Hungry Horse news., 1955-06-24
Discusses Care
OF Montana Lawns
by Leonard wager horfievltvrist
Montana Extension service


BOZEMAN-Maintaining a good,
healthy turf is one of the important
summer chores and a good lawn
does not just happen by accident. 1t
is developed only as result of at
tention to several factors.
1t is hard to do anything with a
lawn which has been developed on
poor subsoil or on impoverished top
soil. No amount of fertilizing and
topdressing will take the place of
soil that was not properly condition
ed and fortified before the seed was
placed in the ground. If your grass
is growing under such conditions, it
would be better to plough up the
area, start over again and make ev-
cry effort to put the soil in proper
shape to grow good grass. Early
spring or late summer is the best
time to sow the new lawn.
Weed control in a lawn is always
a problem and there are several
things that can be done to diScOur
age weeds. Maintaining the turf in
the healthiest possible condition is
the best way to keep down the
weeds. Some of the practices that
favor a healthy turf are these:
l. Kentucky Bluegrass is the main
grass species in most lawns in Mon
tana. This grass favors top growth
not less than 1/2 inches high.
Maintaining 2 inch height will pro-
mote even better bluegrass growth.
Keeping a good height is even more
important during the hottest part of
the summer. Most mowers can be
adjusted, so you would be doing
your lawn a real favor if you set
those blades higher. Do it today!
2. Frequent clipping allowing the
grass to fall on the lawn and provide
a mulch is satisfactory. Some
greensmen favor catching the clip
pings and removing them from the
lawn. But if this latter practice is
followed, compost the clippings else
where in the garden and put the re-
sultant decomposed organic matter
back on the lawn when it is ready.
Either method is very satisfactory.
8. Good watering practices favor
good turf development and more
harm than good is done if the lawn
is sprinkled lightly every day. Not
enough water is applied to do much
good, and the practice encourages
shallow roofing of the grass plants
Thorough waterings at 5 to 10 day
intervals, depending on soil type
and doing thorough job by wetting
the soil down several inches at each
watering is important. Bluegrasses
and many other lawn grasses are
quite drought tolerant, and if the
soil becomes dry before the next ir
rigation is applied, little h m i.
done. It is even beneficial, since
aeration of the soil occurs which i.
important in maintaining health,
root growth of grasses.
a. Applications of nitrogen fertil
izer applied at the rate of approx
imately 8 pounds of ammonium sui
plate per 1000 square feet is Sug
gested. This fertilizer is especial.
recommended for alkaline soils an,
it will not burn if it is applied to tn
grass when dry. Spread it with
quantity of dry soil or sand to in
sure an even application. AS 500
as the fertilizer is spread, water
| in well. Low analysis fertilizers ar
often used for lawns. These must b
applied at greater rates, and tn
per unit cost is m h greater a
compared with an equivalent q
mount of high analysis fertilizer.
S. To maintain a supply of organi
matter, topdress the lawn in tn
spring with well rotted, weed-fre
manure or compost. If manures ar
not available, peat moss is an ez
cellent substitute; use acid peat i
areas where the soil in highly aka
line. A fertilizing with ammonium
phosphate, 10000, at 5 pounds pc
1000 square feet, or its equivaler
!; in other fertilizers is desirable {