Most lawns in the Northern Hemisphere follow a three season lawn care routine. Spring, summer and fall mean lawn care, with the arrival of spring marking the beginning of the season.
While northern and southern lawn care tips are slightly different due to the types of grass used, summer marks the height of the traditional green lawn season. Fall traditionally marks the end of the northern lawn season. Higher daily temperatures in southern climates mean southern homeowners often choose whether or not to support a four season lawn.
For more ambitious homeowners, fall provides a good opportunity for lawn aeration and dethatching. While most homeowners use mowers that collect grass clippings throughout the mowing season, the amount of loose grass covering the ground over the season also tends to increase.
Any organic lawn material unable to decompose tends to cover the soil, adding a layer of protection for insect pests. A thatching rake, or mower attachment tool usually serves as the basic backyard thatching tool.
Southern Lawns
Due to the natural growth cycle of the Bermuda grass varieties common to southern lawns, summer generally marks the height of traditional southern warm season lawn care activity. By extension, southern homeowners traditionally associate the summer lawn care season with mowing and watering tasks.
Because warm season grasses germinate and grow in the southern heat, early summer represents an ideal time for patching, reseeding and thickening warm season lawns. Again, depending on the specific lawn needs, the early summer reseeding project could be accompanied by a lawn fertilization project.
An extra busy summer of warm season grass management would also include a weed and pest management strategy. Bare spots or brown patches on otherwise green lawns often indicates some type of pest problem.
In the warmer climates, fall also marks the traditional end of the grass growing season, although many home owners opt to promote a winter growing season by reseeding with a fast growing rye grass. Usually southern homeowners combine fall fertilization with fall over seeding. Once fertilized, the any bare soil spots, and soon to be brown patches on the lawn are ready for a coating of seeds.
Southern home owners more inclined to a low maintenance winter lawn care routine, normally can use the fall season to mow and rake the lawn at regular intervals to insure good aeration during the winter dormancy period.
Northern Lawns
Cool season grasses, those adapted to northern climates, germinate and grow in the milder spring, summer and fall temperatures. Since colonial days, varieties of Kentucky Bluegrass remain the lawn grass of choice for consumers, who can now choose from multiple climate specific varieties.
Most bluegrass varieties form shallow root systems that use spring as a growth and regeneration phase. On the other hand, the deeper root systems of typical warm season grasses means a spring season of root development.
Northern perspectives on summer lawn care slightly differ from southern perspectives. Summer can mean the dormant season for many cool season lawns in the north, especially those known for their summer dry seasons. While some northern homeowners choose to allow their lawn to go dormant during the summer, others prefer the summer green lawn look, and choose to invest time attending to mowing and watering tasks.
Summer sun and heat typically translates into the average lawn needing approximately one inch of water per week to encourage healthy root development. Watering in the early morning helps slow down evaporation. Mowing techniques, such as setting the blades at the three or four inch level, promote a green summer lawn.
Households with cool season grass lawns also use fall as the prime lawn bare spot patching season, when soil and air temperatures reach optimal seed germination and plant growth ranges.
Dandelions, formally categorized as broadleaf perennial plants, often also get typed as a primary lawn weed.
Their natural history extends a bit beyond the modern lawn care conversation, and a quick read through the history describes a multi-use plant. Most notable might be the dandelion history as a natural diuretic, promoting water and salt extraction from the body. Often family pets can be spotted eating dandelion leaves, suggesting they are dealing with digestive problems.
The list of chemically based products aimed at removing all broadleaf weeds, including dandelions, from the lawn can be as long as a modern store shelf. This presentation focuses on some basic organic dandelion control tips.
Effectively removing dandelions from the lawn starts by understanding their growing cycle. Dandelion adaptability, along with their ability to sink a good set of roots into a variety of soil types, makes them one of the most common North American lawn plants. Dandelion taproots commonly grow between 6-18 deep. Failure to remove the entire root, results in plant regrowth later in the season or next season.
Organic removal options begin by either pulling or digging out the root. Smaller plants in loose, moist soil can be removed by grasping the plant on the part of the stem closest to the ground and lightly prying the roots from the soil. A simple garden trowel often suffices for any required digging around the plant to uncover the root system.
Healthy lawns, like healthy gardens, thrive on healthy soil. Soil management still represents the preferred, long term, organic dandelion management strategy. Most experts say that a 6.5 pH level is optimal for growing grass. Since 7.0 pH is the neutral reading, the 6.5 pH level means that grass likes a slightly acidic soil. Dandelions, on the other hand, optimally grow in a 7.5 soil pH level, or a slightly alkaline soil.
Applying a sulfur based product on the soil is the most common suggestion for lowering soil pH. A soil test provides information regarding exact levels of any organic soil amendments necessary for decreasing soil alkalinity.
Corn gluten meal, or mashed up and dried out corn, the most popular organic herbicide for long term dandelion management today works by spreading it over the soil to repress future seed germination.
Finally, dandelion seeds can take flight with the wind and travel across the street or between neighboring lawns. Any long term dandelion removal plan needs to take into account the local environment. Assuming a relatively weed free local environment, then a consistent mowing regime also helps with long term weed management. High density grass lawns, with three inch grass height deter weeds from taking root.
