I Poured Beer Over My Lawn This Spring Hoping It Would Come Up Half Cut!
The rain we received this last weekend has been wonderful and it caused the grass to grow rapidly and green up as well. Many of us have been busy in the yard and although people have been buying tomato plants it is still much to early to put them out. My cucumbers in the greenhouse are very unhappy with this cold start so I’ve put them back on the heat mats until the temperatures increases like we were supposed to have received.
The water levels in the creeks has risen quite a bit but so far no flooding. There is plenty that can be done now however my focus has been almost entirely in the greenhouses. My lawn has finally been totally raked and cleared of all the debris that came down over the winter and that last wind storm.
Now is the time to look for problems like Snow Mold, Fairy Ring and other diseases, pests and weeds that can invade home lawns and plan an attack. Most of these problems are due to poor drainage and unfertilized lawns. This repair should be done in late May or early June, this is also the time you should consider Aerating the lawn. This entails taking small cores of soil from your lawn by means of an aeration tool. This is extremely good for lawns that have clay soil, which we have in our area in abundance.
This treatment will allow oxygen, water and nutrients to penetrate efficiently. This in turn will allow the grass to grow and will help deter weeds and disease. The use of chemical fertilizers should be avoided as it is unhealthy for you, your family and your pets. 2,4-D is a hormone which causes broad leafed plants to grow so fast that they die, this works well for plants and the seeds of chickweed, plantain, creeping charley and several other invasive weeds. More and more fertilizes that you purchase at garden centres and hardware stores are now based on organic practises due to people demanding them. You can create a mixture of bone meal or another type of nitrogen based fertilizer, sand, soil and grass seed to help regenerate bare spots and generally improve the soil that promotes a good lawn. Fairy Ring and Mushrooms will not usually appear until late summer and early fall however good spring efforts will reduce or eradicate this problem.
There are many types of seed that can be applied to strengthen your lawn and one should be aware of their hardiness and suitability in full sun or shade.
I have recently had a friend who is being inundated by ants. If you can find their colonies (not necessarily hills) and they are in an area that you can pour boiling water do so and stir them up. Repeat often it is a satisfying and effective method of destroying them and their nest site. Also a mixture of icing sugar or white sugar and borax can be applied in areas that you find them traveling along the house or planting beds. This however can be dangerous for pets and children so it may be better to bait a trap that allow the ants entry but prevent other exposures.
A container can be made with small holes that will allow the ants to enter can be used. A mixture of .5 cup sugar 1.5 tablespoons of borax and 1 cup of water will work. Be careful of getting any of the mixtures dry or wet on your plants, although Borax is a mineral it also can be used as an efficient herbicide and you do not want it on your valued plants.
Few other pests have reared their nasty little heads except for whitefly and a couple of sprays of soapy water seems to have eliminated the problem.
I’m glad that I did not get a chance to prune my plum tree as very little of it survived the winter and I’m afraid I’ll have to cut it down. It’s nice to see the leaves on many trees here and in town are finally opening and I hope we don’t get an off season frost to ruin these tender buds.
Many new birds are arriving and most of my nesting boxes have occupants. Peas are up a few inches as well as onions and the garlic is incredible this year as are the raspberries.
Happy Gardening!
Samantha Nason
BS Ranch & Greenhouses
250 547 6567
sam1nason@gmail.com
