It has been a vicious summer season for folks who grow things, from hay to crops, gardens to lawns. The answer, of course, is the timely and appropriate application of chemicals and plenty of water. This summer, I bet on Mother Nature…..and lost. She failed to deliver the rains that she always promises, even if delayed or sporadic. I have no idea just how much water it is going to take but I know how much I am willing to provide……the answer being a lot. Between the pool and the lawn, I should get a card and box of candy from our water district this Christmas……
This morning the fight is on. We have reset our irrigation system to provide 40 minutes per zone, (eight zones) and I can hear the meter humming from about 0300 to 0900. No skip a day, this is daily until we see improvement. It will take UPS to deliver our water bill, but I cannot take a burned up lawn. Like the guy who ignores, or in my case denies, the little black mole on your cheek until the dermatologist somberly tells you it is melanoma, I have walked past a lawn flying into dormancy, that is if my prayers are answered and it isn’t dead instead.
I didn’t know it at the time but I should have been a row crop farmer from the beginning. I love crops, the smell and vibrancy of a field of mature corn or soybeans is nectar to me. I don’t mess with agricultural chemicals, there is too much cancer in my lineage, so I hire an outfit to take care of this for me. In this case it is Ryan’s, a respected and big company based out of Kansas. They handle my lawn, trees and landscaping, from the chemical standpoint, while I handle the sculpting. (Except for trees, I pruned my own trees until I fell off a ladder doing so and took my first ambulance ride to the ER some years ago.) Their applicator was by yesterday, declared my lawn dormant, applied a quick releasing nitrogen, and suggested heavy watering and then additional water as time wore on. I had carelessly left our irrigation on a spring mode instead of summer setting. We’ll see, but I have ordered aeration and over seeding this fall, just in case.
I rely on a lawn mix for my yards, with the ratio tilted in favor of a lawn fescue. It is damned hard to kill fescue, but I have come close this year. Now if I am boring you with this stuff, you probably are not a grass person. I make no apologies, and smile broadly when driving by a bank or hospital that has an endless supply of capital, thus the ability to maintain beautiful lawns. Move over guys, as bought learning is real learning (A theory of my zone Sergeant, Bob (Dutch) Plymell from back in the day.) So, spare the rod, spoil the child and…..spare the water and kill the lawn. I get it. It is no wonder that aquifers out west are perilously low……water is, indeed, precious. I am going to find out just how precious this fall!
srj641 