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Friday, March 22, 1991 - North Shore News - 13

etting down to grass tacks

EYER WONDER why you don’t see much grass growing
in the forest or why you don’t see many trees on the
grasslands? If you guessed that it is a compatibility prob-
lem, take home the cupie doll. Now go for the bonus

points and tell me why.

It is not that difficult to under-
stand the no-grass-in-the-trees part
(mere about that later), but why
no trees in grass? One look at the
Prairies should tell all. No, the
soil-is not too poor tO support (ree
growth.

Besides grass, what was the
dominant life form on these great
grasslands of the Americas? If
you said buffalo, you've earned
yourself a panda. And if you see
the connection between the lack of
trees and these huge, natura! lawn
mowers, | am closing up stall be-
fore you take home all the prizes.

Yes, that’s right. Trees do not
grow in grasslands because grazing
herds of buffalo, antelope,
wildebeest and other bovine
beasties keep chewing them off
before they get a chance to devel-
op.

Let’s look at the relevance of all
this to life in your home garden.
The first one is easy. If you wani
to grow a tree in your lawn, do
not allow herds of buffalo to
graze unattended. Oh, and don’t
run over it with the lawn mower.

Fortunately or not, we have no
trouble growing trees on the
North Shore. In fact, going by the
hostilities that I have witnessed
between otherwise civil neighbors,

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I would say the opposite is true —
trees grow too well on the North
Shore!

This being the case, most of us
have a great deal of difficulty in
growing lawns. To better under-
stand why ond what we can do
about it, let’s go back 10 the home
where the buffalo roam.

Grass is adapted to grow in
wide open spaces. Lots of sun-
shine, air flow and no major
competition. It also happens to be
in soils which are rich in naturat
limestones and therefore closer to
pH neutral and high in calcium.

How does that compare with
fife under your cedar tree? Not
too well, eh? The evergreen
behemoth takes all the sunshine,
most of the water and nutrients
and acidifies the soil to boot.
Grass wili grow in this environ-
ment, but only just barely. If you
do not give it special attention, it
will soon fade away leaving you
nothing but a sea of moss.

So what can we do?

You could feed and water and
cut and over-seed and lime and
thatch and apply moss killer and
aerate and top dress and drop
dead from exhaustion.

Or you could take a balanced
approach to both of these ex-

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‘L==GARDEN CENTRE

Geoff
Tobiasson

OVER THE GARDEN GATE

tremes, :

Look at each component of
good turf management and iden-
tify the besi means of altering
conditions in a way that will pro-
mote the development of this
compost.

Removing the trees entirely will
increase the available light levels,
but so will the random removal of
50 per cent of its branches.
“Windowing” or thinning the tree
in this manner will assure the
grass enough light

The requirements for good air

circulation are a little more dif-
ficult to undersiand. Like all
members of the plant kingdom,
grass converts light, water and
carbon dioxide into the sugars and
Starches required to promote
growth.

It is easy to see why noon is the
most productive period of the day
for most plants: more intense tight
means more photosynthesis. It
also increases the need for fresh
supplies of carbon dioxide.
Studies conducted in windless en-
vironments show that the Jevels of
available carbon dioxide found
within a few inches of the turf
shrink to levels found during the
night.

if your trees and underbrush do
not allow the free flow of air over
your lawn, it will suffer from car-
bon dioxide deprivation.

If you limb your trees up so
that the lowest foliage is at least
six feet from the ground, you will
encourage the free movement of
air.

Open up some of the areas
which hamper prevailing breezes,

When coniferous trees such as
cedars and hemlocks drop needles
and other plant parts onto your
lawn, get as much of it out as
possible.

Regular applications of

A VARIETY OF
CHOICES IN
GARDEN
RETAINING WALLS

SER

dolomite will raise the pH (less
acid), work towards neutralizing
some of these natural growth in-
hibitors and add calcium to the
soil.

Calcium is an essential nutrient
to the development of healthy
grass. | would suggest one ap-
plication in mid-November and
another during the middle of Feb-
ruary. Both of these should be at
rates of 1 bag per 1,000 square
feet.

Monster trees take more than
their fair share of the available
water and nutrients out of the
garden. Make sure you pay special
attention to irrigation under and
around them during drought.

For the same reasons, you
should also be a fittle more dili-
gent with the fertilizer. Try to use
a fast releasing, high nitrogen
form at ieast 3 times during the
growing season.

Next is over-seeding. Cut the
grass to just under an inch in
height then spread a seed mix
containing a large degree of red
fescue at the rate of 2 to 3 pounds
per 1,000 square feet (i to 1.5
kilograms per 100 square meters.

The most important aspect of
turfgrass care under and around
large trees is the adoption of a
regular maintenance program.

LANDSCAPE
EDGING