With the intent of putting out timely information on topdressing and spring cleaning the editorial staff at Topdressing.biz got together with our USA East Coast topdressing professional affiliates to discuss what suggestions we can make to our readership as the snow has melted in most parts of the continental USA and Central Europe.
Our affiliated topdressing professionals and topdresser manufacturers suggested as part of our topdressing and spring cleaning effort, that once the brownish, yellowish looking lawn is gradually turning green to:
Spring clean up your total property
or have one of our topdressing specialists or mulch installers affiliate with us do the work for you
- Cut all dead, dry and grey stalks, stems of last year's perennials growth
- Spruce up shrubs and vines that blossom from past year's growth.
- Some Shrubs need a little pruning each early spring to remove dead or crossing stems and branches.
- In case you protected your planter/garden beds with leaves, you must remove them to the compost pile. Leaves even shredded are the composting material (even if shredded) that takes the longest to totally become digested. During the composting phase leaves can cause the plants to rot during the warmer seasons. The digesting process for leaves can take up to 18 months by the natural aerobic and anaerobic process of microorganisms and worms feeding off of them.
Spring Feeding
- Feeding your plants the natural, organic way to stimulate healthy growth, increased blossoms and higher resistant plants during the high temperatures of summer, is a must.
And here comes in your source of natural, organic plant food - your compost pile. But according o our topdressing specialists: you must ensure your compost has totally decomposed before it is applied around your just burgeoning, delicate new plant growth. No need to buy chemically coded (for slow release purpose) fertiliser/fertilizer nature has that built-in in well seasoned compost and does the same slow release thing for free.
Applying a thin layer of compost as a source topdressing material to flower beds and turf is a smart way to fertilize, as indicated above the crowns of perennials should not be covered. When topdressing the lawn in spring, you should remove all debris, trash, waste and not decomposed whole leaves and start a new compost pile together with the aforementioned winter mulch that you just collected of your planters. If you need to rake, please do it gently as you either disturb or even remove new lawn growth otherwise. Apply the topdressing material thinly as leveling lawns in spring is no recommend. The purpose of spring cleaning and topdressing in spring is to provide nutrition to the young turf grass and relief compaction pressure on the roots. Only overseed areas that are bare and make sure you keep the new growth covered with straw or fabric as spring is not the ideal time to grow grass.
Now that you have finished your garden chores of bed/planter maintenance, light pruning of specific plants, clipping and topdressing all areas of your property, you can take a break ... Not quite yet!
If you desire a sharp edge between your beds/planters and turf area, now is the best time to cut or correct and old dilapidated edges, while the ground is still very soft. Follow these few topdressing and spring cleaning suggestion you will have a nice yard for many months of the growing season to come.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Winter Lawn Care and Topdressing
One of the best ways is topdressing, this ensures that your lawn is beautiful, full, lush lawn when spring arrives. It is essential that you provide good lawn care during the winter months. Some people think that there is really no special care that needs to be given to lawns during this time of dormancy. Following are some simple tips that will help to make sure that your lawn stays healthy, even if you can't see it under the snow, and that will help assure that it thrives when spring returns. One procedure that will help an older or depleted lawn is topdressing.
An essential approach to being sure that you have a beautiful and healthy lawn that springs to life vibrantly once the dormant phase has ended is to make sure that it is given appropriate lawn care at the end of the growing season. People make the mistake of thinking that no special care needs to be given. But there are some simple things you can do that will help you to enjoy a lush and thriving lawn when spring arrives.
If you do live in an area where you have regular snowfalls, then you will want to be sure that your strategy includes making sure that all areas of the lawn are free of debris and clutter before the first big snowfall of the year comes along. Proper lawn maintenance in preparation for winter snow would include raking the leaves, removing sticks, and disposing of any other type of debris that just doesn't belong on your lawns. Once you have completed these chores a good natural lawn care procedure is to top dress your lawn. This can be either done by hand or with machinery, especially if your lawn is bigger in size. You first apply a thin layer of compost, seed if necessary and then aerate. For more detailed information please see the educational website www.topdressing.biz
Even if you are not expecting much in the way of snowfall, it is still important to be sure that the grass isn't left under piles of leaves or other rubbish that can interfere with the grass receiving proper moisture, nutrients and air. While the growth of grass often comes to a halt in the late fall, it can still die if it is buried under any kind of yard debris.
Many people have the mistaken idea that summer is the most important season for controlling weed growth. But the opposite is actually true and it is important to understand this in order to plan good lawn care for the lawns that surround your home and garden. Weeds actually grow much faster than your grass does during the winter, as compared to the summer. If the weeds are allowed to simply grow out of control during the "off season," then there may not be much lawn left to enjoy when spring arrives.
Fortunately, because your grass will be growing so slowly during the fall and winter months, it is rather easy to spot the progress of the weeds during this time. Just make sure that you give a bit of attention to your lawn during these months and get those weeds pulled, or apply weed killer, so that they don't overrun the lawns and ruin the look of your landscape design.
If you like the look of a think, full lawn even through the wintertime, then it is a good idea to plant rye grass, bluegrass or other types of northern grasses which all tend to be heartier and will endure through the colder months of winter. One of the lawn care advantages of using rye grass in your lawns is that it grows well mixed with your current grass and will make your lawn look fuller and lusher. However, the rye grass will actually die off and your regular grass will take over as it comes to life in the spring.
An essential approach to being sure that you have a beautiful and healthy lawn that springs to life vibrantly once the dormant phase has ended is to make sure that it is given appropriate lawn care at the end of the growing season. People make the mistake of thinking that no special care needs to be given. But there are some simple things you can do that will help you to enjoy a lush and thriving lawn when spring arrives.
If you do live in an area where you have regular snowfalls, then you will want to be sure that your strategy includes making sure that all areas of the lawn are free of debris and clutter before the first big snowfall of the year comes along. Proper lawn maintenance in preparation for winter snow would include raking the leaves, removing sticks, and disposing of any other type of debris that just doesn't belong on your lawns. Once you have completed these chores a good natural lawn care procedure is to top dress your lawn. This can be either done by hand or with machinery, especially if your lawn is bigger in size. You first apply a thin layer of compost, seed if necessary and then aerate. For more detailed information please see the educational website www.topdressing.biz
Even if you are not expecting much in the way of snowfall, it is still important to be sure that the grass isn't left under piles of leaves or other rubbish that can interfere with the grass receiving proper moisture, nutrients and air. While the growth of grass often comes to a halt in the late fall, it can still die if it is buried under any kind of yard debris.
Many people have the mistaken idea that summer is the most important season for controlling weed growth. But the opposite is actually true and it is important to understand this in order to plan good lawn care for the lawns that surround your home and garden. Weeds actually grow much faster than your grass does during the winter, as compared to the summer. If the weeds are allowed to simply grow out of control during the "off season," then there may not be much lawn left to enjoy when spring arrives.
Fortunately, because your grass will be growing so slowly during the fall and winter months, it is rather easy to spot the progress of the weeds during this time. Just make sure that you give a bit of attention to your lawn during these months and get those weeds pulled, or apply weed killer, so that they don't overrun the lawns and ruin the look of your landscape design.
If you like the look of a think, full lawn even through the wintertime, then it is a good idea to plant rye grass, bluegrass or other types of northern grasses which all tend to be heartier and will endure through the colder months of winter. One of the lawn care advantages of using rye grass in your lawns is that it grows well mixed with your current grass and will make your lawn look fuller and lusher. However, the rye grass will actually die off and your regular grass will take over as it comes to life in the spring.
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