
OCTOBER 2024
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Acidic soil pH situations are a typical problem within the Maritimes. These acidic soil situations have a significant impact on the chemistry of the soil which makes it harder to develop wholesome grass. Many vital important garden vitamins are unavailable beneath these acidic soil situations, except in any other case corrected.
The local weather and vegetation contribute to those soil pH situations, and, typically, lime functions are required to assist neutralize acidic soil. Because the soil situations are neutralized, the garden can start to “take up” these vital vitamins making it a lot simpler to take care of a wholesome garden.
At Nutri-Garden we use a premium enhanced calcitic lime product that’s 4 occasions more practical than common dolomitic limestone functions. Our enhanced calcitic lime is specifically designed to work in a short time to neutralize soil situations and liberate important vitamins. Compared, common limestone functions can take as much as 4 years to totally breakdown and begin working.
When soil turns into too acidic, vitamins that grass must thrive turn into unavailable, leading to unhealthy turf. Common lime functions will enhance fertilizer efficiency, and scale back potential weed and moss issues.
Each early fall and late fall fertilizer functions present direct advantages for the garden together with the next:
- Promotes deep rooting in late fall and early spring.
- Prolongs darkish inexperienced turf colour into early winter.
- Ensures good winter survival.
- Enhances the storage of carbohydrates.
- Elevated shoot density.
- Offers early spring inexperienced up.
The vitamins can be used to encourage deep root progress as a substitute of shoot progress because the roots stay lively in cooler temperatures.
Thatch is undecomposed or partially decomposed layer of natural matter located above the soil floor.
- Thatch is a mixture of residing and lifeless matter together with crowns, stolons, rhizomes, and roots.
- Grass clippings don’t typically contribute to thatch buildup, they usually can simply be damaged down by soil microorganisms.
- Thatch accumulates when the speed of shoot progress exceeds the speed at which the above floor components of the plant decompose.
- Will increase insect and illness presence. Many turf bugs reside and feed within the thatch. Thatch additionally harbors illness inflicting organisms.
- Thatch decreases warmth, drought, and chilly tolerance.
- Thatch reduces the motion of air, water, and fertilizers.
Energy Raking is nice a technique to scale back thatch accumulation. It’s also a delicate technique to take away thatch from the garden with out inflicting the numerous injury typically related to dethatching.
Moss is a shallow-rooted plant that spreads by spores and root-like buildings referred to as rhizoids. It likes to develop in the course of the grey, moist days of late fall and early spring. Moss is not going to overtake or kill your garden, however as a substitute will fill in any areas the place the garden is skinny.
For mild to reasonable moss, raking is greatest carried out by hand, utilizing a leaf-type “fan” rake. Rake briskly to take away as a lot moss as potential, whereas minimizing injury to the turf grasses. Any naked areas ought to be re-seeded to fill in correctly. For heavy moss or bigger lawns, an influence rake could also be more practical.
Correct feeding, annual liquid aeration and enhanced calcitic lime functions will assist decrease the quantity of moss in a garden. If heavy moss recurs yr after yr, think about these elements:
SHADE / LOW LIGHT
All grasses want 4 hours minimal of direct daylight. Timber & shrubs could have grown to create shade. Are you able to prune to permit for extra mild? In areas of everlasting shade, (north of the home, hedge, or fence) the reply could also be to eradicate turf and plant a floor cowl that does higher in shaded areas.
POOR DRAINAGE
Soggy situations will persist in areas of poor drainage. Moss absorbs water and vitamins immediately from the encompassing setting and from the air. Core aeration helps however can not resolve an absence of drainage.
LACK OF AIR MOVEMENT
When yards are closed in by mature bushes, shrubs, and fencing, airflow can constrict inflicting damp situations to persist. Once more, may selective pruning assist?
Addressing these three situations might help to attenuate the quantity of moss you face every year.
Nutri-Garden
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