Curbs/Tight Spots

Now Is The Time To Over Seed Lawn Borders And Curbs

One area of a lawn that can often frustrate gardeners is that which borders garden beds, paving areas, and curbs. Grass often thins out in these areas for a number of reasons, one being the amount of water and fertilizer they receive. When watering, there are two problems, especially if hand watering, the first is the habit of only watering the central area in front of us – the furthermost and closest areas generally get the least water. The same is true for fertilizers, especially if we are applying it by hand.

Curbs and paving areas generally receive a lot of traffic as well, and you’ll be surprised at how often people step off onto the grassed area, if it it’s only for a step or two. When over seeding in these areas, it’s often a good idea to use a grass mix that includes low maintenance traffic friendly grasses. Fall is the best time to thicken these areas in your lawn. You can also try to thicken and thin areas under trees, especially if they are (or have) dropping their leaves. These trees are starting to go dormant for the winter (which means less competition for water and nutrients) and, with fewer leaves to obstruct the way, will allow more sunlight through.

To over seed these narrow areas, use a lawn seeding tool to prepare the way. Sow your seed generously across the prepared area then water lightly. Try to keep all foot traffic away from these freshly seeded areas until the seed has germinated and developed a solid head of grass. You may only need to mow this area once before winter sets in, however, this will encourage the new grasses to sink deeper roots.

Those thin areas are a constant problem and will most likely require repairing every fall. Get a good thick lawn growing now and it should maintain that thickness until next summer – that’s when it will start to thin out again. If you have a good lawn repair tool on hand, then you can thicken any weak areas as soon as they appear, otherwise, keep plenty of seed on hand for next fall.

Grass Stitcher
USA bryan@imaginegrafix.com

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Repairing Lawns Around Sprinkler Heads

In-ground sprinkler systems have been a great asset to gardeners, especially in lawns. If the system has been installed properly, then your lawn should receive an even watering in one application compared to single sprinklers that have to be moved on a regular basis. If there is one problem with in-ground sprinklers it is the fact that the area close to the sprinkler head can receive too much water. This can cause problems with your lawn requiring frequent repairs.

Repairing your lawn around a sprinkler head can be difficult. Traditional lawn repair tools can cause damage to the sprinkler head while manual methods can be laborious. The Grass Stitcher is an excellent tool for making these repairs, however, it won’t solve the long term problem of too much water laying close to the sprinkler head.

The simple solution is to improve the drainage in the soil around the sprinkler head. While it may sound simple, achieving that extra drainage can be difficult. If you have a Grass Stitcher, then there is one suggestion that is well worth trying. Before using the Grass Stitcher, add a quarter of an inch of course river sand to the area close to sprinkler head. Rake the sand so it has an even cover, then use the Grass Stitcher to perforate the lawn. You will need to perforate through the sand and the thatch and into the soil below.

Once you have perforated through to the soil, over sow with good grass seed and water lightly. Keep the area moist for a week to ten days until the grass seeds have germinated, then cut back on the watering. When watering, use a fine light spray – too much pressure will cause the sand to wash away.

The sand cover will slowly incorporate into the soil below and help to increase drainage. It will not totally resolve the problem and you may need to repeat your efforts in early fall. However, that extra sand will help with drainage and it will help to reduce the amount of damage caused by too much water.

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Repairing Lawn Salt Damage In Tight Spots

While memories of winter may be fading fast, the damage caused to lawns through the use of salt or chemicals may be proving hard to repair. Areas that are close to the road are often fairly narrow and misshaped so getting a conventional lawn repair machine in could be difficult. Of course, you could do it all by hand – but that can be back breaking as well.

The simplest answer is to use a lawn repair tool like the Grass Stitcher. This is a handy tool that can get into areas as small as a 10″ and at the same time will not penetrate deep enough to damage any below-ground utilities. In fact, the Grass Stitcher is designed to only perforate the soil to the perfect depth required for optimum seed germination.

What is important is to use a tool that can quickly and easily get into these tight spots in your lawn. Obstacles such as in-ground sprinkler systems are a breeze. As mentioned, the perforations created are not deep enough to damage your irrigation system, yet the tool itself is light and maneuverable around such objects.

As for the salt damage to your lawn, we covered that topic in the post titled “How To Repair Grass Salt Damage“, but in short, use granulated gypsum or limestone over the area and water well. Then use your Grass Stitcher to perforate the soil, sow your seed and water lightly again. Keep the soil moist for the next two weeks and before you know it your grass will be looking great, even in the tightest of spots.

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How Do You Fix Those Hard To Get At Lawn-Damaged Areas?

Do you have any hard-to-get-at areas in your lawn? I know many gardeners like to have lawns right up to their garden beds, yet overhanging shrubs can create an environment that causes a lot of damage to your lawn. Mowing is not so bad. Just push the lawn mower under the overhanging branches. In many cases, however, that lawn is fairly thin.

