Lawn Care and Fertilizer Tip to Create a Great Lawn

One of the things homeowners take the most pride in is a great-looking lawn. It can be time-consuming and frustrating, but with persistence, you can keep your lawn looking beautiful. Here are a few lawn care tips. Begin by raking up leaves and cleaning up all debris. If there are high or low spots in the yard, level them. This will give your lawn a much more lush and uniform appearance--it levels the playing field, so to speak. Use a good grade of topsoil to fill any holes, since you want your grass to have the best medium possible in which to grow. If the yard has bumps, cut an X in the rise and then peel the sod back. Using a garden trowel, scoop out enough soil to level the area, and then push the sod back into place. Tamp the sod down firmly, to bring the roots into good contact with the soil, and then give the area a good soaking to promote root growth.If you find bare spots, you’ll need to add grass seed. Make sure that the new seed will be tolerant of your area’s weather conditions, and also for the particular spot where you’ll be planting it. Some grass seed is tolerant of a fair amount of shade, for instance, while other seed needs full sun. Also take into account how much traffic the area will be getting, because some grasses are less tolerant than others of being walked or played on. To maintain a lush, green yard, you’ll probably need to water it at times. When you do, water it deeply early in the morning, so the water will soak down to the roots and not just be evaporated into the air or merely wet the surface, causing shallow root growth. You want your grass to have deep, healthy roots.When you mow the lawn, never cut off more than a third of the blades, and make sure your mower’s blade is sharp. For photosynthesis, grass needs an adequate blade surface area and if you remove too much, your lawn will be susceptible to disease. Most of all, keep a close eye on your lawn’s health through regular inspection. There's an adage that says, "The best fertilizer for a piece of property is the footsteps of its owner." That's certainly true of a vibrant, healthy lawn. Look for trouble spots, learn to recognize problems, and address them immediately when you find them. Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

Author Jeanette Fisher, America's "Dream Home" Maker, teaches interior design, redesign, and home staging. You can ask her questions on her Amazon blog or see http://www.joytothehome.com for free home decorating teleseminars.

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How to Make Fertilizer

My grandmother ran a greenhouse until I was about 18, and I learned a lot about modern growing methods. Every summer and after school the rest of the year, we spent time at her house so that my mother could help her. We learned how to make dirt, a phrase that continues to confuse my West Coast family. They wanted to know why you would want to make what already existed.
Much of the soil in Appalachia is clay like. Unfortunately, such soil can pack around the roots of plants and prevent them from growing properly. In order to start the seedlings, a more porous soil was needed. Grandma would have clay soil brought from the garden area, and mixed it with equal parts steer manure, soil and peat moss. The result was a nice, soft soil for the seedlings.
Before bags of sterilized manure could be purchased, grandma had to sterilize it herself. The method used was burning. The chosen dung was piled up and set on fire. The smell was horrible, but the manure was safe to use in gardens and the greenhouse.
On the farm, we had a lot of experience with various forms of organic fertilizer. We would make compost, another method of sterilization. By trial and error we discovered a few interesting things about the manure of various critters. First off, never use chicken manure. It can and will burn the plants. Horse manure is good, but as the grass isn't always fully digested it can leave a lot of seeds, which means a lot of weeding later. Cow manure is the best, as it is usually more thoroughly digested.
That's not the only method of preparing fertilizer, though the next method wasn't particularly sterile. Great Aunt Ellen kept a rain barrel filled with manure and water. She'd dip out what she needed for the garden, calling it "manure tea." I'm very glad that process wasn't still being used when I was growing up. Ick.
There is a funny story about a distant cousin, Harry Truman. I saw this as a youngster in the movie "Give 'em Hell, Harry." Someone came up to his wife and was very flustered. He said, "Could you get him to stop saying manure all the time?"
She looked at him in all seriousness and said "It took me all these years to get him to say that instead."
To be honest, I prefer using fertilizer that is not processed. It's better for the environment and as long as it is sterilized somehow, it's better for the person eating the produce.

For more information about home remedies, you can visit my site: http://healing-home-remedies.com/. There are blogs and articles about many herbs and the conditions they may help. Subjects include stress, back pain, the flu, gout and cholesterol. You can also download my free report, the Top Ten Herbs. The report discusses the uses, side effects, precautions and interactions of popular herbs. My eBooks, also found on the site, contain information about foods and herbs that can help you deal with the problems life throws our way. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at: mary@healing-home-remedies.com. Mary Bodel, MH