Trees and Lawn do not Mix

Have you ever seen a grassy area under the dense canopy of a forest?  How about trees growing in an open meadow?  Trees and grassy areas do not mix together in nature, yet we always try to incorporate them in the landscape. 

            Grass is a rapid growing, shallow-rooted, aggressive plant.  Grasses thrive in full sun with moist soil.  When grasses don’t receive enough sunlight they grow sparsely, allowing room for weeds to grow.  If grass doesn’t receive enough water, it will be stunted and not grow as vigorously as possible, allowing for weed growth. 

            Trees grow in open areas where rain comes in phases.  The soil dries out keeping smaller, less drought tolerant plants from competing for moisture. 

            Tree roots grow in the top three feet of soil, with the absorption roots living in the top 12 inches of soil.  The absorption roots are responsible for the majority of nutrient and water uptake.  Grass roots grow in the top six inches of soil and can reach depths up to 18 inches.  Grass roots absorb water and nutrients quicker than tree roots because of their large number and being closer to the soil surface. 

            To have trees grow well in lawn environments, certain considerations need to be met.  The further away the grass is from the tree, the happier the tree will be.  By installing a tree ring, a divider from the tree and the lawn, you can help the tree in multiple ways.  First, the tree roots will not be competing with the grass for water uptake.  Secondly, the tree will not be subjected to injury from lawn mowers and string trimmers.  The third benefit of a tree ring is that maintenance costs are lower because you do not need to edge around the trees and mow so close. 

            Broad-leaf herbicides are used in lawns to kill clover and dandelions.  The negative aspect of this is that trees are also broad-leaf plants.  Only spot treatment should be used in lawns with trees to apply the herbicide versus a broad coverage type application. 

            Lawns are irrigated by overhead sprinklers and typically receive about one inch of water per week.  That is a satisfactory amount of water for grass, but does not meet the needs of a tree.  One inch of water does not move that deep into the soil.  To help satisfy a trees water requirement, you can turn a garden hose on a low flow at the base of the tree and let the hose run for a couple of hours to help water the tree roots deep in the soil.

            While trees and grass do not mix in nature, by following these guidelines your trees and your lawn will co-exist much better.     

Much about Mulch

The forest floor is covered in a rich dark mass of decomposing organic matter.  The litter layer of the forest floor is composed of leaves, branches, animal droppings, and earthworm castings.  This layer of mulch helps forests become the healthy ecosystems that they are.  One of the best ways to bring the magic of the forest to your garden is by applying mulch.

Mulch is any type of organic matter that can be used in the garden.  Mulch has many benefits for your soil, plants and water bill. 

Mulch comes in many different types.  Shredded redwood and cedar bark are the most common types available.  Recycled and shredded rubber has become popular over the past few years despite it smelling like tires and offers no organic matter for the soil.  A local source of mulch can come from a local arborist.  The arborist can grind all of the branches that have been pruned from your trees into wood chips.  Our favorite mulch to use is Fertile Mulch from Full Circle Compost.  Fertile Mulch is the wood chip material screened out of their compost products leaving the chips covered in the compost in the process.

Mulch can help condition you soil and improve its qualities.  As the mulch decomposes, it adds organic matter to the soil.  Organic matter in the soil will improve moisture and nutrient retention.  Mulch helps retain moisture by shading and insulating the soil.  Soil compaction can also be avoided by placing the mulch over the soil and distributing the weight of foot traffic over a larger area.  Compacted soil inhibits root growth and water holding capacity.

When you apply mulch to your planters, spread it between one and four inches.  Less than one inch and you do not gain much water retention ability and above four inches the gas exchange between the soil and the air is disrupted.  The mulch should also be kept from the trunks of trees and the crowns of your shrubs by approximately four inches.

Your plants will love the mulch and you will love the soft natural look it provides.   

Your Yard Smells Wonderful

Our landscapes can entice us from anywhere.  From a longing to be outside while looking out the kitchen window to not wanting to go back inside while puttering in the garden, we will always be drawn.  The garden can invigorate our senses, and certain plants can really get our noses going. 

Fragrant plants can come in all sizes and easily fit into your yard.  Below is a list of some of our favorites that we use in the landscape.

1) Agastache rupestris (Hyssop):  This plant is one of the staples of our landscapes.  It is a short (18” high and wide) perennial that blooms in the summer.  The leaves are small and very fragrant.  The scent is similar to licorice and mint.  Depending on the variety, the plant will start blooming in early summer and can keep blooming until the first frost.  Hummingbirds will be drawn in and come to the plants on a daily basis.

2) Lavendula (Lavender, multiple varieties):  Lavender is a reliable perennial that can grow in height from 12 inches up to three feet.  Purple blooms rise up from the grey leaves in early summer.  Lavender plants produce a great fragrance that smells exactly like lavender.  Lavender does best in fast draining soil and should not be mulched in the winter time to allow the roots to dry out.

3) Viburnum (Viburnum, multiple varieties):  Viburnums’ are a variety of shrubs that are much underused.  The size range of viburnums is generally from six feet high and wide up to 15 feet.  Most viburnums produce highly fragrant, white flowers in the spring.  The Korean Spice Viburnum can be smelled from up to 30 feet away in full bloom.  After flowering, bright red fruit appear in the summer, followed by reliable fall color.

