Well, it happened. For the first time this year, the grass had grown so long that I had to mow it a few weeks ago.
Here’s a photo of the first mowed strip:
Can something be wonderful and awful at the same time? I’d been watching the grass greening more every day for the past month or so, excited to see an undeniable sign of spring. At the same time I was thinking: I am NOT ready to mow grass 5-6 hours a week. It really does take that long to mow the lawns at both houses. The kicker is that I am reclaiming overgrown areas of lawn at both locations, which when completed will probably add another 20 minutes or so to my mowing time.
Really, though, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve always loved big, lush lawns. There were times during the past couple of years when I would be at work, longing to jump on a riding mower. I never thought I’d be one of those people!
At the same time, I’m not interested in having a lawn that is the envy of all passersby. That means: no chemical weed suppressants, no sprinkler system, and infrequent soil amendments and use of organic fertilizers. Maybe after I complete my big outdoor projects in the next year or two I’ll devote more energy to the lawns.
As the youngest of seven, I can count on one hand the number of times I cut grass as a kid. I knew next to nothing about lawn care though we basically always had a beautiful front and back lawn.
I’ve recently learned a few things about grass, perhaps specific to my green patch:
Length Matters
If I want lower turf, I can cut my grass to 2.75 inches only until early July. Thereafter, it’s just too hot and the sun will scorch the grass, turning my lawn into a burnt, brown mess. Then, dormant weeds will grow – fast. Luckily, I discovered last year that once I start mowing at 3.5 inches high again, the lawn will recover quickly.
Based on my brother’s suggestion, I had cut it 2.75 inches high last year so that if I couldn’t cut it for two weeks, it wouldn’t be too long and create thick windrows when mowed. I think he would keep all grass at two inches if he could, but I prefer the lusher look and feel of taller grass. And I really didn’t expect to see a singed sward by mid-July by cutting it lower.
That shouldn’t be a problem this growing season. Since I’ll be working from home as I wait for the city in which I work to re-open fully, I can mow at 3.25 – 3.5 inches before I start work on any given day or during much of my lunch break so I can stay on top of things.
(Note: I just purchased a manual reel mower whose highest cutting height is 2.75 inches, and I really love to use it on the secondary lawns and in tighter areas such as around the base of trees. So…I’m sure I’ll be tempted to cut smaller spaces at that lower height as long as I can each year, especially since using a manual mower is great exercise.)
Thatch
If it isn’t too thick, thatch may not be as bad as I thought; it’s a great weed suppressor. I know – probably no knowledgeable person agrees with me on this point. As I recounted in a post last year, the main lawn had a large area that had reverted to meadow and the remainder had a dense layer of thatch resulting from many years of grass clippings. Although it appeared perfect from afar, up close, the sward had several, small dead-ish areas and a spongy feel underfoot.
What it didn’t have was dozens and dozens of dandelions, which is what it has this year. The front lawn is ablaze with them too.
This invasion is probably due to two main factors:
Successful Application of Liquid Dethatcher
I didn’t want the hassle and expense of renting or buying a dethatching machine since they can cause so much damage and not solve the problem. So, after researching I decided upon a natural liquid dethatcher. The product I chose uses bacteria and enzymes. In combination with soil organisms, they speed up the natural decomposition process and convert the thatch into nutrient-rich humus which benefits the soil.
I used it only twice last spring and summer, but my lawn’s surface looked better over the course of last year so I think the product actually worked as advertised. I probably would have had even better results if I’d used it monthly, fertilized, and over-seeded, but I just didn’t have the time.
Removal of Old Thatch, Dead Grass, and Recently Cut Grass
Due to so many rainy days last spring and summer, I couldn’t mow every weekend and the grass was growing so fast that mulching was not an option. Whenever I did mow, it resulted in thick windrows hundreds of feet long.
Essentially, I had a three-layer cake of problems: old thatch, newer dead grass, and newly cut grass. But I also had a solution for each: the biological dethatcher decomposed the old thatch, the John Deere x370 riding mower really lifted the “newer” dead grass into its deep Accel mower deck and whisked it away into the attached waste disposal bags (it worked best when the clippings were dry as the chute easily clogs with wet or damp materials), and my sister and I spent hours on many a weekend morning raking and removing new and old clippings before it became too hot.
I think this combination helped to remove the last bits of decomposing thatch and aerate the soil a bit – and expose areas of sparser growth to sunlight which led to the eventual emergence of this year’s dandelions.
Grass Removal
About the grass removal: The x370 is too small and slow for the amount of lawn I need to mow in a limited timeframe, especially when the grass is long and wet. The John Deere x590 is bigger and faster, but I haven’t attached mulching blades or waste disposal bags to it; doing the latter means that I can’t hitch a cart to it which is essential for me to move debris and small lawn care equipment around the property. So, after my sister and couldn’t handle one more increasingly humid Sunday morning of manual labor, I bought waste disposal bags for the x370 which my brother attached.
What a game changer. If I end up with grass-killing windrows, I let the clippings dry in a few hours or overnight (assuming no rain!) then simply ride the x370 over them. I empty both bags a few times and have a very clean lawn.
This Year’s Lawn Goals
The photo at the top of this post shows part of the main lawn after the third mow this year. I think it looks great so far, and the stone wall on the north end is still a lovely sight. I wrote a post last year about clearing in front of it, and it remains one of the projects that gives me the most satisfaction.
However, I think the lawns can be healthier and look even better with limited effort. My lawn goals this year are to:
- Top dress (using my neighbor’s organic horse manure) and seed the barer spots of the lawns this spring so that I can choke out any other dormant weeds
- Repair a hundreds-foot long strip of road-salt destroyed lawn and the sparse patches where the salt and sand flowed (in progress).
- Top dress and over-seed all of the lawns this fall
- Mow weekly (or bi-weekly!) so that I can simply mulch and not spend time removing grass-killing clippings;
- Get rid of the dandelions! They aren’t visible in the featured photo, but they seem to be multiplying daily. I bought a simple hand tool two days ago to pull them, tap roots and all, out of the ground. I’ll report back on how well it works for me.
Good luck to all my fellow lawn care warriors!
More Spring Snow