Tips For Care and Landscaping Your Real Turf

Everyone likes verdant lawns. The green looking lawns are a result of painstaking efforts and some real turf care. It is not very difficult to maintain the green turf as in golf courses or the horse races. Read all about it here

Easy and simple Real Turf Care Guidelines

A green looking turf that you see in the catalogues of golf clubs is not very difficult to maintain. You too can do this landscaping . All it takes is work and some common sense tips. You will be surprised if I were to tell you that you could have a good lawn if you follow the rule of 25 mm and the rule of third. Let me explain

Watering of Lawn: You should water the lawn just enough so that the evaporation loss is replenished and the grass gets its due share. The rule of 25 gives the value of water loss through evaporation.

When watering the lawn. Take a dish and keep it in the area where watering is being done and allow about 25 mm height of water to get stored in the dish. After watering is complete, place the dish in the same where it was filled up and allow the water to evaporate. Note the time required for water to evaporate. You should water the lawn after this time interval.

The watering should be heavy and infrequent rather than frequent and shallow. When you water the lawn shallow, the root system starts looking for water and the root system does not penetrate deep in the ground. At the same time there should be no water logging in any area. The water logging would destroy the grass in that area.

Over-watering will not kill the grass but water logging will definitely do it. In fact over-watering is good. Infrequent over-watering coupled with generous use of nitrogen rich fertilizers will help in developing spongy grass on which you will feel elated when walking.

Watering of lawns should be done in the morning so that the water has time to penetrate to the ground. Water evaporation is highest during noontime. Watering at this time, would only allow higher evaporation. You do not want water to evaporate, you want it to reach the ground and penetrate the surface, so water in the morning or evening when evaporation rate is minimal.

Mowing The Lawns Second Real Turf Care

Mowing the lawns carefully and timely is the second care that you will give to the lawns. The rule for the real turf care is rule of third. When mowing the lawns, do not cut the grass more than the third of the existing blade length. A marine crew cut is not the best way to develop green grass. In fact, you are killing the grass if you give it a marine crew cut.

The root system does not develop properly when you give it a close shave and the growth of grass is reduced. Hence, the grass should never be cut close to ground. Depending on the type of grass the blade length could be between 20 to 40 mm. For example, the buffalo grass should be allowed to grow 30 to 40 mm in summer and winter before cutting. Follow the rule of third and the minimum blade length will be maintained.

When you cut the grass, you may leave the cut grass instead of removing it so that the grass gets its food from the cut grass. Care should be taken to see that thatching of soil should not occur; otherwise, grass growth could be restricted.

With two simple rules, you can get good-looking lawns.

Andrew Caxton is the webmaster and successful author of http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com A guide on lawn mowers and garden tractors and how to choose the right type for your garden, including synthetic turf for landscaping different garden styles.

 

Bermuda Grass - Turf For Your Lawn

A suitable lawn grass favored for its texture and color is the Bermuda grass. This is also known as Dog’s Tooth Grass. The genus Cynodon (Greek word for dog-tooth) contains the nine species of grasses native to the warm temperate to tropical regions that constitute the Bermuda grasses. This only requires moderate lawn grass care, maintenance and mowing. This is a sun loving grass of the warm seasons and is usually planted from grass seed though propagation can be made possible by rhizomes, offsets and seeds.

Bermuda grass is a perennial grass. Though native to Europe this grass has now become cosmopolitan in warm regions. This grows in the tropical, sub tropical and transition zones. In southern United States and India this grass is largely being grown now. This grass is found on golf courses, sports arenas, sports fields, reclamation areas, parks, coastal areas and pastures apart from lawns.

There are now being introduced special Bermuda varieties that are tolerant to colder climes to a greater extent and species of the grass that are more drought resistant. Thus the grass planting area is moving further northwards and the grass is becoming more prevalent in the transition zone also.

An advantageous aspect of using the Bermuda grass is that once planted the grass can provide complete lawn coverage in a year’s time. This is a most persistent and aggressive grass species. Even its germination from seed is very quick. It can grow in a variety of soils too. It has also got a fair salt spray tolerance level thus making it suitable for coastal regions also.

