St Augustine Grass
St Augustine grass loves our southern soil and the saltwater so is ideal for Naples lawns. It is a coarse grass that shows dark green when healthy and can survive well in tropical climates. This makes it vulnerable to cold temperatures, but that isn’t something we have to worry about too much down here.
This grass need plenty of feeding, and will reward your care with a lush green covering. Keeping it well fed will also prevent weeds from gaining a foothold. If you choose this kind of grass you will have to resist the temptation to cut it too closely. Short blades weaken the plant and will allow weeds to encroach on the growth and stifle it even more. I would suggest not cutting it at all for the first year of growing St Augustine to prevent drought.
The seeds are warm season seeds so need to be planted during April or May so will take up to three months to be well established. Water it at least three times a day and don’t walk or play on it for at least three months after seeding. This will give your lawn the best possible chance for survival and hopefully provide you with a lush green lawn to enjoy for years to come.
Using Grass Seed
Creating a lawn from scratch is a rewarding but time consuming task that needs a few steps to get the best results. Following these few hints will ensure you get the lush green lawn you were hoping for.
Prepare the soil. No matter what type of soil you have, or whether it’s bare soil or an old lawn, you need to aerate it properly before even thinking about applying any seed. Ensure the area is properly aerated and add a thin layer of compost afterwards. This will help break up the soil, give the roots some space to grow and add nutrients to the area they will be growing in.
Use the right seed. Not all grass is the same. If you are planting from seed you need to select a variety that can cope with the Naples climate. It will need to be able to cope with constant sunlight, heat and the sandy soil we have down here. The previously suggested centipede grass is an option, but there are many others to choose from.
Time is of the essence. Once you have chosen your seed variety you will need to plant it at the appropriate time. Some types can be planted in warm seasons, and others will grow best if planted in a cool season. Warm season is generally April and May for planting, whereas cool is best in the fall.
Spread ‘em. Spread the seed evenly throughout the planting area, preferably with a rotary spreader to get an even coverage.
Water. Once the seeds are down you need to expose them to moisture to wake them up. This will need to be fairly constant throughout the germination period. A useful tip would be to water lightly three times a day before sundown to prevent any moss of fungal growth. A top dressing of straw can also help stop the moisture evaporating during the Naples sun, aiding growth significantly.
Stay off the grass. The new lawn area should be a no go to everyone while it is trying to become established. If you used a warm season grass seed then you will need to stay away for up to three months, whereas a cool season grass if fairly stable after six weeks.
Following these simple steps will increase your chances of success with a grass seed lawn by orders or magnitude.
Centipede Grass
Lawn care in Melbourne is a full time occupation in our warmer climate. Grass can suffer a lot with the constant sunshine and heat making lawn care a difficult task. One answer is Centipede Grass which originated in china but made its way over here in the early 20th century. As it is very low maintenance and adapts well to a warm climate it is becoming more and more popular. It is currently in use around Florida as lawn grass and in parks and on golf courses.
If looked after properly it will give you no problems whatsoever. It is highly resistant to pests and moss on the rare occasions water logging is an issue. It thrives in acidic-sandy soils like we have round Naples and can grown almost anywhere warm. It is slow growing and not as soft as St. Augustine grass for example, but this is offset by the hardiness and low maintenance properties. The main benefit is that it can tolerate heat and direct sunlight for a long period of time without suffering any ill effects.
Centipede grass does need good old Melbourne lawn care with plenty of water once a week and infrequent feeding with a nitrogen based food. Don’t overfeed it though as it can cause more problems than it solves.
For homeowners who live in our beautiful state Centipede grass is an ideal alternative to standard lawns if they aren’t living up to your expectations, or suffer in the heat.
Repairing a Compacted Lawn.
Most family lawns have to cope with a lot. They get walked on, played on, rolled on as well as pecked and tunnelled through, especially with the weather we have here in Naples. Soil compaction is a big problem for your lawn, and although it happens through use, it can be addressed fairly simply in an overall lawn care plan.
Compaction is where the soil within 4 inches of the surface gets compressed and squashed. This blocks the flow of air, nutrients and moisture through the soil, which in turn leads of poor quality grass. Unfortunately, even though grass can’t grow very well in these conditions, weeds and moss can. Therefore another problem with compaction is the following explosion of weed and moss growth.
There is one simple technique that can alleviate this problem within days: aerating. Aerating is where you punch holes into the ground to add ventilation and space to move. The easiest way to do it is with a garden fork. Poke the fork into the ground at least 4 inches deep and repeat all along your lawn spacing them out. You should do this at least a couple of times a year anyway, but certainly is your grass is beginning to suffer.