Lawn weeds…problem or not? That depends on the types of weeds that show up in the grass. What about those strange flowers that often pop up in the grass?
First, some formal stuff. Normally basic lawn weed questions begin by dividing the types of weeds commonly found growing on lawns into broad leaved weeds and grass weeds. Broad leaf weeds concern homeowners most. For example, broad leaves and yellow flowers characterize the dandelion, one of the the most common types of weeds confronting the home owner. This brief overview presents other common types of weeds commonly found in the lawn. The presence of small flowers unites the group.
The following review provides information about many common flowering broad leaf weeds found growing in residential areas.
Clover, a genus of plants in the pea family (Fabaceae) can easily be identified by the ball-headed flower. Clovers grow easily with grasses, often making them a lawn nuisance. However, some clover types are also considered beneficial plants and used as ground cover.
The clover friend versus foe dialogue pops up whenever someone notices a small patch of clover growing in the yard. Should clover be considered friend or foe? The answer almost always includes an “it depends”. Clover presence on a lawn might be part of a general yard landscaping plan or part of a smaller and manageable weed problem.
Red Clover, a very common plant of fields and meadows across the United States, can easily identified by the pink flowers and three pointed leaves.
Adding an organic fertilizer high in nitrogen is the suggested organic remedy for lawns with clover problems.
Red clover also as a history as an herbal medicine, used to treat a variety of ills from cancer to respiratory problems. The National Institutes of Health says,
There is not enough scientific evidence to determine whether red clover is effective for any other health conditions.
Big-head Clover grow in open areas of the Pacific Northwest, east of the Cascades.
The flower head can measure about two inches in diameter, making it difficult to misidentify.
Clover is known for its edibility and farmers and ranchers often graze their herds in clover fields. The Big-head clover is likewise edible and was consumed both raw and cooked by Native Americans.
Think geranium family when any small, five petal, pink to purple flower pops up in the grass. The picture shows Redstem Filaree (Erodium cicutarium).
Dovefoot Geranium, also known as Crane’s Bill Geranium and Woodland Geranium is a similar looking flower and it’s a very common east coast and west coast lawn and garden weed.
Large round leaves eclipse the plant’s small purple flower in size. A shallow root system, makes hand removal of the plant and root the preferred organic remedy. Farmers consider the plant an agriculture pest because of its ability to overtake large areas of land, thereby reducing crop productivity.
In some larger yards, where perfectly manicured grass might not be the preferred landscaping option, a few larger weeds, such as the Mulleins (genus Verbascum) might occasionally pop up.
They are large flowering plants in the Figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), native to Europe and Asia. Many mullein species receive credit for having medicinal value. Other species are prized for their ornamental value. Two common mullein species described below get classified as weeds.
Common Mullein, picture above, grows up to ten feet in height, the thin, woolly looking stem blossoms with yellow flowers.
Its size and aggressive manner means it edge out native plants wherever it is found, which is basically throughout the United States that receive at least medium amounts of rainfall.
Moth Mullein, also a weed, produces exceptionally nice looking flowers, with petals ranging from white to yellow, contrasted by purple filaments.
In instances of low density growth for either species, pulling is a recommended organic remedy. Beware of the deep taproot for the Moth Mullein.
In instances of high density growth for both plants, the U.S. Forest Service notes,
Two insects that have possible biological control implications for common mullein are European curculionid weevil and mullein moth
Other Common Lawn Weeds
Common Chickweed (Stellaria media), an introduced plant in the Pink family (Caryophyllaceae), can be found on lawns throughout the United States. Like many plants with the weed label, it grows well anywhere that grass grows. The white flowers, much smaller in size than the picture, are early bloomers.
It is considered a nuisance plant rather than a problematic ecosystem disrupter. Pulling is the advised removal technique for homeowners concerned with its presence in lawns and gardens.
Birdseye Speedwell (Veronica persica), a member of the figwort family (Schrophulariaceae), ranks as quite an adaptable plant. Most botanical histories trace its movement from East Asia to Europe in the early nineteenth century.
It spread to grasslands throughout much of the Continent, carrying the name, common field speedwell. Introduced to the United States, is now finds a home in yards and fields from coast to coast.
Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis), a small flowering plant in the Primrose family (Primulaceae), was introduced from Europe
It’s now found in sandy soils, and lawns with sandy soils, across the United States. The orange flowers are small and the plant is not known to be an overly aggressive lawn grower. Pulling is the recommended organic remedy in areas where it is not welcome.
The extensive root system of bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), also called wild morning glory, makes it a problematic lawn and garden weed.
Bindweed also causes problems in the agriculture sectors because of its adverse effect on grazing animals when consumed.
A variety of organic remedies exist for control of bindweed in residential lawns. Tilling the soil and pulling the weeds might be effective for small patches of ground with established plants. Other remedies such as solarization and spraying vinegar solutions show promise for treating larger areas.
Fiddleneck (Amsinckia), a western genus of flowers in the Forget-Me-Not Family (Boraginaceae), get identified by the presence of their orange flowers, rather than the traditional blue and/or white flowers associated with the family.
Thin stems with multiple flowers describe most species. The weight of the flowers bends the stem, giving it an appearance resembling the top of a fiddle.
Fiddleneck species are known to be toxic to domestic grazing animals and often for that reason they are categorized as weeds, despite their being native plants.