The problem is a simple one – your lawn is not receiving enough sunlight to thrive. There is a simple solution to this problem, and it doesn’t require the hacking back of your shrubs. It also doesn’t require any back-breaking digging or the laying of sod. In fact, there are only a handful of ingredients required to turn that hard-to-get-at area into a good lawn.

Collect the following:

grass seed that is well suited to heavy shade in your region
a lawn seeding tool
water
ten to fifteen minutes of your time

Use the lawn seeding tool to prepare the ground for the grass seed. The grass stitcher can be used in these areas with ease and can prepare the ground right up to any border you have in place. Sow your grass seed liberally, then water. Nature should take care of the rest. Some grasses will grow well even in heavy shade. Clover is one example, and it can grow to a thick and healthy grass quite quickly. Grasses that like shade often don’t do well in full sun so there is little risk of them invading your general lawn.

Depending on the size of the damaged area, this whole process can be completed in as little as ten to fifteen minutes. If you have grass that is not thriving under just one overhanging shrub, you can complete the task in five minutes. Using this technique, you will have a thick and healthy green lawn from border to border.

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Controlling Weeds In And Around Curbs And Tight Spots

The best defense against weeds in your lawn is a good thick and healthy lawn. If your lawn is thick then weeds just won’t get the opportunity to reach maturity. It they don’t mature, they don’t set seed or send off runners – weed problem solved. However, there is one place in most gardens where weeds often do get a foothold, and often, it is because of poor maintenance. That area? Curbs, tight spots, around paths and around driveways.

Now I said around paths and driveways, however, the problem often starts in these areas. In most homes, paths and driveways are not made of a single sheet of concrete, for example. They are often poured in sections with a very narrow strip between each section – this is to allow for expansion and shrinkage when the weather is very hot or very cold. The problem is, weeds find a real foothold here, and start to grow quickly and aggressively.

A weed’s next stop is along the edges of curbs, paths, driveways and tight spots around trees and other obstacles. These are areas where lawns often struggle to grow in abundance. If weeds can get a foothold in these areas, they will slowly expand, suffocating your lawn as it expands.

As a gardener there are two things you can do to prevent this. The first is to remove by hand every weed that appears in driveways or pathways. Your second step is to get your lawn to grow as thickly as possible as close to these objects as possible. You will need to keep a firm eye on fertilizers, watering, and sunlight and to have an effective over sowing program in place.

Your over sowing needs to be done well. For best effect, use a grass care tool to perforate the area as close to the path, curb, driveway or any other obstacle as possible. Sow at about twice the recommended rate for a new lawn and water daily for the first week. After you see the seeds starting to germinate, reduce water to no less than every second day. Don’t be too quick to cut this grass. Let it get a good growing period in first then reduce by a third.

To keep weeds at bay, and to ensure a good even looking lawn, keep the grass as thick as possible across the whole lawn, particular curbs and tight spots – don’t let them become your lawn’s defensive weakness.

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Does Your Lawn Struggle At The Edges?

There is always one area of a lawn that gardeners have difficulties with. It could be around trees, close to buildings, or most commonly, along the edges. This includes curbs, garden beds and pathways. It can be a strange problem as well since individual grass plants will appear to grow well, so well they grow over the path, garden bed or curb. However, I did say individual grass plants and the reason I say it’s a strange problem is because the area between the plants is bare earth – the grass just doesn’t seem to want to grow there.

Sound familiar at all? Is there a solution? Gardeners have been trying a wide variety of solutions for decades, some with success, some without. Every garden is different and for each the source of the problem is different. Generally speaking, the source of the problem is in the location. Edges, like curbs and paths, block the natural flow of water. The result can often be too much water, or not enough if there is a slight slope up to the path or curb. Where grass grows close to raised garden beds the problem can be exasperated by shade from the raised bed and the plants in the bed.

If you can identify the cause of the problem, you can take steps to solve the problem. If too little water is the problem then adding water retaining products may help. Likewise, if too much water is the problem, taking corrective action to improve drainage could help to resolve the problem.

Generally speaking, using a grass that is suited to those conditions is the best option. For gardeners who have a single grass type as a lawn – for example, those with Bermuda Grass lawns – there are varieties that tolerate shade and there are also varieties that tolerate either damp or dry conditions. Use a lawn seeding tool to prepare the area and sow your seed liberally. Water well and within a month you will find that your lawn is growing strongly, right up to the edges.

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Archives

Now Is The Time To Over Seed Lawn Borders And Curbs

Repairing Lawns Around Sprinkler Heads

Repairing Lawn Salt Damage In Tight Spots

How Do You Fix Those Hard To Get At Lawn-Damaged Areas?

Controlling Weeds In And Around Curbs And Tight Spots

Does Your Lawn Struggle At The Edges?

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