Again the dry theme. Well it has been dry. It’s worse though in sandy
soils. Today we are looking at lawn maintenance in dry weather.
The first step to having a good lawn in dry weather should have happened when you chose your grass. Couch is cheaper and popular but needs extra water in dry times. Carpet grass, is good in shadey, damp areas, and all but sandy soils. If it is under these conditions it can be more resilient in dry times. Buffalo needs less water than the others.
Watering your lawn to keep it looking good, has become a costly exercise, with water prices rising sharply. Unless less you have a bore bump or extra rain water it’s not going to be any good.
This lawn is on clay soil, and will need less water in dry times
Also without out the care at this time of year when your lawn needs the water the most, it gets sparser, and in winter you probably see more weeds than lawn. Couch grass will be the most problematic, as it needs the extra TLC.
Here’s some tips to get you by.
1 Don’t plant couch grass on sand, and don’t plant carpet grass in dry sunny areas on sandy soil. They are both cheaper, but the false economy of extra water will soon change the facts.
2. If you have to use couch on sandy or hard soil, put a base of good watering retaining soil at least 50mm thick below it. It will help you a lot
3. They are many people who compulsively mow their lawns. Give this away. The less you mow, the greener and healthier it will be, and the less water it needs. The trick. The more growth it has above the ground the more it has below. So therefore more roots mean more water pulling potential.
4. Try not to mow your lawn so short for the same reason as above. Scalping, and low cuts are not good at this time of year. Also if it is really dry, and or you are a compulsive lawn mower, just mow the lawn enough to get rid of the seed heads. If you need to mow the lawn find the height that is good for your lawn and raise it by one or 2 heights on the mower height adjuster.
Water retention crystals are also a good thing,
but not many people tend to use them.
At the moment I’m finding that most lawns only need a mow about every 3 weeks
Just remember, don’t go out and mow your lawn today just because you have nothing better to do, leave it for next week when it probably needs it more.
This Buffalo lawn was laid on sandy soil and therefore was laid on a bed of 50mm thick topdressing soil
