THIS IS not the time of the
year to begin neglecting the
lawn.

Mind sou, if your lawn is
already a wreck and you are not
yet willing ty initiate corrective
procedures, turn to the comics, the
classifieds, Mr. Collins or some
other equally stimulating article —
this will not be for vou.

if you do not make some at-
tempt at continued good lawn care
now the lawn will reward you with
weeds, moss, and a general decline
in the quality of its appearance.

Take watering for an example.
Last week I made same remarks
concerning the advent of frosty
weather which most ‘ould assume
to arrive hand in hand with our
annual case of the wets.

Well, as must be apparent to all,
my connections with the Ultimate
Cosmic Weatherman must indeed
be poor.

I think I must have pulled a Rip
Van Winkle and slept right
through fall, winter and spring and
will once again have to deal with
the watering of summer,

Seriously, our lawns not only

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require enough water to compen-
sate for the dehydration of hot
weather, extra is needed in the fall.
The cooler evenings we are cur-
rently experiencing yreate a burst
of new growth that demands
substantial amounts of water.

For essentially the same reasons,
one last application of a quick
release, high-nitrogen fertilizer
would help to replenish the thick,
lustrous character of your lawn. A
thick, healthy lawn is much less
susceptible to the infestation of
weeds and moss and will therefore
be less of a problem next year,

This fertilizer application will be
sufficient for the year, but you
aren't done yet.

We should apply a ‘“winteriz-
ing’ Jawn food which is higher in
phosphorus and potassiurn (the
last two numbers) than it is’ in
nitrogen (the first number). Look
for 6-9-18 formula or something
similar to it.

Dolomite lime can be applied
when the fall rains begin if you feel
the lawn is overly acid or if it has
signs of moss,

The application of moss killer
should wait until spring when you
can attempt the thorough banish-
ment of this pest of all pests in the
Pacific Northwest.

"i

story a few weeks ago so all 1 will
mention now is that it is still an
excellent time, and it will be for
some two or three weeks yet, to
apply diazinon at label rates.

Try to maintain a regular cutting
period and try to keep the lawn as

thicker, more dense ground cover,
Another area of concern,
especially after a long, hot, dry
summer such as this, is the shed-
ding of the conifers, especially the
cedars.
They will do this every year, but

over the

garden gate
by Geoff Tobiasson

short as you can (longer if you
can’t water). Letting the lawn get
too long between cuttings will en-
courage the yellowing and thinning
of the grass near the roots.

If you then cut this overly-long
grass you will expose the soil to the
hot, dry weather (let's hope) and
the seeds of weeds and the spore of
moss.

The same reasoning can be used
for maintaining the grass at shorter

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Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Saturday 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
987-9374 or 985-6155

years tike this one will result in
trees producing a bumper crop of
needles which must be removed or
they will release toxins that will
weaken or even kill the grass.

If your lawn is already too thin,
you could reseed now with a rea-
sonable expectation of success.

The warm days will assist in the
speedy germination of seed and the
cool nights and heavy dewfall will
help to prevent excessive drying.

If your lawn is shady then use a
seed mixture that contains poa
trivialis or rough stalked bluegrass.
This variety is particularly useful
in shady, damp areas but beware
the drought of summer as this can
easily kill it off.

For areas out of the shade, try
to use high quality mixtures that
contain improved, named varieties
of seed rather than a generic varic-
ty.
An example of this would be
“Palmer’ perennial rye rather
than simply perennial rye or
“Georgetown” Kentucky bluegrass
over Kentucky bluegrass,

Many of you have heard the
term ‘‘Don’t cut my grass'’; well, 1
wonder if you could offer mine as
an alternative the next time.

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