HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Rural Voice, 2004-11, Page 34Gardening
How to make sure the grass is greener
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
I get quite excited by all the new
information that is available out there
for gardeners.
The Guelph Turf Grass Institute
hosted a one -day workshop on, of all
things, turf and alternatives to
pesticides. Turf is not high on my list
of things 1 want to know more about.
1 know that my husband likes the
grass to look green all summer yet we
don't water it. We also have a few
discussions about how short the lawn
should be kept.
The problem was solved this
summer with a handy little "grass
card". It is about the size of a
business card and features a
measuring gauge down one side to
measure your grass height. Three
inches is the ideal height AFTER
mowing; two inches means you have
to let it grow; and if your lawn
measures one inch it is too short.
On the flip side are five handy
reasons for mowing your lawn high:
it promotes stronger deeper roots,
chokes out weeds and crabgrass;
ensures better drought tolerance;
improves insect and disease
resistance; and reduces the need for
pesticides.
The card is a handy device and has
saved us a lot of discussion this
summer. Out would come the card
and off would go the lawn mower.
Produced by the Integrated Pest
Management Committee of the city
of Woodstock as part of the Healthy
Plants, Healthy Environment
campaign, it really should be
reproduced here. What a great little
project.
If you are concerned about your
lawn then fall is a good time to take
some steps to improve matters and
get a head start before spring. (It is so
30 THE RURAL VOICE
nice to think of spring before the
snow really flies.) Winterkill is one
of the key problems for lawns. It can
be caused in three different ways:
direct low temperature stress/crown
hydration; winter desiccation injury
caused by low temperature, and
fungi.
The main cause of winter injury is
direct low temperature kill.
So how do we make our plants
more winter hardy? The Ministry of
Agriculture and Food has a great fact
sheet on winterizing turf and can be
found on their web site. Basically the
grass plant becomes more winter
hardy when it can store sugar in its
cells thereby lowering the level of
water in the plant. The fact sheet
states it simply. "A cell with a high
sugar content is more resistant to
freezing than one with a low sugar
content. A good analogy is a bottle of
juice will take longer to freeze than a
bottle of water".
Then there is the question of
applying a late season fertilizer.
Timing is critical. Your grass should
be finished growing and yet still be
green.
You don't want to encourage a
new growth that will be killed off or
apply too late and see your fertilizer
washed away. This wonderful fall
weather that we have all been
enjoying has extended the growing
season but it could all change in a
day. It is best to apply a granular
fertilizer rather than a liquid which
could freeze around the plant.
This late fall application will put
off your spring fertilizing until into
the growing season, about mid-May.
And of course we are back to the
mowing issue. Even in the fall do not
be tempted to cut the lawn too short.
The height of the grass indicates the
depth of the roots. Good deep roots
makes for stronger plants.
Back to Guelph. Dr. Ken Carey
spoke briefly on the alternatives to
pesticides that are being used
today. There is quite an
assortment although not all
are available or practical
for the home gardener.
Nevertheless it
doesn't hurt to be aware of what is
out there. The first alternative is the
assorted fungi, bacteria, and viruses
that are introduced as direct
antagonists to the problem pest. This
seems pretty self-explanatory. The
second was silica which when
applied like a fertilizer prevents the
entry of diseases into a plant — not
something available to the average
home gardener.
Induced resistance works like a
vaccine would for us. A substance
which mimics a disease is introduced
to a plant which activates the plant's
natural resistance response. Along
similar lines is manipulating plant
genes to resist certain diseases and
pests.
Botanical extracts like nicotine
and pyrethrums and extracts from
neem are just a small part of a long
list being looked at for their select
work in gardens, fields and
greenhouses.
One fascinating alternative that I
had not heard of before was corn
gluten. It is a by-product of wet
milling to make cornstarch. Corn
gluten is used as an animal feed for
livestock, poultry, fish and, yes, even
dog food — I went and checked our
dog food and it is there. In fact with a
little looking it is surprising just
how many dog foods list it as
an ingredient.
In 1985 Dr. Nick
Christians of Iowa State
University accidentally
discovered that corn
gluten contained a
naturally occurring
substance which
breaks down
the cell wall
of a
seed's
tiny
r