Is your yard full of puddles, soggy and squishy? Do your kids and dog like to splash around on the grass after a rainstorm?
Chances are that you have lawn drainage issues. Better fix them fast or else you could lose your grass, damage your gardens and even risk water leakage into your home.
Here are 5 steps to proper lawn drainage.
1. Survey your lawn during and directly after a heavy rain. Watch where the water is collecting and where (if anywhere) it's draining. Often low lying spots or high traffic areas are the worst. Target these spots for drainage solutions.
2. Try aeration first. Punch core aeration can be done efficiently using rented machinery. The holes that the equipment punches into your lawn will add sizable air pockets, improving surface drainage. Sometimes the compression or the original makeup of your soil makes drainage difficult. Clay soils need aeration regularly, as do pathways that are heavily traveled (at the bottom of deck stairs for instance).
When you begin to plant your lawn, keep in mind the upkeep that will last years past the initial watering period. To this end, choose low-water grass that works best for your region.
Most yards are planted with Kentucky bluegrass, which provides a beautiful green cover. However, this type of grass uses considerable amounts of water, which can be expensive and wasteful in many drought regions. Instead of going for the greenest, try going for a low-water option that will save you money and water.
Native grasses are the best options for low-water grass. For many regions, these include Buffalo and Blue Grama or a prairie grass. Prairie grasses can be kept short to maintain the look and feel of the more traditional blue grass and require moderately more care than just watering. You can read more about lawn care.
Our interview with Kelly Giard of Clean Air Lawn Care was eye-opening and he left us with 3 invaluable lawn care tips that we wanted to highlight again.
His primary mantra sounds like common sense but is more difficult to achieve than you realize and that is to, fight weeds with a healthy lawn, not by spraying herbicides. It's so much easier to just dump chemicals on a lawn rather than take a little time and patience to help nurture your lawn the natural way.
1. Cut your lawn half an inch higher than you usually do (one or two notches on your mower wheels) and notice how much greener it gets, how fewer weeds there are, and how much less water it needs.
We're always inspired by entrepreneurs who see an opportunity that aligns with their passion and dive right in. Kelly Giard of Clean Air Lawn Care fits that description and has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a finalist in their Emerging Entrepreneur of 2009 contest.
Launched in 2006, Clean Air Lawn Care has become the nation's leading full-service sustainable lawn care company. Dedicated to using clean electric and biodiesel powered equipment for lawn mowing and landscape maintenance that is run on renewable energy. Their electric equipment is charged during the day by solar panels mounted on our trucks and overnight with wind power. For an industry that he calls the "dirty frontier" they are about as clean as you can get.
Kelly took the time to answer a few of our questions about the lawn care industry as well as offering some awesome tips for taking care of your lawn. He's also does a great job of convincing us to re-evaluate our stance on synthetic lawns.
C&H: What's your background and how did you get into the clean lawn business?
Kelly: I grew up in Walla Walla, WA and had my own one guy mowing operation with about 25 clients. I've always enjoyed the work - especially the immediate satisfaction of seeing your efforts in the finished product. I went off to Boston University and got a masters in Econ, but also picked up a bachelors in Environmental Analysis and Policy. After 8 years as a retail stockbroker in Fort Collins, CO, I was getting a little bored and so I started Clean Air Lawn Care out of my garage mostly for fun. I got lucky and business took off, I sold my brokerage business, and made the decision to go big with Clean Air. Clean Air is what I would call the wedding of my high school job, my environmental interests, and my experience in business.
We caught this week's episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! in which they dive into the American fascination with lawns. We thought it appropriate to share this with you since we recently highlighted artificial lawns (which Penn & Teller show aren't totally maintenance free).
Beyond the ridiculous HOA restrictions that some homeowners must deal with in regards to maintaining a proper lawn, the environment and health concerns for maintaining a lawn are raised. The D-4 poison is a major active ingredient in many lawn care products and was used in Agent Orange during Vietnam. D-4 has been known to cause cancer and is definitely nasty stuff. But this is still spread across lawns throughout the country with no thought of the harm it is doing to ourselves or the environment.
If you are going to maintain a lawn like many of us still do then please consider a responsible way to do this.
We love the smell of fresh cut grass like the next person and taking pride in a well manicured lawn is an accomplishment, but in the current age of water conservation there are alternatives to natural lawns that outweigh the real stuff in every aspect (except being alive).
Recently we spoke with Duane Ruth of SYNlawn which is one of the leading installers of high-quality synthetic grass. They've been in the business much longer than their competitors and have the jobs and reputation to back it up. They recently installed a commercial stretch of SYNlawn in Santa Monica which is notorious for having perfectly kept public landscapes that are always natural and thus take a lot of water. For all installations including commercial and residential they recommend a professional installation even for small jobs.
This week we're giving away TWO baseball caps from John Deere! Modeled above by Laura Dahl, these caps are mean and green and look great on a boy or girl in the country or city.
To win just leave a comment below stating if you do your own landscaping and gardening or hire it out and why. Two random winners will be chosen and announced Monday, March 9th, 2009. Please leave a valid email address as this is how we will contact our winners.
If you DO hire out the gardening because of outdated or wonky equipment, John Deere gives you no excuses.
We love dogs. In fact it's tough to imagine life without the furry creatures. But there are a few drawbacks, specifically to your outside landscape. Beyond the bad habits of digging, scratching, and chewing, all dogs must pee and hopefully they do it outside. Unfortunately the nitrogen rich urine will "burn" your lawn and you'll end up with dead brown spots across the yard.
If you've got urine problems inside here are a few more tips.
It's lawn week here and we've got a weekend project from Lifehacker that will help you transform your lawn mower from a gas guzzling, loud, and eco-impacting machine to one that is powered by the sun.
