Isn’t November the perfect month? I mean, if you live in the New England area, you’ll surely agree that we have had the most spectacular weather.
I think Mother Nature is making up for giving us a lousy Spring. Oh yeah, I remember that. Rain, rain and then more rain. About half way through July it finally stopped raining. After that, I don’t think we got enough rain.
I’m actually kind of surprised that it hasn’t been raining all that much this Autumn. There has been a few rainy days mixed in here and there, but we have generally had perfect weather. When I say perfect, I mean 50s – 60s throughout the day and 40s overnight. It’s great walking weather.
For Thanksgiving, we are heading down to a restaurant near the water. I want to get down there early so we can visit a few beaches. I like going to visit places on the shore while no one else is there. It’s easier to breathe the fresh air.
Do you want to see what the forecast for this week?
I told you I was going to take some pictures of the leaf mulch and compost. You should have never doubted me.
My little plan of mulching the leaves into the grass instead of raking them up is working out very well. You would be amazed at how much you can condense a big pile of leaves. If you mow over them a few times, it’s like they aren’t even there. Also, the new John Deere X300 Mulching Kit works great. It saves a lot of time and makes me happy to think that all these leaves are going to break down into the beautiful leaf compost that I am about to show you.
Let me post the pictures. We can talk about it later.
Area in the woods where I dumped last Autumn’s chopped up leaves after I bagged them
Wheelbarrow and screen used to sift leaf compost
Wheelbarrow with nice leaf compost
Holding some perfect leaf compost in my hand
Worm in compost
This year’s leaf mulch still on lawn
Leaf mulch mixed in with blades of grass
Pennington Smart Seed used to overseed lawn
Spot seeding using Pennington Smart Seed and leaf compost
First off, I am going to tell you that this is what Autumn is all about…getting out there and playing with nature. There’s nothing like it. Sometimes you just have to take a break and smell the air.
I wanted to mention this before I forget. I am now using Pennington Smart Seed for my overseeding and spot seeding because there is a little something strange going on in the bags of Scotts grass seed. If you look at the “Inert Matter” percentage in the back of the bag, you’ll notice that it’s only a few % in the Pennington Smart Seed bag. If you look at the Scotts grass seed with the new Water Smart technology, you’ll see that the inert matter is up towards 50%. That means that there is around 50% actual grass seed and 50% other stuff that isn’t grass seed. Now, I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, especially if you are trying to grow grass during a warmer season or a warmer climate and can’t water new seed all the easily, but for me, I would prefer buying the most grass seed as I can. Enough about that.
So did you see this pics? Pretty nice, huh? It’s hard to believe that it only took one season to break down those leaves into that compost. I am guessing that dumping the leaf mulch into the woods helped. The worms were sitting there waiting for it. The worms are the ones that did all the work. Notice how I said “leaf mulch.” Yeah, I think the chopped up leaves break down a heck of a lot faster than leaves that are just raked up. Those types of leaves tend to mat down and get wet. They turn into compost much slower.
I got about four wheelbarrow loads of compost out of the woods the day I took these photos. I screened it and used it to cover up and seed some areas of the lawn there weren’t doing too swell. I know it’s late in the season for planting grass, but I figured that much of the other grass I planted in early September is just starting to germinate, so this round should be fine. Also, in the grass seed that I bought, there is a high percentage of Perennial Ryegrass, which germinates very quickly (like four days). The other other types of seed in the blend will take a bit longer, but I have faith that it’ll be just fine.
If I had some advice to give (which I do) someone who lives in a cooler climate like I do and who wants to do some overseeding, I would say to do it October 1 instead of September 1 like everyone suggests. Unless of course you have an irrigation system on your property. I say this because September is still quite warm and it is very difficult to get grass to germinate on dry soil. Hey, if you can figure out a way to get out there with the hose twice a day and water your entire property, then go for it. As for me, I’ll wait for the cooler weather and let mother nature take her course. As I said above, the new grass really started coming up around October 1. I am attributing that to cooler weather and more rain.
So, I have basically shifted into reverse from where I was last year at this time. If you remember, I got a rear bagger for my John Deere X300. The reason I got the bagger was to suck up all the leaves that fall off the trees. Just to let you know, it does a great job. Last year, this lawn was spotless.
