Question
Hi Charlotte,

We just moved into a house where the lawn was somewhat neglected.  It was sprinkled on a semi-regular basis, but was never fertilized.  Now the weather has turned hot (we live in the San Jose, CA area), and the grass looks like it's starting to suffer more.  There is definitely some green, but there is a lot of brown, lifeless-appearing grass - probably about a 50/50 mix.

I'd like to resurrect the lawn - I don't want to put down new sod.  What do you think would be the best way to do it?  The ground feels quite hard, probably from lack of regular watering.  Should I try to intensively water for a few days to soften the soil before applying fertilizer or turf builder?  Should I re-seed before fertilizing?

It never rains during the late spring, summer, and early fall around here.  It gets very hot and dry at times.  How often (and how long) do I need to water to maintain a healthy, lush lawn?

Thanks in advance!

Leland

Answer
Hi Leland;
Get enough sugar ( like you use to sweeten your tea etc) to put down 1 pound per 250. sq. ft. of lawn.
Broadcast that down, and water it in well.
Water to a depth of at least 6 inches. You want to encourage a deep root system.
A deep root system will help protect against heat, cold and drought damage, and will prevent a thatch buildup.
when shallow watering is done, to a depth of a couple of inches or less, the roots come to the surface to get water, get too much heat etc, and die.
I live in north Texas, and we have a lot of 100+ weather. when the temp gets above 100 for several days, I sometimes have to water more than once a week, but until it just gets too hot for anything, and doesn't go well above 100, once a week is all I water.
Another thing you can do is go to a feed store and get some alfalfa meal, and apply that to the yard. you can do it and the sugar together. bout the same amount as you do sugar.
Alfalfa meal has all kinds of goody nutrients in it.
Lava sand is also good.
After a volcano erupts, and all that lava cools off, the area becomes an Eden with beautiful flowers, because of that lava and what is in it.
That is why Haiwaii is so bountiful with beautiful flowers.
Do some or all of these things, and you will see that lawn perk up sooner than you think.
If the grass you have spreads by runners, l;ike Burmuda or St. augustine, you should not have to resod.
You can get a large lava rock, chip out a depression in it, put in a little potting soil, and put a plant in there, it will grow like the dickens.
cornmeal gluten or agricultural cornmeal is a great weed and feed, and it kills fungus. Added to your soil it is nothing but beneficial.
If you can't find either of those, yellow corn meal is a fairly satisfactory substitute.
But the yellow cornmeal does have the husks removed from the kernels, so a lot of the nutrients for your soil are lost in that process.
Baking soda disolved in water is a great fungicide.
I can't find out how much, so i use about 1/2 cup baking sofa per gallon of water. Spray the area till saturated.
If you are spraying shrubs and bushes, be sure to spray the underneath side of leaves as well.
hope that helps.
Write me anytime you want information about organics.
Charlotte