Every autumn, we cover the garden beds with leaves to protect the soil. Keeping the leaves on site has many advantages.
1. Plants take up nutrients, and when the plants die back for the year, if left on site, the nutrients will go back into the soil.
2. The average rainfall in Vancouver between October 1st and April 30th is 1150 mm or 3.75 feet for the seven months. The average raindrop hits the ground at 24 kph or 15 mph. This amount of water hitting the soil creates a tremendous amount of compaction. An inch of mulch on top of the soil absorbs the impact of this much water on the soil.
3. If the soil is protected from rain, and does not get compacted, all the useful little critters and microbes stay alive to do their good work for another season.
Often, we are asked when we will be removing the leaves in the spring. The answer is usually, we won't remove the leaves. An ecologically designed garden has many tiers of plants covering the soil. In the spring, as the deciduous plants rise from the soil, they cover the decomposing leaves. By summer, the leaves have decomposed back into the soil to provide nutrients for the earth again.
The only time we remove leaves is if they are so filled with tannins (i.e. oak, beech), that they will blow all over before they ever decompose. These leaves go into the compost where their decomposition is accelerated. These leaves can stay at the back of beds behind or beneath plants, but we do remove them from front entrance or feature beds.
Whenever we can, the autumn leaves get mowed up before being applied to garden beds. Mowing the leaves speeds up decomposition, and makes the leaves small enough to provide a mulch and allows moisture to penetrate to the soil.
Showing posts with label lawn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lawn. Show all posts
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Chaefer Beetle = Redesign
Truthfully, we Cultivated Gardeners love the Chaefer Beetle. We find homeowners are tired of fighting the Chaefer Beetle and call us for help. We turn the problem into the solution.
What do you do if your lawn is decimated by the effects of Chaefer Beetle larvae? Here are two options:
1) If you really need a lawn, then renovate your lawn and learn how to care for the grass so it grows deep roots and is no longer victim to Chaefer Beetle Buffett.
2) If you don't need a lawn, remove the lawn and plant a beautiful garden. This is what we like to do. We have posted some of our garden designs on Houzz.com houzz.com/pro/ecolisa/.
Many of these designs are a direct result of Chaefer Beetle related damage. Once their lawn has been decimated, people reassess why they have a lawn, and if a garden would be more suitable.
From the view of maintenance, a properly designed and installed garden is less maintenance than lawn. If the garden is not properly designed and/or installed, it will be more maintenance than a lawn.
If you are not sure how to design and install successfully, feel free to call us for help. It is what we do. www.thecultivatedgardeners.com.
What do you do if your lawn is decimated by the effects of Chaefer Beetle larvae? Here are two options:
1) If you really need a lawn, then renovate your lawn and learn how to care for the grass so it grows deep roots and is no longer victim to Chaefer Beetle Buffett.
2) If you don't need a lawn, remove the lawn and plant a beautiful garden. This is what we like to do. We have posted some of our garden designs on Houzz.com houzz.com/pro/ecolisa/.
Many of these designs are a direct result of Chaefer Beetle related damage. Once their lawn has been decimated, people reassess why they have a lawn, and if a garden would be more suitable.
From the view of maintenance, a properly designed and installed garden is less maintenance than lawn. If the garden is not properly designed and/or installed, it will be more maintenance than a lawn.
If you are not sure how to design and install successfully, feel free to call us for help. It is what we do. www.thecultivatedgardeners.com.
Monday, 11 March 2013
Life of a Chaefer Beetle
Today I removed part of a lawn, and found many Chaefer Beetle larvae under the lawn. In Vancouver, the Chaefer Beetle is currently about 1/2" in diameter. Like most beetle larvae, the Chaefer Beetle larvae is creamy white with a black head.
The lawn that I dug up had strong roots, so the Chaefer Beetle larvae were safe from crows and raccoons.
The Chafer Beetle likes laying eggs in the dense root of lawns. The eggs are in the lawn, and when they hatch, the larvae feed on the roots of the grass. When they mature, the Chaefer Beetles fly into the air, get jiggy with each other, and then fly back down to the ground to lay eggs.
Last year in Vancouver, I counted three cycles of Chaefer Beetle life between spring and autumn. I counted the cycles by counting how many times I saw lawns dug up by crows and raccoons. An observational analysis more than a scientific study.
The lawn that I dug up had strong roots, so the Chaefer Beetle larvae were safe from crows and raccoons.
The Chafer Beetle likes laying eggs in the dense root of lawns. The eggs are in the lawn, and when they hatch, the larvae feed on the roots of the grass. When they mature, the Chaefer Beetles fly into the air, get jiggy with each other, and then fly back down to the ground to lay eggs.
Last year in Vancouver, I counted three cycles of Chaefer Beetle life between spring and autumn. I counted the cycles by counting how many times I saw lawns dug up by crows and raccoons. An observational analysis more than a scientific study.
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Chaefer Beetles in Vancouver
Once again, crows and raccoons are dining on delicious Chaefer Beetle larvae. These larvae are living under lawns. The crows and raccoons dig up lawns to get to the larvae.
Why are some lawns affected and not others? The lawn has to be easy to dig. Crows only use their beaks, and raccoons their paws. I have dug up lawns with deep roots, and the Chaefer Beetle larvae are under the roots, but they are safe from crows and raccoons.
