5 Steps To Making A Lawn

How you gotten a bid on having a lawn professional service “make your lawn” recently?

If you have, you know that seed, fertilizer, soil conditioners (lime, peat, peatmoss) are not that expensive but that labor charges are high. You can beat them, however, by planting your own lawn, a much less arduous task than you think, thanks to modern gardening equipment available today.

The equipment you use in lawn making will be needed for lawn and garden maintenance over the years. So rather than pay labor charges, why not put that money into equipment? It can mean a big saving for you in the years to come.

The major job in making a lawn is to prepare the soil for planting, and for all but the smallest patch of lawn a power tiller of some kind is essential. If your house is on a half acre or more of ground, a riding tractor with a tiller attachment is not a luxury.

The labor charge for putting in a lawn of such size will defray a big part of the tractor’s cost. In the future, the tractor may be used with various attachments: lawn mower, cart, sweeper, snow remover, to name a few. Riding tractors – real beauties – start at approximately $1,000 and move up from there, with optional attachments at additional cost.

Walking tractors or tillers, good for small and large properties, start at about $150 and go to $1500 for heavy duty ones with features such as wheel drive and several forward speeds. Optional equipment for some models includes edging attachments to help you keep paths and borders neat and trim.

In deciding which type tractor will best meet your requirements, pay careful attention to the kind and construction of attachments.

Lots of information is available from manufacturers websites, garden centers or lawn mower shops. An online search should give you the name of the dealer nearest to you who handles their products. The dealer should be able to demonstrate and let you try out equipment without any obligation to buy.

Tillers

The first step is to rough grade, contouring the ground so it slopes from the house for good drainage. This is usually done by the builder, but if not, or if the contour is not esthetically pleasing, a tiller or plow attachment will loosen the ground, facilitating the bulldozing of soil to correct the existing grade.

The entire area is then tilled or plowed to a depth of 6 inches – deeper if subsoil is not brought to the surface. Tilling breaks the soil into small particles. Don’t till when soil is wet, however, for clods of earth may form, defeating your purpose. It is wise to go over the area several times in different directions, taking out stones and debris.

Carts

Stones and debris having been hauled away in hand carts, wheelbarrows, or tractor-drawn carts, piles of peatmoss or peat are placed at intervals over the rough, unraked soil. It is then distributed so the soil is covered with a 2- to 3-inch layer.

Moist peatmoss is easier to work with than dry. The application of peat-moss is a time-honored practice and helps produce lush green lawns in summer, especially if the basic soil is not first rate – either too sandy or a heavy clay. The peatmoss improves the soil structure, increasing its moisture and nutrient-holding capacity. It is almost impossible to apply too much, even if soil is good.

Spreaders

After the peatmoss is tilled into the soil, lime and fertilizer are applied with a spreader similar to the one above or with one drawn by a tractor. Spreaders give an even distribution, the exact quantity of lime and fertilizer needed having been determined by a soil test.

The general recommendation is 10 to 15 pounds of a complete lawn fertilizer, and if the soil is very acid, 75 pounds of limestone to 1000 square feet. These are then raked or tilled into the soil, and the surface is smoothed for seeding. After the soil has settled the seed is sown with the spreader, then raked, lightly rolled, watered.

Lawn Tractors

There are many types from which to choose. Power ranges from 10 to 15 hp, some have shiftless and clutchless transmissions, three to five forward speeds. Attachments are optional and include all essential lawn equipment mentioned below.

Mowers

Moisture is essential for seed germination and the growth of grass. Fall rains are generally adequate in supplying it, but sprinklers, as noted on the next page, may be needed.

When the grass reaches a height of about 3 inches, cut it back to 2 inches. Either a sharp reel, power rotary, or hand mower may be used.

A tractor-drawn mower is not recommended for the first few cuttings. The tractor’s wheels may damage the tender seedlings and make ruts in the soft earth. If you plan on a riding tractor with a mower attachment for lawn cutting in the future, borrow or rent a light walking mower for the first few cuttings, until grass is strong.

Sweepers

Clippings and leaves, particularly the latter, will smother a young lawn if not collected soon after they fall. Grass catchers are a feature of some lawn mowers, but if the model you select does not have one, remember clippings, as well as leaves, may be cleaned off the grass with a sweeper or blower.

You may use a hand sweeper, a powered one, or those that come as attachments for tractors. All are timesavers. Leaf mulchers, optional equipment for some tractors, may also be used.

It would probably be best to wait until the lawn is well established before using them, because even light mulch of pulverized leaves may damage new grass.

Sprinklers

After preparing the soil for planting as outlined, settle the soil by either watering it well or by rolling.

If you water, wait a day or two before sowing. After sowing, rake seed into the soil, barely covering it, and sprinkle or roll lightly and sprinkle. Then water daily to provide the moisture essential to seed germination.

When the grass shows green, water deeply once a week, as you would for an established lawn. Circular or square-pattern sprinklers are available.

Walk gently over the seeded lawn to place or change the location of sprinklers. The best time, incidentally, to install an underground sprinkler system is when you are in the process of preparing the soil for sowing.

Rollers

Hand or tractor-attachment rollers are used to firm the seed bed prior to sowing and again after sowing to press the seed in place.

Heavy rolling should be avoided, however, and it is not a good idea to roll heavy clay-type soils. Sprinkling will also settle the soil and firm the seed in place, as noted above.

In sections where freezing and thawing over winter expose grass roots, they may be pressed back in place by a light rolling in spring. Get local advice on rolling.

Erosion Controls

The risk of seed washing off slopes and steep banks is minimized by laying erosion nets or burlap over the soil after seeding. As soon as the seed germinates (shows a fuzz of green) remove the burlap.

Erosion netting may be left in place. A product designed to provide a protective blanket for freshly seeded lawns. It is a spray applied with a sprayer or sprinkling can and forms a weblike, non-water soluble coating.

When grass begins to grow, it decomposes and washes into the ground. Especially useful on steep embankments.