4) Philadelphus lewisii (Native Mock Orange):  Native to western states and discovered by Meriwether Lewis, this drought tolerant shrub produces white, vanilla-citrus scented flowers.  Different cultivars and hybrids are available and come in dwarf (four feet) to large (12 feet). 

5) Hamamelis x intermedia (Witch Hazel):  Witch hazel is a winter blooming shrub.  During the late winter months, the witch hazel produces very unusual looking, and highly fragrant flower.  Plant these where they can be seen and smelled.  The witch hazel can grow to be 12 feet high and wide, so give them enough room. 

There are many more fragrant plants to choose from, and make sure that when you see them, take the time to stop and smell them.  It might just make your day.      

The High Cost of Lawn

Landscapes can come in all shapes, sizes, and colors to fit your style.  Some prefer a wide open meadow style, while others prefer a view reminiscent of the desert in which we live.  And still others prefer to have a yard full of grass.  They offer opinions that it is low maintenance, they do not have to worry about picking up leaves in the fall, or that they like to hear the sound of the sprinklers.  While lawns do have a practical use in some yards, if the only time you walk on it is to mow it, you do not need it.

Nevada is a very dry state with limited amounts of water, yet lawns dominate most front yards.  For an experiment in water usage, I have compared two yards.  Each yard measures 12 feet by 24 feet.  Yard A is Kentucky Bluegrass irrigated by Rain Bird pop-up sprinklers with a high efficiency.  Yard B is 32, five gallon shrubs irrigated by Rain Bird drip-irrigation.  I chose 32 shrubs because most shrubs will grow to about three feet wide.  Each shrub will cover nine square feet, and nine times 32 is 288 square feet, the same as the lawn.  For the sake of argument, I have made each yard irrigate for 8 months of the year and the irrigation timer is never adjusted on either yard. 

The Bluegrass yard is irrigated for 52 minutes per week to achieve 1.5” of water.  After 32 weeks of irrigation, the lawn has used 8,640 gallons of water.

The yard with the 32 shrubs is irrigated every fourth day and the valve runs for one hour each time.  After 32 weeks of irrigation, the 32 shrubs used 4,300 gallons of water.  The yard with the 32 shrubs used less than half as much as the yard with the lawn. 

According to city-data.com there are approximately 20,000 houses in Carson City.  If half of these homes removed 288 square feet of lawn, we would save over 43 million gallons of water every year.  Please email me, if you would like to see the math.

In order for a lawn to remain healthy it needs to be watered regularly, mowed often (when I had a lawn, I needed to mow it every other day because it grew so fast) and fertilized.  If these needs are not met, the lawn will be more prone to disease, insects and have brown spots.  Most all yards without lawn can be maintained by pruning and fertilizing only four times per year.

Engines like those found on lawn mowers and string trimmers contribute about 5% of the nations’ total pollution.  The healthier a lawn is, the more mowing it will need (remember my lawn from earlier?).  This means that the healthier a lawn is the more effort we have to expend and more pollution we have to expel.  The yard with the 32 shrubs can probably get away with being pruned by hand about once a year if it was designed and pruned properly.

Now you know how easy, affordable, and environmentally friendly a landscape without lawn can be.  I recommend renting that sod cutter today or calling us to help!              

How to Build a Raised Planter Bed for Vegetables

The satisfaction of growing your own vegetables is hard to beat.  The only way to make it more satisfying is to build a raised planter that allows you to garden at waist level.  You do not have to bend over to enjoy the fruits of your labor anymore.  As well as benefitting you, the plants will thrive in the fresh, loose soil which is full of nutrients.  Let's get started.

First, you will need to select a sunny location for the planter to be located.  Vegetables prefer at least six hours of sunlight.  It is also nice to have the vegetable planter located near the kitchen so you can easily bring the veggies in to cook.  

Next you will need the materials.  In our example, the planter will be 10 feet long, four feet wide, and three feet high.  We are using 12 inch wide boards for easy stacking. 

For this planter, you will need (6) 2" x 12" x 10' boards, (6) 2" x 12" x 4' boards, and (6) 4" x 4" x 42" posts.

Assemble the beds on a hard, even surface.  Use at least two screws on each side where joining boards together.  Make sure the shorter beams are on the inside of the longer beams on each set of planters.  This will keep the dimensions the same, keeping each level of the planter square.

Build as many planters as you need to attain the height you are looking for.  Move them into the location you have selected for your planter and stack the frames.  The area should be level.  If you are going to irrigate the planter with drip irrigation, run the tubing under the bottom of the box now. 

Next, You will need to secure the boxes with the 4" x 4" posts.  One post will go in each corner and one halfway down each side for planters longer than 10 feet.  Each post should be at least six inches taller than the height of the bed and be buried into the native soil the extra six inches.  Attach at least one screw on each 12" board where it is contacting the 4" x 4" post.  For this planter, we used six screws in each corner post and three screws per side.   