A funny thing happened over the Summer. I did a lot of work in the woods. As I was working, I kept walking over these really soft and fertile areas of ground. At times, I would push the top layer of mulched leaves (this is the area I dumped all the leaves I picked up last year) just to see what was going on. Each time I pushed the leaves off the dirt, I would find this beautiful black soil. I was astounded. The leaves that I had dumped in the woods last year had composted and turned into nutrient packed soil. And, this soil was chock full of worms. You should see it. Maybe tomorrow I will take a picture of it. The worms are HUGE.
So what I have been doing rather slowly over the past few weeks is to dig up the compost and sift it into the wheelbarrow. Then, I go out to various parts of the yard and toss the compost all over the place. From what I hear, that’s good for the lawn. It is a lot of work though.
Let me tell you what has happened since I started using the bagger. I mowed and bagged and mowed and bagged. About half way through the Summer, I had this nagging suspicion that something was wrong. I kept asking myself this question – If I keep sucking up all the grass clippings and leaves, where the heck is the lawn going to get any organic materials from? I did some research and pretty much came to the conclusion that I was removing all the goodness from the lawn soil. They call “soil” with no nutrients in it “dirt.” I tend to trust my conclusion because there are parts of the lawn that are really green and lush. Those parts have better soil than the parts that are all burnt out looking. The dry grass areas have dirt that is really hard and inhospitable for growing grass.
As much as I am outside fiddling around, I do really try to cut the work load down to a minimum. I love working, but I’m not dumb. With that in mind, I did a little thinking and figured that it was foolish to suck up leaves, dump them in the woods, wait for them to break down and then dig up the compost to spread on the lawn. Why not just mulch the leaves and grass clippings right there on the lawn? I did all sorts of research on this idea and it seems to be the wave of the future. Or, at least what people have been doing since the dawn of time, before we all turned into a bunch of pansies and had to have perfectly manicured lawns. Sometimes I just shake my head and wish I was the way I used to be.
When I was a kid, do you know what my father used to say to me when the grass was getting tall? He said, “Get out there and mow the lawn.” I don’t think I ever responded, “But father, what about this month’s application of fertilizer.” We’ve been brainwashed.
Anyway, I figured that all I needed to begin my leaf and grass clipping mulching program was a mulching kit from John Deere. I could have simply mowed over the leaves with what I had (the side discharge chute), but it took a lot of extra time trying to “catch” the leaves. The air coming out from the lawn mower deck blew them all over the place. With a mulching lawn mower deck, the leaves are more contained and a lot of time is saved by not having to drive around in circles all day.
Let me show you some pictures of the mulching kit parts and setup.
John Deere X300 42″ deck
John Deere X300 mulching kit
Underneath the 42″ lawn mower deck – regular blades
Lawn mower deck with discharge chute removed
42″ lawn mower deck with mulching kit installed
The plastic piece is held on with one bolt
The discharge chute is removed and area is blocked by the mulching kit
John Deere X300 with 42″ mulching deck
Front lawn with sprinkling of leaves
Lawn with sprinkling of leaves
Front lawn after mowing and mulching
Mulched leaves in grass
Mulched grass clippings
Thicker layer of mulched leaves
The pictures really don’t do this mulch kit justice because there weren’t a lot of leaves on the ground. I basically just wanted to try the mower out. Today, I used my leaf blower to blow out this woodsy area we have. I made a pretty substantial pile of leaves. I rode over it with the mulching deck a few times and you can hardly even tell there were any leaves there. Amazing. I am looking forward to a season full of leaves on the ground that I don’t have to pick up anymore. I am also looking forward to a future with better soil conditions so the grass grows nice and thick.
This is so weird. I just happen to be looking around at the status of the drought in Atlanta, Ga. I wanted to see if all the rainfall has actually cured it. Sometimes, even when you have flooding, it’s not enough to stop a drought.
I didn’t find the answer to whether or not the drought is over, but I did find some eerie articles and comments. Take a look:
I keep thinking…if people mow their lawns, bag the clippings and rake up all the leaves, where does the lawn soil get any organic material from? It’s an interesting question and one that I haven’t found the answer to yet.
I used to bag the lawn clippings. I was having fun doing it too. Then, I read that I could just mow the lawn and let the clipping stay. Of course the article was written by one of those freaky granola people with a dirt lawn. You know the type, the guy who tries to eat the lawn weeds. I always try to take advice from people I want to be like, not some weirdo who jumped on the “green” train. So, I kept on reading articles from a variety of authors. I came to the conclusion that leaving the grass clippings on the lawn is okay if you mow frequently. If you mow infrequently, you will get big grass clumps that will kill the grass underneath. I think I can handle mowing regularly. About half way through this last Summer, I stopped bagging and the lawn looked the same thereafter.
