What's best will depend on your wants and needs. Gas-powered rotary lawn mowers can be divided into two categories: walk-behind rotary mowers and riding mowers lawn tractors.
The walk-behind rotary lawn mowers can further be classified according to whether they're push-type lawn mowers or self-propelled. Purchase price varies greatly between these types of rotary lawn mowers, with riding mowers / lawn tractors being the most expensive, followed by self-propelled mowers. The push-type mowers are the least expensive because they require you to provide the muscle to make them move.
Self-propelled rotary lawn mowers require the operator to squeeze a bar to engage the mower, which causes the machine to take off -- all you have to do is control the direction in which it goes. If you release your grip on the bar, the mower blade stops spinning.
For the higher-end self-propelled rotary mowers, the drive system does not shut off when you release the bar - a convenient feature, in case you'd like to transport the lawn mower from point A to point B without cutting grass along the way.
The difference between riding lawn mowers and lawn tractors lies in the location of the cutting deck. Lawn tractors have a mid-mounted cutting deck, while for riding lawn mowers the cutting deck is located under the front of the vehicle. The front-end location of the cutting deck on riding lawn mowers makes these machines more maneuverable. Maneuverability becomes an issue when, for instance, a lawn is dotted with shrubs and trees.
With both riding lawn mowers and lawn tractors you can make use of accessories ranging from brushes for spring cleaning to snow-removal attachments.
As with all lawn mowers, caution must be exercised when operating riding lawn mowers and lawn tractors. While providing them with a "vehicle" may seem like a great way to get the kids to mow the lawn without complaining, only those mature enough to handle heavy equipment should be allowed to operate riding lawn mowers and lawn tractors.
Choose a mower that's in your price range that meets the needs and standards that you have assigned to it. Go for comfort, though - in the long run, you'll be glad you did! Now that you've got the equipment, you're ready to put it to work!
Proper mowing, along with proper watering, can be the most critical factor in the appearance of a lawn. Good mowing techniques not only enhance the appearance of the lawn, but also increase the turf grass vigor.
There actually is a right and wrong time to mow. Most people just look at their lawns and decide if it's long enough to warrant a mowing, but you are going for that professionally landscaped look, so you need to pay heed to the expert's advice.
Lawn mowing should not be done when the grass is wet (under which conditions disease can be introduced, plus you incur the risk of slipping and getting injured).
Also, lawn mowing in the evening puts less stress on the lawn than lawn mowing when the sun is pounding down in the afternoon. Mowing during the heat of the day during hot weather may cause the lawn to brown. It is best to mow during the cooler part of the day.
Mowing frequency will change throughout the year with different weather patterns. Cool season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass may require mowing twice a week in the spring, but only every 7-10 days in the summer. Warm season grasses such as Bermuda grass may need more frequent mowing in the summer than in the fall or spring.
Aesthetics aside, there's a good lawn-care reason not to wait longer in between mowing, each time simply mowing the lawn when the grass is higher and reducing the overall number of mowing. Sure, such a policy would reduce time spent on lawn care. But you get out of lawn care what you put into it.
It may come as a surprise that mowing the lawn is about more than just keeping your lawn's height under control. If done properly, mowing stimulates the grass of your lawn to lushness and better health, just as pinching a garden plant can improve its appearance. Proper mowing technique is an important aspect of overall lawn care.
So what is a proper mowing technique? Generally, you should alternate the direction in which you mow each lawn mowing session. You will thereby prevent your grass from "getting into a rut" (literally).
If your lawn mower wheels pass over the same area in the same direction each time you mow, they'll form ruts over time. Switching lawn mowing patterns also wisely avoids having the lawn mower blade beating at the grass in the same direction at every mowing.
Novices will just set the mower at the lowest setting to cut the grass as close to the ground as possible thus cutting down on the frequency of needing to mow. This isn't a good practice.
Certain grasses need to mown to a certain height to promote growth and healthiness. A general rule of thumb for almost all grasses is to mow to between 2 and 3 inches in height.
Height is important because the grass uses the extra length to absorb the sunshine it needs to grow and develop into a healthy plant. Never remove more than 1/3 at any one mowing. This may mean you'll have to mow more often during prime growing times (usually spring and early fall).
Turf grass stressed by mowing too low is more prone to disease, weed invasion, drought and traffic stress. Removal of most of the leaf blade limits food production. Limited food production decreases root, thizome, and stolon growth. Plants with limited food production and a limited root system will not have vigorous growth.
A vigorous, dense turf grass area is one of the best defenses against weed invasion. Weak grass plants with a limited root system are more prone to drought damage. It is particularly important to mow high during dry weather. Mowing height varies for different turf grass species:
Many turf grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass should be cut at 2 1/2 to 3 inches. Bentgrass and bermuda grass should be cut at 1 to 1 1/2 inches. Determine the type of turf grass in a lawn before recommending mowing heights. The grass should be mowed so that no more than 1/3 of the leaf blade is removed. If the desired height is 3", mow the grass when it has grown to 4".
