be removed because they block out the light, killing the lawn. Leaves can be sucked up with a mower or raked up and added to the compost heap.

The post 22 Year-Round Lawn Care Tips first appeared on Second Nature.

Organisms in the soil have the same needs we do: to drink, breathe, eat, digest and excrete. When the soil is healthy, fed with natural materials and not compacted, those natural processes allow fertilization and growth to happen the way Mother Nature intended. Organic fertilizer is actually soil food that nourishes the organisms, whereas chemical fertilizer feeds plants directly — but much of the chemical fertilizer runs off into lakes, oceans, rivers and groundwater. Growing grasses and other plants in healthy, living soil will make the plants more drought-tolerant, disease-resistant and maintenance-free.

For a video illustrating the difference between chemical soil treatments and organic soil management, check out “Organic Lawn Management, The Overview,” at safelawns.org/video.cfm.

The post Think of Your Soil as Alive first appeared on Second Nature.