The whole reason I did that research is because every time I bagged the clippings, I felt like I was taking a little bit of love away from the soil. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how that soil was going to get the organic material back. I mean, was it from the leaves I pick up every Autumn? No, because they obviously aren’t there anymore (I picked them up, duh).
I had a vision in my head…I visualized the lawn in five years. It was horrible. Everything was in black and white and looked barren like the moon’s surface. You can even use Mars as an example. I didn’t like having a lawn with no nutrients and dark soil. I decided to keep reading and to research what would happen if I just mulched up the leaves that fall from the trees every year and kept them right there on the grass. Well, wouldn’t you just know it, other people were having the same thoughts and a group up at Michigan State University did a study on this exact topic.
I am going to jump right to the conclusion of their study. They said that it is okay to mulch your leaves into the grass and it’s actually better for the soil. It helps out all those microbes and the worms as well. I know about the worms because my compost pile is FULL of them. Worms like organic material. If the lawn had more organic material, I could imagine that the worms would find their way there.
I’m going to do it. This year, I am going to mulch the leaves and leave them on the lawn. I am going to have to do a really thorough job though because there are a lot of leaves. That’s good because there are some areas of this lawn where the soil is just stripped of any nutrients. I wouldn’t even call it soil anymore. It’s like dust when it gets dry.
I suppose I could always just spread peat moss or compost over the grass every Autumn. That wouldn’t really be fun. Besides, where would I get my compost? From the big pile of leaves and grass clippings I raked up and bagged the year before?
This year will be the experiment. I will let you know how it goes. If things look good in the Spring, I will tell you. Actually, I will tell you either way. It can’t get any worse than it is now. Although, I am looking at the grass after a three week spell of no rain and a thorough dethatching job. Things ain’t looking so great.
This is a project that I have been waiting all year to do. It’s called, “Overseeding the lawn” (the correct time of year).
Every time I have put down grass seed, it was during the hottest, driest time of year. The seed didn’t do much because there was nothing much to do. Eventually, I think it actually grew, but that was months later when things cooled off and the rain returned.
They say to overseed your lawn in early September. This is because, like I said above, the Summertime drought is most likely over and rain falls more frequently. Unfortunately for me, the ten day forecast shows ten perfectly orange pictures of sunshine. Only me.
The reason I did the whole lawn dethatch, aerate and overseed the day I did was because of the rain we got the previous two days. In order to properly aerate, you need moist soil. If the soil is too dry, the aerator can’t get down into the dirt deep enough and you won’t pull a substantial plug. I got plugs that were about one and a half to two inches long. I would offer a picture, but it’s been about a week since I did this job and the plugs are all dried up and not very attractive.
I thought I would breeze through this particular project. In actuality, it took longer than expected. First, I dethatched the grass. I did this by towing the dethatcher I bought at Home Depot around the yard. Since grass and thatch kept clumping up in the tines, I had to stop frequently to clean it out. After that was done, I put the bagger back on the mower and mowed the grass at a height of three inches. I know the general advice is to mow at one inch or less when overseeding, but I just didn’t have the heart to scrape the dirt when I had no guarantee of rain in the future. I am not about to water 11,000 square feet of grass either. Mother Nature is going to have to take care of this one.
After I dethatched and mowed, I pulled out the tow behind plug aerator and did my thing. I did a few passes over the lawn to make sure I roughed up the dirt enough. I did a good job, but I still think I should have done more. It’s just that while doing this kind of thing, you want to get it done. Driving around in circles isn’t all that entertaining.
Okay, so once the aerating was finished, I filled the seed spreader up with my custom mixture of Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass. I chose these two types of grass because the Kentucky Bluegrass is just awesome looking and it is supposed to spread to fill in bare spots. The thing is, it takes forever to germinate. The Perennial Ryegrass is a good looking durable grass that germinates much faster and will fill things in while waiting for the Bluegrass.
As I said above, it’s been about a week with no rain and there isn’t much action out there. I have been watering certain areas with my sprinkler because I have no illusions that a huge thunderstorm isn’t going to come and wash all the seed off the front hillside. I want to get that grass sort of anchored in there before that happens. Otherwise, I will have to let nature take its course and wait for the grass to grow on it’s own. I also have some seed left over to spread out if need be.