Lawns that are easy to dig have shallow roots. A lawn should not have shallow roots. A lawn gets shallow roots from being cut too short, and not getting watered effectively. Generally, the roots of a lawn are as long as the blades of grass. So if the lawn is only 1" high, chances are, the roots are only 1" deep.
If a lawn is watered at short intervals, the water cannot penetrate very deeply into the soil. If the water is not penetrating into the soil, the grass roots come to the surface looking for moisture, and again, this leads to shallow roots.
You have probably heard this before: raise the mower blade so the lawnmower is cutting the lawn at least 2" high. When the grass is growing quickly in the spring, 2" is a good height. As the grass growing slows down when the weather gets hotter, lawns can be 2.5-3.0" high.
Why are some lawns affected and not others? The lawn has to be easy to dig. Crows only use their beaks, and raccoons their paws. I have dug up lawns with deep roots, and the Chaefer Beetle larvae are under the roots, but they are safe from crows and raccoons.
Lawns that are easy to dig have shallow roots. A lawn should not have shallow roots. A lawn gets shallow roots from being cut too short, and not getting watered effectively. Generally, the roots of a lawn are as long as the blades of grass. So if the lawn is only 1" high, chances are, the roots are only 1" deep.
If a lawn is watered at short intervals, the water cannot penetrate very deeply into the soil. If the water is not penetrating into the soil, the grass roots come to the surface looking for moisture, and again, this leads to shallow roots.
You have probably heard this before: raise the mower blade so the lawnmower is cutting the lawn at least 2" high. When the grass is growing quickly in the spring, 2" is a good height. As the grass growing slows down when the weather gets hotter, lawns can be 2.5-3.0" high.
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Spring Lawn Maintenance
If it is March, it must be time to start top dressing lawns with Transform's Lawn Conditioner. We use this instead of aerating, liming and fertilizing lawns with chemical fertilizers.
Aerating may be productive in dry climates, but aerating in Vancouver during the spring does not make any sense. Powered aerators are large, extremely heavy pieces of equipment. The aerating tines are attached to a great big roller. A weight is placed in the roller to ensure the roller is forced down, embedding the tines deeply into a lawn. As the roller rolls, the tines roll over the lawn.
This system works perfectly on nice, dry lawns. As the tines are rolled out of the lawn, the small cylindrical plugs of turf fall out of the tines, leaving the tines empty for the next go round. Great idea!
However, there are no nice, dry lawns in Vancouver in the spring. On average, Vancouver receives 75 cm, or 2.5 feet, of rain from November to February.
When someone rolls an aerator over a lawn in March in Vancouver, after the first rotation, the tines are filled with muddy turf. Filled tines mean that all subsequent rotations of the roller are simply pushing the turf aside to make a dent. Few plugs fall out of the tines, so the lawn is not being aerated, but compacted. With all the water already in the soil from 75 cm of rain falling, the last thing a lawn needs is more compaction.
What Transform's Lawn Conditioner does is give life to the soil in which the lawn is planted. The Lawn Conditioner is filled with healthy microbes and nutrients. Add this as a top dressing to a lawn, and the soil comes alive. When soil is alive, it attracts the under the earth life, like worms, that in turn aerate the soil.
If you still feel the need to aerate in Vancouver, do it in September when the ground is dry. Add some compost as a top dressing, and your lawn will be set for the winter.
We buy our Transform Products (http://www.transformcompost.com) through Greenway at Marine Way and Greenall in Burnaby (sales@greenwaylandscape.ca).
Aerating may be productive in dry climates, but aerating in Vancouver during the spring does not make any sense. Powered aerators are large, extremely heavy pieces of equipment. The aerating tines are attached to a great big roller. A weight is placed in the roller to ensure the roller is forced down, embedding the tines deeply into a lawn. As the roller rolls, the tines roll over the lawn.
This system works perfectly on nice, dry lawns. As the tines are rolled out of the lawn, the small cylindrical plugs of turf fall out of the tines, leaving the tines empty for the next go round. Great idea!
However, there are no nice, dry lawns in Vancouver in the spring. On average, Vancouver receives 75 cm, or 2.5 feet, of rain from November to February.
When someone rolls an aerator over a lawn in March in Vancouver, after the first rotation, the tines are filled with muddy turf. Filled tines mean that all subsequent rotations of the roller are simply pushing the turf aside to make a dent. Few plugs fall out of the tines, so the lawn is not being aerated, but compacted. With all the water already in the soil from 75 cm of rain falling, the last thing a lawn needs is more compaction.
What Transform's Lawn Conditioner does is give life to the soil in which the lawn is planted. The Lawn Conditioner is filled with healthy microbes and nutrients. Add this as a top dressing to a lawn, and the soil comes alive. When soil is alive, it attracts the under the earth life, like worms, that in turn aerate the soil.
If you still feel the need to aerate in Vancouver, do it in September when the ground is dry. Add some compost as a top dressing, and your lawn will be set for the winter.
We buy our Transform Products (http://www.transformcompost.com) through Greenway at Marine Way and Greenall in Burnaby (sales@greenwaylandscape.ca).
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