An excellent way to transform your lawn is to use Princess 77 Bermuda grass that is among the latest seeded Bermuda grasses available. This produces a dense, green turf while costing far less than using the sodded varieties. For establishing a Bermuda grass lawn it is important to first eliminate all existing grass and weeds by the application of a nonselective herbicide. The Bermuda turf can be mowed low for a green type look. It can also be maintained at greater heights for a denser fairway look.

Two cold tolerant varieties of the Bermuda grass are the Yukon and Rivera. While Yukon has a darker green color the Rivera has a fast growing and damage repair ability. The Bermuda grass is pretty resistant to diseases and insects. Some varieties of the grass are, however, more resistant than others. Personal preferences play an important role in the selection of the Bermuda grass type that is to be used for covering the lawn. The cost factor is important too.

Tania Penwell is a professional author who writes for Savvy Cafe on lawn care bermuda grass and more on taking care of your lawn.

How To Lay Lawn Turf

Here is how to order and lay lawn turf:

Order your turf only after you have completed all the preparations. Arrange for your turf to arrive no more than 1 day before you plan to lay it. When it arrives, if the weather is hot and dry, soak the outside of the pallet with water, making sure to apply plenty water to the ends of rolls that are showing. You should order an appropriate pre-turfing fertiliser with your turf.

How to lay turf:

Stage 1:
Sprinkle pre-turfing fertiliser evenly over the area. Rake lightly to incorporate it and give the finished smooth surface.

Stage 2:
It is time to lay the turf. You can either lay turf whilst standing on the prepared ground or whilst standing on laid turf with the use of boards to prevent marking your new lawn. If you stand on the soil, give each new row a light rake to remove your foot marks.

Stage 3:
Start from a long straight edge and roll out a turf. DO NOT stretch the turf or you will get shrinkage later. If you are happy with the angle of your first turf, roll out the next one. Push the starting edge of the second turf hard against the first one, making sure to butt all joins up tightly. Do not have turf overlapping on top of already laid turf. You can use the back of the rake to pull the turf tightly together.

Stage 4:
You do not need to roll or tamp the turf at this stage except at the joins or edges. However if you have a very light roller this can be used to increase the turf to soil contact. Make sure and manually flatten the very start (centre) of the roll of turf (where the harvesting machine first turned the turf) As it is always misshapen.

Stage 5:
If you have gaps created through poor cutting or uneven turf sizes, you can blend the edges closer together by manually stretching, almost tearing the edges. (like flattening out dough). The turf will contract back a bit but you do improve the join. If the gaps are too big for that, use a Stanley knife to cut slivers from your off cuts of turf and squeeze these into the join. Remember wherever you do that type of join, will need extra water to aid recovery.

Stage 6:
Here's a little secret used by turf laying professionals to increase the "wow" factor on a new lawn. Roll out your alternate rows in opposite directions. This gives a good striped "just mown" appearance. Do not use small cuttings at edges of lawn. Use them in the middle.

Stage 7:
It is best to do your edges last, leave enough turf overlapping your proposed edge, that once you are done, you can lay a hose or rope on the edge and use an edging iron to shape your turf. This can be left quite rough, you can smooth this off easier when the turf has rooted in a couple of weeks.

Stage 8:
When you are done, unless a good amount of rain is forecast, you must water the grass. If you can't apply water due to hosepipe bans or water meters, then leave turf laying to the autumn/winter season This must be a very good soak, it may take several hours of sprinkler to put on enough. This must be repeated regularly for 1 month.

That's you done.

Angus Cheyne is a land based scientist specialising in laying and maintaining lawn turf.

See his work at http://www.turfandstuff.com/index.php and http://www.lawnwizard.co.uk.

6 Causes of Turf Wars

As the landscape in this industry gets more and more competitive, turf wars crop up, oftentimes within organizations, and the disruption adds to the downward spiral of sales and profits. If you are experiencing turf wars in your company, identify which combination of the following six causes are the ones you need to immediately address.

1. Insecurity

When a person feels uncertain about his position, skill level or job security, his insecurity will have him create a turf war. The insecure manager or salesperson will be quick to blame others on his team for errors. This person will appear to have a “victim” mentality and always is the brunt of something that “just happened”! He will constantly be defensive about his decisions and be very protective of his turf not wanting any assistance or invasion (as he sees it) into his area of responsibility. Lastly, the insecure person will lash out, causing a tremendous distraction to your other employees who get sucked into his drama. The entire organization suffers as a result.