If you let the grass grow too long and then mow it too low, scalping will occur on your lawn. When you do this, excess leaf blade tissue is removed. Such "scalping" of the lawn can cause severe visual damage.
More importantly, scalping shocks the grass plants and growth slows or stops, limiting the vigor of the turf. A scalped lawn may dry out quickly from drought, or may develop unusual weed and disease problems.
You will also want to make sure your mower blades are sharp. A dull mower blade shreds the tips of the grass blades. The shredding opens the ends of the leaf blades for increased moisture loss and potentially provides a site for disease invasion. Lawns cut with a dull mower blade may have an overall white appearance from the shredded grass blades.
By: Jeffrey Seymour
Find tips about fertilizing lawn and lawn weeds at the Lawn Tips website.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
How Earthworms Help Your Lawn
If you're tired of using man made chemical fertilizers and poisons to improve the condition of your lawn, maybe you should take a look at one of nature's oldest and most enduring soil conditioners - earthworms.
Earthworms have inhabited this planet for millions of years acting as a natural control to other insects and micro-organisms. They are not only good for the soil, but their very existence indicates that the soil is healthy. If you find no earthworms in your soil, you literally may not have healthy soil.
Earthworms also help to aerate your soil which is important to the root systems of plants. If your soil is too dense, water and nutrients will have trouble reaching the root systems of your grass or other plants and will lead to them starving or traveling to the surface, which is not good. Aeration has a plethora of benefits to the soil. It helps to reduce and eliminate thatching. It reduces water runoff and improves soil drainage. Aeration helps to loosen compacted soil, especially soil that has a heavy percentage of clay, allowing the soil to "breathe."
Earthworms are nocturnal creatures and you won't normally see them in the daylight hours. They hate the daylight, probably from eons of experience being eaten by early morning birds. They love the dark and that is where you'll most likely find them on the surface. They also seek the surface after long periods of rain where they may come to the surface for air.
If you want to drive all the earthworms to your neighbor's lawn, then use a chemical fertilizer that has a high percentage of nitrogen. Large amounts of nitrogen tend to make the soil acidic which earthworms do not like. If the soil becomes too acidic, your friendly earthworms will seek greener pastures elsewhere.
If, however, you want to help your earthworm friends, leave your lawn clippings on the lawn when you cut it. The grass clippings contain natural levels of nitrogen, which is good for the soil. In addition, lawn clippings are a good source of food for earthworms.
Many chemical fertilizers have trifluralin as an active ingredient. Trifluralin is a suspected carcinogen which the EPA put under special review in the early eighties because of the presence of a contaminant that had been shown to cause tumors in animals. If you use chemical fertilizers on your soil, you are possibly putting the health of your lawn's earthworms in danger.
Eliminating poisons has other benefits as well. Domesticated dogs and cats often chew on grass, dandelions, and other plants in the garden. If the lawn and plants have been treated with pesticides, your pets are also eating pesticides. In the best case, they will not be harmed. But depending on the levels of pesticides used, they could end up with an upset stomach or worse, they could be seriously poisoned. The same applies to your kids if they play on the lawn and put things in their mouth as young kids will often do.
With these facts in mind, you have to ask yourself if using chemical fertilizers is worth it, even if they offer a much easier way of keeping your lawn looking good. If, however, you are willing to try natural means of lawn care, you may find that the lowly earthworm is your lawn's new best friend.
By: Alex Murphy
Alex Murphy loves his lawn and is always looking for ways to improve his lawn. If you are a do-it-yourselfer and interested in lawn care diy (do it yourself) tasks, read more of his articles at his site.
Earthworms have inhabited this planet for millions of years acting as a natural control to other insects and micro-organisms. They are not only good for the soil, but their very existence indicates that the soil is healthy. If you find no earthworms in your soil, you literally may not have healthy soil.
Earthworms also help to aerate your soil which is important to the root systems of plants. If your soil is too dense, water and nutrients will have trouble reaching the root systems of your grass or other plants and will lead to them starving or traveling to the surface, which is not good. Aeration has a plethora of benefits to the soil. It helps to reduce and eliminate thatching. It reduces water runoff and improves soil drainage. Aeration helps to loosen compacted soil, especially soil that has a heavy percentage of clay, allowing the soil to "breathe."
Earthworms are nocturnal creatures and you won't normally see them in the daylight hours. They hate the daylight, probably from eons of experience being eaten by early morning birds. They love the dark and that is where you'll most likely find them on the surface. They also seek the surface after long periods of rain where they may come to the surface for air.
