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| UC |
For three
decades two things have remained constant at Spring Grove Cemetery
and Arboretum in Cincinnati: rolling velvet lawns and UC alum Tom
Smith. |
Start
with proper fertilization.
Add one pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet of lawn every year.
October is the best month. That is the minimum for having an outstanding
looking lawn. Think about this: There is no other plant in the plant kingdom
that we cut off a third of its growth and tell the plant to "be happy
and grow again so we can do the same thing to you next week." Imagine
doing that to your African violets.
Allow the
clippings to fall. Grass clippings
contain 38 percent protein. That's an agriculturalist's dream. Putting
them in a bag for the trash is like skipping the fertilizer and putting
that bag out by the curb.
Mow frequently.
Remove only one third of the leaf's surface per cutting. Don't go from
seven inches to two or three inches. That is very damaging.
Water with
precision. Certainly there are dry years and seasons, particularly
in July and August, when supplemental irrigation helps bridge the gap.
I'm opposed to sprinkler systems that just come on and pay no regard to
natural rainfall. The main thing is that you put down a half to one inch
of water in a given area. And I'm not concerned with timing. Day or night
is fine.
Reseed at
the right time. There is no better time to reseed your lawn
than late August or September. That is the time the turf regenerates.
It also doesn't hurt to give it a second shot around March. The freezing
and thawing allows the seed to melt into the soil, creating a honeycomb
effect.
Smith is senior vice president of Spring Grove
Cemetery and Arboretum, Cincinnati's 750-acre park-like nature preserve
that he refers to as "a wonderful garden for the living." Smith
completed his master's degree at Yale University in Forest Science and
has spent the last 30 years looking after plant life at Spring Grove.
He is a frequent lecturer at UC and even won approval from the Ohio Board
of Regents for the bachelor's degree program in horticulture at the College
of Evening and Continuing Education.
LINK: Visit Spring Grove online.
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