Lawn Care - Decorating your Lawn with Rock Gardens

GARDENS

If you do not want to create a flower garden, you can create a rock garden instead. Rock gardens may seem simple to set-up, but you will still have to weed and keep other debris from ruining the look of the garden. If you have rocky gardens, you will benefit from a rock garden.

In order to create a rock garden, you will need:

Rocks
Rake
Sand or mulch
Vine plants

When designing you garden, you should draw a map that should include the size of the garden, and placement of the rocks and other items. When building your rock garden, you should follow these simple instructions:

Clear the area of rocks, weeds, grass and other debris that may be on the ground. You can choose to till the soil or just let it be. You will have to wed the area even after you place the rocks.

Find rocks of different sizes. You can find them in your yard, in someone else’s yard, at the park, or while traveling. You should use a variety of different rocks that are also different colors. If you want, you can buy different colored gravel and create a small Zen-like rock garden.

Place your rocks the way you want in the area.

Add mulch if you will be planting vines or plants. Hearty vines and plants will look great in your rock garden.

Clear your rock garden of weeds as soon as you see growth. This will make clearing them easier.

Rock gardens can be fun, whimsical, and creative. You can build a rock garden that will also serve as a drainage system for your lawn. A dry creek bed will make the perfect rock garden and also keep water from clogging the soil in your yard. Build the drainage system at the bottom of a slope and dig a small trench. You can decorate the trench with rocks as well.

If you do not like traditional landscaping, you can try a rock garden. They are inexpensive and easy to set up. You will have to weed, but that’s about it. Many people who do not want a lawn that they have to take care of every day will create large rock gardens. They are decorative and functional at the same time.

Terry Blackburn. Internet Marketing Consultant, living in South Shields in the North-East of England. Author and Producer of blog www.lawnsurgeon.blogspot.com Author of "Your Perfect Lawn," a 90 Page eBook devoted to Lawn Preparation, Lawn Care and Maintenance. Find it at www.lawnsurgeon.com

I would be very interested to have your comments on this Article.

5 Simple Lawn Watering Tips to Make Your Lawn Shine

Your lawn needs the right amount of water to grow. However, you should not water your lawn blindly. The frequency and amount water needed for your lawn depend on various factors including the type of grass, soil, climate and many others.

Here are five simple watering tips you can follow to make your lawn shine.

1. Water to a depth of 6-8 inches

Grass roots usually grow to a depth of six to eight inches. Applying water that penetrates beyond eight inches is wasteful. On the other hand, penetrating less than six inches can result in a shallow-rooted lawn that is weak and require more efforts to maintain.

For a quick test, use a screwdriver to probe the lawn ground. Once you feel that it is hard to probe further, pull out the screwdriver and check. Alternatively, buy a soil probe from the local nursery and use it to remove small cores of soil, which you can feel to see how wet they are.

2. Allow the lawn to dry out partially

You should give your lawn ample time to dry out partially before watering it again. This will create a good air-moisture relationship that promotes healthy roots. Before you start watering again, take a walk on your lawn and observes your footprints. The grasses will not spring right back if they lack water. If the grasses changed to a dull color, this is also another indication that your lawn needs water.

3. Water in short interval

If you water too fast, the lawn will not be able to absorb it and excess water will run off into the streets or other places. This is a waste of water and should be avoided. Try watering for fifteen minutes and then stop. Wait for ten minutes to let the water soak in. Then repeat the process again until the water has penetrated to a depth of six to eight inches.

4. Water in the early morning

Water your lawn in the early morning is a wise choice. The weather is usually cool and clam. The humidity is also high and there will be less evaporation. Your lawn also has ample time to dry off before nightfall. A wet lawn in the night can cause lawn diseases to spread quickly.

5. Record your observation and adjust accordingly

Get a notebook or journal and record your watering activity on a daily basis for at least three months. Note down the time of watering, the amount of water used and the intervals between each watering session. Observe how your lawn respond to your watering practice and record the result in your journal.

If your lawn does not dry out enough between watering, increase the interval. If you discover that the water is not penetrating to the required depth, apply more water. Record all these observation into your journal. You should also make small changes to your watering practice and record the results.

Over time, you will be able to water your lawn with greater efficiency as you adjust your watering practice based on your recorded observation. As a result, you will have a lawn that continues to shine and grow healthily without having to put in more maintenance efforts than necessary.

Jack Greenwood is the webmaster of GreenLawnCareTips.com which provide information on lawn care and lawn watering tips. Sign up for your free 7-part Green Lawn Care mini course at http://greenlawncaretips.com today.