Here are some pictures for you.
Bare spot in lawn with hole from tow behind plug aerator
Bare spot in lawn with Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass grass seed
Bag of Scotts starter fertilizer
Oh yeah, I also bought two bags of Scotts starter fertilizer. Each bag is supposed to cover 5,000 square feet. I haven’t applied this yet because the directions say to water in immediately after application. Since I can’t water the entire lawn, I am going to wait for right before the next rainfall to spread this stuff around.
It’s been a while since I got outside with the camera. Perhaps that’s because there hasn’t been much to look at. Well, that’s all changed now. The rain has stopped and some of the nicer flowers are blooming.
I think what I have here are Tiger Lilies, Daylilies and Purple Clematis. Of course, there is always that slim chance I am way off.
Here’s a question for you…why doesn’t anything ever line up correctly? Every time I go into Yahoo! images or Google images and try to identify some of these flowers, I get the runaround. A case in point is the Purple Clematis we have here. All the photos I found online have flowers with five or six petals. Ours has four. So typical.
While we are on the topic of English, I thought I would bring up another biggie. If you don’t hate me by now, you will after I write either this post or my next (and hopefully last) grammar correction post. I think we are all in agreement that nobody likes having their grammar corrected. I bet many people take it as a personal insult, no matter how many times they tell you that they are grateful that you just “corrected” them.
The funny thing about this whole grammar topic is that I really only know a few rules and they aren’t even real rules. I am sure there is some big, thick book out there that contains the official rules that we are all supposed to abide by, but we most likely wouldn’t be able to understand that. All you guys out there who are familiar with the real deal are rolling your eyes at me. Hey, at least I try.
Let’s get down to business.
The reason I bring this post up is because I just noticed the lead story on Yahoo!. It goes like this: Get ready for wild weather – The return of El Niño conditions could lead to dramatic storms through the winter. » Less fish, more rain.
Okay, there are two problems with this. The overriding issue is that whoever wrote this is in the writing business. If you are in the writing business, I would make a wild guess that you know how to write. The next problem is the grammar in the story description, “Less fish, more rain.” It should be “Fewer fish, more rain.”
It’s funny, because while reading the actual story, I noticed this line: “The warming of the ocean can also lead to a reduction in the seafood catch off the West Coast, and fewer fish can also impact food sources for several types of birds and marine mammals.” Hey, they got it right there, but not on the homepage. Weird.
So, what’s the rule? I was always taught that if you can count it, it’s fewer. If you can’t, it’s less. Here are some examples:
- I have fewer brain cells than…
- You have less body mass than…
- You have fewer hairs than…
- I have less hair than…
Oh yeah, you know all those signs at the checkout counters in supermarkets that say, “10 items or less?” Well, they are wrong. The wrong person made those signs and had them printed them up. They should have had them proofread. Oh well. I guess our nation’s youth will just continue to have “10 items or less” seared into their minds.
Yesterday, I was humming away, working outside and minding my own business when the sky started getting dark. I kept on working until the sky was a little too dark for my liking. I grabbed my tools and walked into the garage.
About five minutes later, the sky fell. It was crazy. The wind picked up and there was like a sheet of rain falling from above. Then, the hail started. I am so glad the cars were in the garage because I am almost sure they would have been all dented up from the hail. Some pieces were really big. They were actually bouncing off the grass and rolling down the front yard.
The storm lasted for about 15 minutes and then slowed down. I looked outside and there was a complete mess. Leaves everywhere. There are now holes in many of our plant leaves because of the hail.
Everything was cool for a while and then the power went out. It just came back on this morning. Ugh. That really stunk.
Here are some pictures. I didn’t get any of the big hail, but my brother’s verbal abuse will make me remember for next time.
I was walking around up on the hill yesterday when I noticed the roses starting to bloom. It’s amazing that they are even starting to flower with all the rain we have been having. Actually, I think the rain kind of stopped. It’s just cloudy now and really not all that bad. It’s good walking weather.
I figured that I would give you a few flower shots, since I haven’t in a while.
There are three colored roses up there…pinkish white, white and red. I took a few pictures of the red roses, but they didn’t come out at all. They were all blurry. For some reason, my camera doesn’t like really bright colored flowers. It’s like there’s not enough contrast or something.
Anyway, here are those photos of what I think are Knockout Roses.
Pinkish white Knockout Rose with red roses in background
