Lawn Making

Lawn:
            A lawn is an area where the grass is grown as a carpet for a landscape and is the basic feature of any garden. It serves to enhance the beauty of the garden. A beautiful well-maintained lawn can make the entire landscape look good. Lawn sets a suitable background for a specimen tree or shrub as well as colorful beds and borders. Generally, the lawn should be wide open with access to direct sunshine, especially in front of rockery and a water pool. The lawn is the natural green carpet that serves as the center of the garden for many of the major activities like holding parties, social functions, active and passive recreation..etc.

Lawn

Steps in Lawn Making:
 1.Preparation of soil.
 2.Selection of grass.
 3.Planting of grass.
 4.Management of lawn.
     a.Mowing.
     b.Rolling
     c.Irrigation.
     d.Weeding.
     e.Fertilization.
     f.Scraping.
 5.Management of disease& other problems.

1.Preparation of soil:

•  Fertile, well-drained soil with good Water Holding Capacity is ideal.
•  pH should be between 5.5 to 7.0.

Care during summer:
     Soil should be up to 45cm depth by spade so that clods of earth are exposed to the sun for killing weeds, insects, and Microorganisms.

 Care during rainy season:

•  Few days before rain starts, break the clods and spread and incorporate 40-50 cartloads/acre of well rotten FYM.
•  Roll the ground lightly.
•  During rain, the soil will settle down and weeds will germinate which should be removed before sowing the grass.

2.  Selection of grass:
     1.Cool Season grasses.
     2.Warm-season grasses.

Cool Season Grasses:

•  They start growth at 5°C  and grow at their fastest rate when the temp is between 10-25°C.
•  They retain their color well in extreme cold and typically grow very dense. 
•  Examples: Bluegrass, Bentgrass, Rye grasses, Fescues...etc.

Warm-season grasses:
   *They only start growth at temp above 10°C and grow fastest when the temp is between 25°C and 35°C.
   *Many warm-season kinds of grass are quite a drought-tolerant and can handle very high summer temp.
 Warm Season grasses: Korean grass, Bermuda grass, St.Augustine grass, Carpetgrass, Buffalo grass.

Following grasses are suitable for Indian Conditions;

Buffalo grass:(Stenotaphrum secundatum)
   *Suitable for the shady situation.
   *Requires frequent watering.
   *Coarse texture.

Buffalo grass

Buffalo grass

Bermuda grass:(Cynodon dactylon)
  * Commonly used for planting because of its fast growth.
  * Hardiness.
  * Less water requirement.
  * Response to frequent mowing.
  * Fine texture, Suitable for the open sunny situation.

Cynodon dactylon

Korean grass:(Zoysia japonica)
  *Make cushion-like turf.
  *Highly suitable for smaller areas and home lawns.
  *Suitable for poor sandy soils, open sunny situation.
  *Slow in growth.
  *More Cold tolerance.

Zoysia japonica

Fescue grass:

   *Course texture.

   *Shade tolerant, survive on inferior soils.

Fescue grass

Kikuyu grass:

Pennisetum clandestine

3.Planting of grass:
     Methods of planting:
          1.Seeding.
          2.Dibbling of roots.
          3.Turfing.
          4. Bricking.
          5. Planting on polythene.

Seeding:
    * About 30kg of seeds need for one hectare. The seeds should be sown on a windless day evenly and thinly and covered with fine light soil.
    * The ground should have rolled again and water liberally with a rose tank or with a holed pipe fitted with a nozzle.
    * The seeds take 5 weeks to germinate.

Dibbling of roots:
     * This is one of the cheapest and slowest methods.
     * Small roots are dibbled about 15cms apart into the prepared ground.
     * The roots spread and grow underground in course of 6 months.

Turfing:
      *Turf are pieces of the earth with compact grass grow on them.
      * Turf should be cut uniformly thin in the square from the place where the grass is grown short, compact, and free from weeds.
      * They should spread on the ground side by side.
      * Gaps should be filled with soils.
      * The entire turf area should be rolled and watered liberally.