Now the hard part.  Filling the planter with soil will be the most labor intensive part of the project.  This planter will use four and a half yards of soil.  If you have strong friends, you can load wheelbarrows and dump the entire wheelbarrow in, as shown in the picture below, or you can shovel the soil in. 

To determine how much soil you will need, use this formula and measure in feet: Length x width x height divided by 27.  Our planter is 10 feet x 4 feet x 3 feet = 120 cubic feet.  There are 27 cubic feet in 1 cubic yard.  127 divided by 27 = 4.7 or about 4.5 cubic yards.

After you have recovered from moving the soil in, it is time to irrigate the planter bed.  We use Netafim brand irrigation for all of our plants and planters.  It has an in-line emitter built in every 12 inches.  We lay the tubing out in a grid pattern helping to make sure that the entire surface area is irrigated.  When using the Netafim, make your runs no longer than 20 feet.  If they are longer than that you will lose pressure in the tubing and water flow will drop considerably.  Use drip tubing staples or landscape fabric pins to help hold down the Netafim.  



Now that the irrigation is in, it is time to add the plants.  Place each plant under one of the emitters.  Add approximately two to three inches of mulch.  The mulch will help keep the soil cool and retain moisture. 

                                      

This planter is just starting with a few cold season crops such as broccoli, rhubarb, and lettuce.

Finally, watch the garden grow and enjoy the fruits of your labor. 

    

IMPEDE THE WEEDS

Weeds are a problem for everyone who has a maintained yard.  Countless hours can be spent every week going out and pulling or spraying weeds in your planter beds.  Pulling weeds leaves you with a sore back for days to come, and spraying can be messy and potentially harmful to other plants if you are not careful.  Thankfully, there is an alternative.  Pre-emergent herbicides can help alleviate the majority of your weed problems throughout the year.

            How is a pre-emergent herbicide different than a normal herbicide?  Most post-emergent herbicides such as Round-Up™ kill a plant by absorbing the herbicide through the leaves and working systemically.  A pre-emergent herbicide kills the seedlings before they have a chance to establish.  Typical pre-emergent herbicides form a vapor-barrier in the top inch of soil.  This vapor-barrier is the key to control.  As new seedlings begin to germinate, their first little roots begin to reach out into the soil, and upon reaching the vapor barrier, are killed, preventing establishment.   

Pre-emergent herbicides are available in several different chemical and organic based varieties.  The organic-based pre-emergent is Corn Gluten.  We have tried using corn gluten in the past with very limited results, and only recommend its use if you wish to go 100% organic.

Green Lizard Landscape strives to promote earth-friendly practices with organic-based fertilizing, low-water use and low impact landscaping.  That being said, we recommend using chemical pre-emergent herbicides.  The chemical Dichlobenil (the brand name is Casoron, but sold under different names as well) is what we apply to the properties we provide a maintenance service for.  Dichlobenil is highly effective at preventing weeds for many months and can be used in planters that have been established for a year or more.  Dichlobenil can not be used in lawn areas, as it will kill the grass.  Caution should also be used in areas with bulbs. 

Always read the label and follow the manufacturers’ instructions and make sure you have on proper safety gear such as goggles and gloves.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the use of pre-emergent herbicides or any other landscape questions. 
                  

WINTER WATERING MAKES YOUR LANDSCAPE A WINNER

Supplemental irrigation for plant material during a dry winter in the Great Basin desert of Northern Nevada is often neglected, and is an important factor influencing plant health.  Northern Nevada winters are unpredictable with temperatures ranging between 60 degree days and sub-zero nights.  Northern Nevada receives the majority of it’s average annual precipitation of only 7.0 inches in the winter, but sometimes there are many weeks between measureable precipitation.   Landscape plants can suffer from drought in the winter even though the plants are mostly dormant. 

             During the growing season it is obvious landscape plants need irrigation to survive; because without irrigation, plants quickly show signs of drought stress.  During the winter months, plants are dormant and show no visible signs of activity, but they are very much alive.  Wintertime moisture keeps plant roots hydrated, prevents the soil from shrinking and cracking causing root damage, and helps prepare them for springtime’s return to the growing season.  All evergreens, especially broad-leaf evergreens such as Rhododendrons continue to transpire moisture through the leaves.  If the moisture level drops in the roots, the leaves can dehydrate and fall off.  Drought damage to a coniferous evergreen is insidious because it can take months to show.

            In the winter, prevent plant dehydration during periods of drought by pressurizing your irrigation system on a warm sunny day and run through all the valves.  Remember to water lawn areas as well.  After watering, shut-down and drain your irrigation system to prevent freeze damage.  If you do not want to turn on your sprinklers, you can always hook up the hose and water by hand.  A good rule of thumb is to water shrubs for five seconds, and 20 seconds to a minute for trees.   This will take care of the water needs of the plant material for an interim winter watering session.

            When periods of four to six weeks go by without sufficient moisture, we recommend watering your yard.  If the top one to two inches of soils is dry, it is a good time to water.  Do not worry about watering if there is still snow on the ground.  It is acting as an insulator and moisture blanket and there is no need to water.