If you see a turf war developing around a person you identify as insecure, the best way to put it to rest is to take control of the situation. First of all, have a policy that “we are a team and we help everyone get better by sharing knowledge, information and assistance.” As the manager creating this work environment of mutual assistance, you are telling everyone there are no sacred cows in your department; you are not interested in anyone trying to be the lead dog, because this is a team approach. If you are consistent in this expectation, the turf wars will be kept to a minimum. Also, have a sit down with this person to see what is going on in his life that may be causing this insecure reaction. Did his wife lose her job, and there is greater pressure on him at home to perform financially? Is he coasting? Has he given up because he no longer thinks he can compete? Coach this person through his insecurities and you will not only make a better employee and but also remove the catalyst for the turf war.

2. Changes in Leadership

Anytime there is a shuffle in leadership, employees revert to animal-based programming deep in their DNA and try to determine the new “alpha.” The new leader will be bringing in unknown skills and expectations, and everyone wants to make a positive first step as well as take the opportunity to climb in the reordering of the pack. In some cases, people may feel they were overlooked for the promotion and create a turf war with the incoming leader.

The trickiest step for any manager stepping into a new position is being assertive enough to establish alpha status without shutting down everyone in the process. It can be even more complicated if that new person is promoted from within the current employee staff. As the new leader, it is best to call a department meeting and address such issues by making your expectations abundantly clear, explaining your work style, and “taking the elephant out of the room” by addressing the reordering and positioning that is going on. Speak to it head on.

3. Lack of Resources

In a downsizing environment, there is a scarcity mentality that will cause people to feel threatened. That threat makes them protective of what they perceive as theirs, in other words – they start guarding their turf. A scarcity mentality breeds protectionism and causes people to play not to lose instead of playing to win. Salesmen focus on holding on to what they have instead of exploring new opportunities, which only perpetuates limited resources. The lack of resources also ill-prepares and ill-equips the staff for creating additional resources. If training is reduced or eliminated or the sales staff isn’t continuously upgraded with technology to be competitive with the competition, panic will set in and cause the insecurity previously mentioned.

As a friend told me, there is a difference between being poor and being broke. The difference is attitude. Poor is a perception this situation will not change so actions need to be taken to survive. Broke is an attitude that believes lack of resources is a temporary condition that will be gone shortly with good decision-making focused on the long-term benefits of short-term sacrifices. When facing a lack of resources, be sure to focus on the longer-term overall benefit and maintain a positive focus. No one would consider chopping off your left leg a good way to lose weight, so why do that in your business?

4. Internal Competition

In this country we love our sports. We use sports analogies in business, we compare athletic heroics to individuals’ performance in the workplace, and we try to create the same type of competitive environment that we believe drives athletes to greater heights. The flaw with this logic, as any coach or team manager will tell you, is that internal competition among the players can cause the team to suffer at the expense of star attention. The competition is outside of the organization in a global playing field; internal strife only gives the opposition opportunity to get ahead. Internal competition among sales staff will cause people to lose at the expense of their teammates. Sabotage, misinformation, and lack of assistance will result in turf wars, and the biggest loser in this scenario is the company.

If you want to create an internal competition, it should be based on self-improvement. Have people compete against their own individual goals, as opposed to others in the sales force. With this type of competition there can be more than one winner. If the team gels like the executive can only hope, they will assist each other so the entire team achieves their personal goals. Everyone wins, especially the company, provided they set the goals correctly.

5. Poor Communication

One would think with the advances in communication technology we would have eliminated communication problems, yet they continue to be the biggest cause of problems, profit loss and turf wars in business. Poor communication can be the withholding of information, incomplete information or inaccurate information. Some poor communications are unintentional and some are intended. “Knowledge is Power” can be misunderstood by those fighting a turf war; withholding information makes that person feel more valuable if he is the one with the answers at the expense of other employees and the company.

The new model for business is the Fish Bowl model, with clarity for everyone and no hidden information; everything can be seen and is out in the open. The Internet is driving out privacy with the wealth of information at our fingertips, both personal and professional, and the quicker companies get on that model, the quicker information can be shared and the better communications can happen. The technology today allows the process of information sharing to occur faster, but the key to improving communication between employees and eliminating turf wars is to set the tone of openness.