Bricking:
      * Bricking is the method to replace the few unhealthy patches in the well-maintained lawn.
      * In this method a piece of lawn along with soil in the shape of bricks is taken out and planted and watered immediately.
      * This rejuvenates the lawn.

Planting on polythene:
      * In this method lawn is grown on thick polythenes.
      * First polythene is cut into suitable pieces of desired dimensions.
      * Mixture of soil(3-4cm) is sprayed over the polythene sheets and grasses are grown over it.
      * It can be rolled and taken to a place and rolled out where the temporary effect is to be created.

4. Management of lawn:
   1.Mowing.
   2.Rolling.
   3.Irrigation.
   4. Weeding.
   5.Fertilization.
   6.Scraping.

Lawn

Mowing:

   * Interval of mowing in an established lawn depends upon the season.
   * In rainy and winter season mowing is done at the interval of 7-10 days.
   * During spring mowing is done at 15 days interval.
   * During Summer mowing is done at monthly intervals.

Mowing

Types of mowers:
   1.Hand mower.
   2.Bullock mower.
   3.Tractor Mower.
The mower is the selected basis of the size of the lawn.

Machine drew mower

Hand mower

Rolling: 
  * Rolling is done so as to suppress the upright growth to anchor the grass family in the soil.
  * It also was done to maintain the level of the ground.

Lawn roller

Irrigation:
  * Water requirement of the lawn depends on the season, the type of soil and grass-grown.
  * During autumn and winter months watering is done at an interval of 10days.
  * During spring and summer months watering is done at an interval of 7 days.
  * Generally flood irrigation is done in India. But sprinkler irrigation is best.

Sprinkler irrigation

Sprinkler irrigation

Weeding:
   * Regular mowing controls the population of weeds by removal of an upper portion of the weeds and starving the roots.
   * Hand weeding is also followed by home lawns.
   * Weedicides like 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid can be sprayed for controlling the deep-rooted weeds.
   * Mechanical weeders can also be used.

Mechanical weeder

Fertilization:
    * Application of 50-60g/sqm of a mixture of two parts of CAN: 1 part SSP: 1 part of potassium sulfate during the rainy season maintains the healthy growth of grasses.
    *  Spraying of urea @30g/10 lit of water is also useful for the growth of grass.

Scraping:
    * It is done to renovate the old lawn when it becomes old and the grass becomes compact.
    * After 3-4yrs during summer months lawn should be scrapped completely with the help of khurpa and raking should be done in both ways.
   * Before the start of rain topdressing should be done with a mixture of garden soil, sand, and sieved leaf mold in 1:2:1 ratio.
   * Bonemeal @1kg/100 m2 should also be applied before the onset of rain.
   * Thus grasses grow luxuriantly and will make a compact and healthy turf.

5; Major diseases in the lawn making:
   1.Fairy ring.
   2.Pale or yellow lawn.

1.Fairy ring:
    * It is caused by soil-borne fungi like
                 -Marasmius ordeades.
                 -Psalliota campestris.
                 -Leipiota morgani.

• These fungi cause a circular ring of thin colored or dead grass.
• Rings may be incomplete and given the appearance of an arc or horseshoe.
• Grass turns brown and rings widen in the circles from few cms to meters.

Fairy ring

Control of fairy ring disease:
     This can be controlled by drenching the soil with the Bordeaux mixture (4:4:50) or by spraying blitox.

2.Pale or yellow lawn:

•   This may be due to waterlogging conditions or lack of water or due to poor drainage.
•    The deficiency of N is also a possible reason for yellowing.
•    Hardening of soil and subsequent oxygen deficiency in the roots is also a possible cause of yellowing.

Yellow Lawn

Control of yellowing:

• Providing proper drainage in rain-prone areas.
• Regular irrigation in rainfed areas.
• Supplementing N fertilizers in the soil.
• Loosening the soil with the help of khurpa.