Lawn Mowers - Keep the Beauty of Your Lawn Maintained

The idea of lawn mowers was thought up by engineer Edwin Beard Budding in 1830. Being inspired by other cutting devices, he invented the lawn mower for the purpose of cutting the grass of sports grounds and gardens. After Edwin signed his first agreement on 18th May 1830, the manufacturing of lawn mowers started in the 1850s. Since then, lawn mowers have very effectively been helping us with the cutting of grass.

Lawn mowers not only cut the grass, but they make our lawns look healthy and beautiful. There are different types of lawnmowers available in the market.

These days, commonly used lawnmowers are Robotic Mowers. To use a robotic lawn mower, you have to first select the particular area to be mowed, and then you need to mark the boundary of that area.

Manual or Traditional Mowers are another type of lawn mower, which are manually operated. This lawnmower requires the physical strength of a person to operate them. They are heavy in weight and need to be pushed in order to cut the grass.

Professional mowers are another widely used lawnmower. They have a horizontal cutter to give the best result, and are generally used for big areas such as universities, stadiums or gardens.

Clipper lawn mowers are used for mowing the toughest spots. They are equipped with scissors which have long blades. Clippers can be operated manually, as well as automatically.

Here are some factors which should be considered while purchasing a lawn mower:

• First of all, look at its weight. It should not be heavy; otherwise you will face difficulties in operating it.
• Check its safety features. Check that the blades are not exposed.
• It should start easily.
• Handling should be easy.
• If you do not have a very big area of lawn, then you can select a push reel mower.
• If your lawn is a big area, then use a professional mower, otherwise it will be a lot of work.
• For trimming grass, use a mulching lawnmower, as they cut grass to a very low level.
• Go for a self-propelled lawn mower if your lawn is in a hilly area.
• If you want to purchase a lawn mower for very big lawn areas, such as a stadium or garden, then go for a ride-on lawn mower.

Operating a lawn mower is not a difficult task. Almost every lawnmower works on the same principles. Most lawn mowers which are being used these days have an inbuilt motor. They have gears with an axle to spin the wheels. The basic function of the motor is to spin the blades which cut the grass, so as to make it easy to operate.

Manual or traditional mowers are very simple to operate. In a manual mower, the blades are attached to the wheels. With the movement of the wheels, the blades spin and cut the grass. Manual mowers are very heavy in weight, so quite a lot of strength is required to operate them.

Lawn mowers provide a great help in keeping the beauty of your lawn maintained. However, it is essential that you keep in mind the size of your lawn when purchasing a lawnmower. This will help you to be able to choose the appropriate one for your needs.

Stefan Rockhaus is a contributing author for Your Online Guide - For more lawnmower information visit Lawn Mowers - You may reprint this article as long as no changes are made, and this resource box is left intact.

Lawn Soil Content and Types of Grass in Your Lawn!

Soil content

This refers to the color, smell, and feel of the soil. Since soil can vary greatly from home to home, you will need to do your research to find out how your lawn’s soil measures up.

You should have your soil analyzed in order to determine the pH level, nutrient level, and chemical properties. If you are not a gardener or a chemist, you can call your local gardening service who can take a sample. You may have to wait a few weeks for the results, however.

The soil content is a very important part of cultivating a good-looking lawn. Once you know more about the soil content, you will be able to choose flowers and plants that will survive, learn about ways to enhance existing soil, and also find ways to add nutrients to the soil so that the grass will be able to grow.

Many times adding fresh soil to existing soil will help bring your lawn back to life. This will require you to make sure your lawn is watered and that you don’t mow the grass too often when trying to get the grass to grow. Over time, the soil content will improve. Throughout this book, you will learn ways to take care of your soil.

Types of Grass

This is another issue that will require your immediate attention. While you have no control over the types of grass that has grown in the lawn, now that it is your lawn, you will be able to get rid of certain types of grass and start all over. There is a nasty type of grass that will suffocate flowers, plants, and other types of grass just for the fun of it. This type of grass is called Crab grass. It resembles straw and can quickly invade a lawn and take it over.

Depending on how overrun your lawn is with unattractive grass, you may have to remove the grass and begin again. Crab grass is very difficult to remove and may require the use of chemicals. After removing this grass, you can reseed or use sod in order to make your lawn grow faster.

Other types of grass include:

Bermudagrass
Bluegrass
Ryegrass
 

If you want a lush green lawn, you will have to spend the majority of your time removing and replanting in order to achieve this type of lawn. But if you are after a more garden style type lawn or a lawn that has almost no grass at all, you may be able to leave certain types of grass alone. This will save some and money.

Terry Blackburn. Internet Marketing Consultant, living in South Shields in the North-East of England. Author and Producer of blog http://www.lawnsurgeon.blogspot.com. Author of "Your Perfect Lawn," a 90 Page eBook devoted to Lawn Preparation, Lawn Care and Maintenance. Find it at http://www.lawnsurgeon.com.

I would be very interested to have your comments on this Article.