Garden Centre

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

When you can’t not interfere

Well, I could not interfere, but himself, the greensward maestro, must have his flat green carpet of lawn or he feels he’s failed in life, or something. Actually it does seem to be very much a man thing, this lawn business and it does require constant staying on top of, which is why I don’t bother with it and would – as himself says – have a lawn like a mole’s playground. What’s wrong with that?

Assuming you agree with himself not myself, here’s a quick and dirty list of what you must interfere with:

1. Daisies – pretty flowers with yellow eyes and white petals, hated for their rosettes of oval leaves that hug the ground and are almost impossible to remove, daisy roots being notoriously impossible to get out. Organic gardeners may like to try the hot skewer method (heat a skewer and thrust it into the soil alongside the stem, leave for 48 hours, dig up plant) while non-organic gardeners can at least try a selective weed killer, but it will probably need a couple of applications.

2. Dandelions have straps-shaped but toothed leaves that form large rosettes, the flowers are bright yellow and become round seed-heads that blow across your garden and infest it. Obviously then, the first stage to dandelion removal is to cut off every head you see, so that the can’t become seeds. Dandelions have an incredibly long and easy to snap tap root which will regrow unless dug out completely or killed by systemic weed killer. The skewer method is possible for dandelions too, but pouring boiling water on your lawn is not a good idea – it does work on dandelions in cracks in paving but it kills grass long before it kills dandelions.

3. Buttercups have glowing golden flowers and a habit of taking over – they have to be dug out if you are organic but can’t resist standard weed killers, they do spread fast to act when you see them.

4. Clover is popular with bees but not lawn owners. In a drought year it may be the only patch of green in your lawn! It loves poor soil so feeding the lawn is a good idea, as it cutting off the clover head before they can set seed.

Daisy lawn courtesy of shaire productions

Labels: garden lawn, lawn care, lawn weeds

The All Seasons Gardener at 7:38 AM

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