6. The Dogfight Manager

When I first came out of college as a manager trainee in textiles, I learned of an organization that hired many college graduates and literally had them standing along the walls of the plant waiting on another shift supervisor to screw up and lose his job, creating the opening for the new hire. The pressure was insane and the revolving door and burnout of supervisors was the ultimate result of this type of turf war. If you are a manager who has ever uttered the words, “Why can’t you be as good as he is?” or “You better get your act together or you will be looking for a job” or “How can you let that guy beat you? You should be beating his numbers all day long,” then you are a dogfight manager. A dogfight manager enjoys pitting one employee’s performance against another and then sits back for the survival of the fittest. It’s a turf war by mandate, and no one enjoys working under those pressures.

As the manager resist the comparison of employees. Everyone brings different skills to the team, and you are there to coach and assist them to create the best team. Focus on the individual development of each of your staff to make them better at what they do and to grow in their skills and abilities. Instead of comparing the best and worst of your sales team, why not use the best as a mentor for the employee that needs the most development? Unless you have set the internal competition by compensation, the mentoring employee will appreciate the recognition and your team will grow stronger.

Turf wars can cause so much disruption and drama in a company that everyone becomes more focused on the internal soap opera and less productive. Take a look around and identify your turf war causes. Identify them, correct them and watch your profits increase.

Russell J. White an international speaker, author and consultant is president of Russell J. White International and founder of The Edgewalk Institute. His cutting edge ideas assist businesses in strategic planning, branding, leadership development and growth strategies. He can be reached at http://www.thinkbigguy.com or at 877-275-9468

Russell J. White an international speaker, author and consultant is president of Russell J. White International and founder of The Edgewalk Institute. His cutting edge ideas assist businesses in strategic planning, branding, leadership development and growth strategies. He can be reached at http://www.thinkbigguy.com or at 877-275-9468

Lawnmowers and How to Save Work Installing Synthetic Turf on Tennis Courts

Why install synthetic turf instead of real lawn? Most of the following steps are not required when you choose to install synthetic surfaces rather than a traditional one. A court should have a slope of a few inches from one end to the other to carry off water. After the level is determined, all there is to making a court is to fill in or cut away soil and earth until the proper level space is obtained. As a rule it is better to dig away for a court rather than to fill in, as we thus obtain a better bottom and one that will require but little rolling. In the case of a slope, it is well so to locate the court that the amount of earth excavated from one end will be just about sufficient to fill in the other.

The final surfacing of a court is done by means of clay and sand in the proportion of about four or five to one, the clay of course being in excess. To mix clay and sand thoroughly, the former should first be pulverized thoroughly when dry and the mixture sifted over the court carefully and evenly. The next step is rolling and wetting, and more rolling and wetting until finally the whole is allowed to dry and is ready for play. The slight irregularities and roller ridges that often appear in a court will soon be worn off by the players' feet, but playing of course will not change the grade. A new court will be greatly improved by use, but no one should be allowed on a court except with rubber-soled shoes. Heeled shoes will soon ruin a court, and it is bad practice even to allow any one to walk over a court unless with proper footwear.

Leveling The Playing Court

The preliminary leveling of a court can be accomplished with a rake and a straight-edged board, but after the clay has become packed and hard it will be necessary to use considerable force in scraping off the inequalities. A metal cutting edge, such as a hoe or scraper, will be found useful. A court should be swept with a coarse broom to distribute the fine material evenly. Another very good sweeper can be made from a piece of wood about six or eight feet long to which several thicknesses of bagging have been tacked or fastened. The final step in making a court consists in marking it out.

Since most courts are marked so that they will be suitable either for singles or doubles or so that either two or four people can play at a time. Where tape markers are to be used, the proper distances will appear on the tape without measuring, but if lime is used for marking a careful plotting will be necessary to secure the proper distances, after which the corners should be indicated by angle irons, so that the court may be re-marked at any time without re-measuring. Remember that synthetic turfs are almost free maintenance surfaces, and will save you time and money at long last.

Andrew Caxton is the webmaster and successful author of http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com . A guide on lawn mowers and garden tractors and how to choose the right type for your garden, including synthetic turf for different garden styles.