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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

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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