ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 30, 1997 TAG: 9704010008
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: DEAR JOHN
SOURCE: JOHN ARBOGAST
Disposing of yard waste - organic matter in the lawn or garden that has been cut, pruned or clipped - is a problem that becomes more intense during the growing season.
One constructive way to deal with it is to make compost. And if you need information on how to do that you should plan to attend one of the Extension Service's compost presentations. They will be part of the Clean Valley Council's exhibit at Earth Day, April 19 at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. at Mill Mountain Zoo and Mill Mountain Park.
The programs will be open presentations with no preregistration and will be held outdoors. In case of rain, the sessions will be canceled. Folks planning to attend the Earth Day activities on Mill Mountain are requested to park at Victory Stadium on Reserve Avenue and take shuttle buses.
A common problem with composting can be that the pile doesn't heat up. There are a variety of causes, and all will be discussed at the presentations. One key factor in composting, however, is that the pile have both green and brown waste.
Greens materials can be fresh, weedkiller-free grass clippings; green leaves from the soft prunings of new growth from landscape plants such as hedges; and chopped up green plants pulled up from the garden or flower bed. Brown material can be leaves that are no longer green, straw, hay or other chopped up mulch, coarse sawdust and shredded woody prunings.
Q: Each spring, I reseed bare spots in my front yard, but I must be doing something wrong because I still have bare spots. The grass that I have is nice, and I do fertilize, soil test for pH, and try to control weeds. I don't have kids or pets running over the lawn nor a lot of shade to hurt the grass. What could be wrong and what can I do?
A: Because foot traffic and shade aren't potential problems, I would guess that one or more of the following could be the culprit(s): (1) failure of reseeding, (2) improper grass species, (3) moisture problems, including both poor drainage and dry soil or (4) inadequate depth of fairly loose topsoil for roots to develop to survive summer stresses.
These possibilities are not listed in priority order but are numbered so I can briefly explain each.
Regarding (1), grass seed must be sown over loosened soil or soil that has crevices to both hold the seed and ensure good seed-to-soil contact. To make your next seeding more successful addressing both (1) and (4) here, rent a core aerifier and make criss-cross passes over the lawn two or three times prior to overseeding. Be sure to use some kind of starter fertilizer. Using low quality grass seed (2) means using a bag of unnamed grasses that may be listed as simply common bluegrass/fescue or using a seed mix that contains a hefty amount of a temporary grass seed type, such as ryegrass. Observe your lawn this spring and summer to see if (3) might be happening. If there's too much moisture during the wet spells, try diverting some of the water away from the area. Also, loosening a tight soil by aerifiying might help correct poor drainage caused by compacted soil.
Send short questions about your lawn, garden, plants or insects to Dear John, c/o The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491. We need your mail, but this column can't reply to all letters. Those of wide appeal will be answered during the weeks that the subject is timely. Personal replies cannot be given.
Please don't send stamps, stamped envelopes, samples or pictures.
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