If you want to drive all the earthworms to your neighbor's lawn, then use a chemical fertilizer that has a high percentage of nitrogen. Large amounts of nitrogen tend to make the soil acidic which earthworms do not like. If the soil becomes too acidic, your friendly earthworms will seek greener pastures elsewhere.
If, however, you want to help your earthworm friends, leave your lawn clippings on the lawn when you cut it. The grass clippings contain natural levels of nitrogen, which is good for the soil. In addition, lawn clippings are a good source of food for earthworms.
Many chemical fertilizers have trifluralin as an active ingredient. Trifluralin is a suspected carcinogen which the EPA put under special review in the early eighties because of the presence of a contaminant that had been shown to cause tumors in animals. If you use chemical fertilizers on your soil, you are possibly putting the health of your lawn's earthworms in danger.
Eliminating poisons has other benefits as well. Domesticated dogs and cats often chew on grass, dandelions, and other plants in the garden. If the lawn and plants have been treated with pesticides, your pets are also eating pesticides. In the best case, they will not be harmed. But depending on the levels of pesticides used, they could end up with an upset stomach or worse, they could be seriously poisoned. The same applies to your kids if they play on the lawn and put things in their mouth as young kids will often do.
With these facts in mind, you have to ask yourself if using chemical fertilizers is worth it, even if they offer a much easier way of keeping your lawn looking good. If, however, you are willing to try natural means of lawn care, you may find that the lowly earthworm is your lawn's new best friend.
By: Alex Murphy
Alex Murphy loves his lawn and is always looking for ways to improve his lawn. If you are a do-it-yourselfer and interested in lawn care diy (do it yourself) tasks, read more of his articles at his site.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Getting Rid Of Ants The Safest Way
Ant season is on the horizon.
As the ground warms up in the spring, ants who have been dormant in the earth during the colder weather warm up and come to the surface. Queen ants fly off to find new nesting areas...and before you know it, ants are back in our world.
While ants play an important roll in the ecosystem, it is no picnic when they become pests in our world.
But all too often, when people have a pest problem they run to the store and buy a can of toxic pesticide, come home and spray the pest.
Whoa! Let's step back and take a look at handling ant problems using a least toxic approach.
Perhaps I should first define "least toxic approach." This term means you try to solve the insect problem with the least toxic material. If that doesn't work, then you try something a little toxic but not as toxic as poison. You keep trying to solve the insect problem using progressively more toxic substances until you find something that works. Using this approach, the solution to your insect problem can range from doing nothing to spraying toxic insect killer, if that is the only thing that works.
Why should you bother with a least toxic approach? For one thing, studies are beginning to reveal the serious side effects of the overuse of toxic pesticides in our environment.
Did you know that evidence suggests a risk for some types of cancer and even genetic damage from exposure to pesticides?
And perhaps worst of all, children are especially at risk.
Why wait until science finally makes a direct link to damaged genes and pesticides? By that time, the damage could already be done to your genes and those of your children.
You can help protect yourself, your children and our planet by doing your part to be a good steward of our environment right now. One way to do that is to adapt a least toxic approach to pest problems...and that's what our article series on getting rid of ants is all about.
By: Joey Singer
Visit the Starting A Garden website to learn about how to plant a garden and gardening problems.
As the ground warms up in the spring, ants who have been dormant in the earth during the colder weather warm up and come to the surface. Queen ants fly off to find new nesting areas...and before you know it, ants are back in our world.
While ants play an important roll in the ecosystem, it is no picnic when they become pests in our world.
But all too often, when people have a pest problem they run to the store and buy a can of toxic pesticide, come home and spray the pest.
Whoa! Let's step back and take a look at handling ant problems using a least toxic approach.
Perhaps I should first define "least toxic approach." This term means you try to solve the insect problem with the least toxic material. If that doesn't work, then you try something a little toxic but not as toxic as poison. You keep trying to solve the insect problem using progressively more toxic substances until you find something that works. Using this approach, the solution to your insect problem can range from doing nothing to spraying toxic insect killer, if that is the only thing that works.
Why should you bother with a least toxic approach? For one thing, studies are beginning to reveal the serious side effects of the overuse of toxic pesticides in our environment.
Did you know that evidence suggests a risk for some types of cancer and even genetic damage from exposure to pesticides?
And perhaps worst of all, children are especially at risk.
Why wait until science finally makes a direct link to damaged genes and pesticides? By that time, the damage could already be done to your genes and those of your children.
You can help protect yourself, your children and our planet by doing your part to be a good steward of our environment right now. One way to do that is to adapt a least toxic approach to pest problems...and that's what our article series on getting rid of ants is all about.
By: Joey Singer
Visit the Starting A Garden website to learn about how to plant a garden and gardening problems.
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