The effect of aerating is the loosening of the soil and provides space for water and nutrients to reach root level. It also adds oxygen to the soil which will stimulate growth and allow the helpful bacteria to grow. As a side effect it also increases drainage which should be the end of any moss that grows on the lawn.
Tools of the Trade: The Lawnmower
Using the right kind of lawnmower for your garden is essential in keeping a healthy lawn. Cut it too low and you starve the roots, leave it too long and weeds can encroach.
The best way to create a healthy lawn, even in Naples, is to mow frequently but not cut it too low. By cutting regularly excessive leaf growth is reduced while not allowing weeds and the coarser grass a chance to grow. The best lawnmower for your needs is one that is big enough to keep the lawn under control and small enough to be manoeuvred easily. Budget is a factor in any purchase, but there are lawnmowers of each type available for a variety of budgets nowadays.
The most popular type of domestic lawnmower is the rotary type. They are easy to use and can cut quite quickly which is why it’s so popular. They can also cope with wet grass, and the first winter cut when the grass may be longer. They come in two flavours, electric or petrol. The petrol version is more powerful and has no leads to run over, but is mainly suitable for larger lawns. The electric version is lighter and ideal for the smaller lawn.
The hover type mower is ideal for older gardeners as it is light and easy to use. Most of the weight of the device is supported by the air cushion it creates when switched on. They perform similarly to the rotary mower and come in the same petrol and electric varieties.
Manual lawn mowers are very cheap to buy and maintain but are much harder work to use. They are ideal if you don’t want to use petrol or electric. They are cylinder mowers which do give a good cut, but all of the momentum and energy needed to do the cutting comes from you. These are really only suitable for very small lawns.
The cylinder mower gives the best cut to any lawn. They come in the manual as described above, petrol and electric types. Petrol rotary’s are the most powerful but all will give a great cut. These mowers will give your lawn the traditional striped look if you wanted one.
Although they are the best, rotary mowers are also the most expensive. There are a couple of other choices to be made here too. The size of the cylinder should be scaled to the size of lawn. The average lawn in Naples would need a 16 inch cylinder with at least 8 blades to give a good finish. Larger versions are available but they mower becomes less manoeuvrable when you increase the cylinder size. Anything bigger than the 16inch would only really be suitable for exceptionally large lawns.
How to keep your lawn weed free.
There is nothing like looking at a lovely weed-free lawn to put a smile on any gardeners face. The problem is that good growing conditions for grass is also good growing conditions for weeds.
There are some weeds that are so adept at survival that they can even make it through a good mowing by keeping their leaves below the level of the blade. I have no idea how they do it, just that it’s very annoying having to go back over the lawn and remove them afterwards.
Your lawn is a battleground between your grass and the weeds. They are both in competition for the moisture and nutrients of the ground as well as the space to grow. Many times though it seems the weeds have the edge when it comes to adapting to survive.
Fortunately you can tip the odds in your favour with a little knowledge and application. Not everyone is in favour of using weed killers. I tend to avoid using chemicals wherever possible, but I make an exception for my lawn.
There are two kinds of weed killer, the contact or systemic types. The contact type is generally in the form of a lawn sand and contains iron sulphate, nitrate sulphate and sand. This word by burning the weeds. Grass is tall and thin so the weed killer doesn’t stick to it, weeds are generally broadleaved and can support the sand.
Systemic weed killers concentrate on the differences between weeds and grass. Grass is a monocote and has a completely different growth clock to a weed, which is a dicote. A systemic weed killer concentrates its anger on dicotes and forces the weed to outgrow itself so much that it can’t support the growth and dies. To be most effective the grass has to be at least a few days without being mown, and the weeds should have enough leaf growth to suck all the energy out of the roots.
Soil Ph control can also help with weed prevention. Most lawn weeds like their earth around 6.5Ph but grass prefers a slightly lower 6Ph. This is how lawn feeds work, they lower the Ph of the ground thus feeding the grass and removing the weeds. If you feed your lawn, a little and often approach works here as it can regulate the soil and provide nutrients to recently mown grass.
If you want to remain completely chemical free then a watering program may help. Giving your lawn a good, thorough soaking once a week instead of having the sprinkler on a couple of hours a day will encourage the grass to push its roots deeper into the ground to acquire moisture. This leaves much less water for shallow rooted weeds and they simply can’t survive. This is also an effective method of keeping a healthy lawn in our lovely Naples sunshine.
These are just some of the ways you can prevent weeds from taking over your lawn. Some use chemicals and other don’t. Whichever method you use, if you follow the guide, you should be enjoying a weed free lawn in no time!