Lawn Construction, Laying, Preparation, Fertilization, Lawn Grasses - 2

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

How to properly lay a lawn

A place to relax without a lawn is like a feast without alcohol. Before laying your lawn, you need to decide what function the green carpet will perform in your garden:

1. what place to choose for it: constant solar or being in the shade for a considerable time;
2. will it be mainly a playground for children or a purely decorative design element?

In the latter case, the lawn does not require special endurance and density. After you answer all these questions, proceed to the preparatory work.

Lawn preparation

The first step to a beautiful lawn is proper soil preparation. In this case, first of all, remove all construction waste. In no case do not bury it, otherwise you will create unfavorable conditions for the development of the root system of grasses, and in the process of caring for the lawn you risk damaging your equipment. It is necessary to uproot the stumps if you do not want to use them for decorative purposes; remove tree shoots, weed out or treat the area with a continuous herbicide: roundup (00.8 ml / m2), dalapon (1.2-2.4 ml / m2), raglan (1-1.5 ml / m2 ?). The surface under the lawn must be flat.

If the thickness of the fertile soil layer is less than 10 cm, bring in new land and carefully level it, bringing the thickness of the fertile layer to 20-30 cm. If the soil was not imported, then plan it. At the same time, it is not at all necessary to create a horizontal surface on the site, it may have a slight slope, which saves the lawn from stagnant water, which is detrimental to some varieties of grasses. In places with small bumps, pits, add a fertile layer of soil from other parts of the garden. On uneven areas, remove the topsoil and level the soil, then put the removed soil back in place. In areas where water stagnates after rains, irrigation, melting snow, the lawn must have drainage. It is done while leveling the surface.

Before replacing the removed fertile soil layer, pour a layer of gravel, large stones or broken brick 10-15 cm high on the infertile soil and tamp it well. Lay a layer of small pebbles or sand 15 cm high on them and also tamp, and then return the removed fertile soil layer to its place. The soil profile of your site will look like this: on top of 20-30 cm of the fertile layer, under it 10-15 cm of sand or small pebbles, 10-15 cm of large stones, below is infertile soil. Based on many years of personal experience, I can say that the most fertile, optimal mixture is a mixture consisting of equal parts of peat, fine sand and ordinary soil. And this is done like this: we pour one machine of peat, sand and soil into a common heap, mix it, and then deliver it on a trolley around the territory. After that with a rake,or better, with a large scraper in the form of a 3-4-meter board, we level the fertile soil on the territory. After that, we tamp it and lightly spill it with water, 2-3 days after drying, add a fertile mixture in sagging places, level the soil again and tamp it. And after that, you can start sowing the grass mixtures.

The soil for the lawn must be carefully prepared, first of all, to improve its structure. Most of the perennial lawn grasses grow and develop better on fertile soils of medium texture. If your site has heavy clay soil, then before digging, you need to add 5-15 kg / m2? sand. On light sandy soils, add peat or manure and stir it into the soil when digging. To improve the overall fertility on soils poor in nutrients, it is recommended to apply the "main" fertilizer before digging, which can be both organic (peat, manure) and mineral.

Organic fertilizer is formed as a result of the vital activity of organisms. Plants can assimilate the nutrients of organic fertilizers only after their mineralization, that is, decomposition by soil bacteria and fungi to inorganic substances. It promotes the development of bacteria and enhances the natural fertility of the soil.

Organic fertilizer is applied in spring or autumn. Use complex fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium or a mixture of these as mineral fertilizing in spring. In autumn, use fertilizers that do not contain nitrogen: superphosphate, potassium salt.

Mineral fertilizers are produced industrially. They do not improve the structure of the soil and do not enrich it with humus, but they act faster and contain more nutrients. Apply mineral fertilizers 1-2 days before digging in the doses indicated on the packages.

Digging contributes to improving the water-air regime of the soil, loosening the soil layer at a depth of 25 cm, mixing the applied main fertilizer in the upper soil layer, deepening the formed sod and suppressing weeds. In addition, digging is an effective method to prevent the development of pests and pathogens. And the last thing you should do before sowing is to loosen and at the same time level the top layer with a rake in small areas and with a cutter or cultivator and harrow in large areas.

Lawn grass

Lawn grasses are quite varied and are used for landscaping. To create a high-quality coverage, one should take into account the purpose of the lawn, as well as the biology of each species: Growth rate and productivity of shoots, the power of the root system, the nature of tillering, the beginning of the growing season in spring and its end in autumn. The resistance of lawn grasses to trampling, seasonal and weather changes, competitiveness, longevity and decorative qualities are very important. There are two directions in the practice of creating lawns.

In the first case, only one type of cereal is used for sowing in order to obtain a highly decorative, uniform carpet.

In the second case, a mixture of several types of lawn plants is used.

It is believed that with their correct selection and ratio, the stability of the lawn coverage increases. When one of the species falls out or slows down, this space is occupied by another. For areas with a harsh climate, where spring frosts and sudden temperature drops in the fall are frequent, grass mixtures are most acceptable. The choice can be based on species with a wide ecological range, as well as on forms and varieties that are well adapted to specific conditions. Large experience in the production of various lawn mixtures has been accumulated by European companies, including German and British ones. Russian seed growers also carried out tests, in particular, on experimental plots of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences. They recommend simplified mixtures of 2-3 types.