Turf Specialist Reveals Major Pitfall With New Lawn Trend: It's 'really Counterproductive'
© Provided by The Cool Down No Mow May, Overgrown lawn againA recent trend in yard work is the pinnacle of doing more by doing less. No Mow May is a movement that encourages people to skip lawn maintenance to save money, time, and energy, and to help support local pollinators. But some experts warn the Grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side of this trend.
Grass lawns are the biggest irrigated crop in the U.S., and we devote unfathomable amounts of land and resources to their maintenance. These unnatural suburban displays are often useless, too. Grass lawns don't provide food, help wildlife, or promote Soil health.
The basic premise of the No Mow May movement is leaving lawns alone for the entire month of May, meaning no lawn cutting, fertilizer, or watering.
There are several reasons why someone might want to participate — from saving money on synthetic fertilizers to taking back your weekends that would otherwise be spent on maintaining a green lawn.
No Mow May can also offer nectar, pollen, and shelter for a wide range of essential pollinators, like bees and butterflies. Because they pollinate the world's flowering plants and food crops, we depend on pollinators and the other ecosystem services they support. Protecting and supporting these insects is one way to help the planet.
But there is a fair share of nuance to this movement. Tamson Yeh, a turf specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County in New York, explained to the Associated Press that making temporary housing for pollinators with your overgrown lawn doesn't always benefit them or the planet.
"It's such a nice slogan, but letting the grass grow high and allowing it to do its thing, and then suddenly mowing it back is really counterproductive," Yeh stated. "If you want to have an impact, you need to establish a permanent cover for insects."
If you've already begun No Mow May, Yeh offers a safe solution come June 1 — reintroduce mowing gradually, cutting no more than a third of the grass height at a time.
Seasoned botanist, conservationist, and creator of #NoMowMay, Trevor Dines, took to Twitter to expand on participating in No Mow May.
"Total no-mow is a no-no," Dines tweeted. Long grasses need to get cut at some point in the year, or they will prevent pollinator-friendly flowers from germinating and ultimately cause a loss in species diversity that supports a healthy ecosystem. Dines's solution is leaving only part of your lawn unmowed and only cutting it once in the autumn.
Most people appreciated this nuanced take on No Mow May — "It looked really interesting and the insects had more choice," one person tweeted about their experience ditching their mower for May. Another person took a more laissez-faire approach to making their lawn more pollinator-friendly, tweeting, "Just sow those wildflower seeds & let nature do its thing."
You can also help pollinators and your local ecosystem by removing all or a portion of your grass and replacing it with native plants or ground covers. Adding potted native plants to your outdoor areas is a simple way to help the planet without committing to a lawn transformation.
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Turf specialist reveals major pitfall with new lawn trend: It's 'really counterproductive' first appeared on The Cool Down.
How Often Should You Aerate Your Lawn? Experts Reveal How Often And How To Do It More Efficiently
© Getty ImagesIrina88w nullTending to a lawn can sometimes feel like a challenge, knowing how little or often you should carry out essential maintenance – how often should you aerate your lawn being a prime example.
The cycle of grass-care jobs can be a hard one to navigate because it's all about balancing timings with climate conditions to achieve optimum results.
Take for instance how often you should mow your lawn, which will remain at the same frequency whereas calculating when to reseed grass will differ from season to season. However, how often you fertilize a lawn will, in principle, remain the same it'll just depend on the climate as to when you can do so.
So how often should you aerate a lawn? We ask lawn and grass experts to share their professional advice on how often to aerate a lawn for the best results, as well as what times of the year provide the best conditions to tackle the task.
How often should you aerate your lawn?Asking yourself how often you should aerate your lawn is as good a question as any when it comes to navigating the best practices for keeping your lawn in tip-top condition. So how often is it recommended to aerate your lawn?
"The frequency at which you should aerate your lawn depends on several factors such as soil type, level of foot traffic, and compaction," explains Coleman Cosby, project manager at Yardzen, the online landscape design company. "As a general rule, it's recommended to aerate your lawn once a year, typically in the fall or spring when the grass is actively growing,"
Coleman goes on to advise: "However if your lawn receives heavy foot traffic or has clay soil that tends to become compacted, you may need to aerate more frequently."
"Aeration can be a tough job, so whilst it may seem like a good idea to aerate as often as possible, it can do more harm than good to you and your lawn," warns Chris McIlroy, a gardening expert at The Grass People.
"Try to confine spiking to compacted areas, and don't do this too often. When using a garden fork, only do this once a year and if using a hollow-tine aerator, cut this down further to once every three years."
"Pricking can be done a little more regularly but remember this method won't solve deep compaction issues. Generally, aeration is a good practice to carry out every once in a while to improve drainage and alleviate compaction, but it shouldn't become a regular practice in any garden."
"Core aeration is a very traditional lawn care practice," explains Teri Valenzuela, natural science manager at lawncare specialists Sunday. "It intends to resolve compaction, address drainage issues and help increase air availability in soil."
"However, it can also disrupt and potentially damage soil." Hence the reason you shouldn't do it more than once a year, and only then if needed – a handy gardening tip for beginners to start off on the right foot.
"Core aeration doesn't need to be a routine practice in an annual lawn routine (if it's not needed)," says Teri. "In fact, your goal should be to disturb your lawn's soil as little as possible. It's really only necessary for extremely compacted soils in high-traffic lawn areas or soils prone to compaction (like clay and silt)."
How do I know when my lawn needs to be aerated?You'll know if your lawn needs aerating because there will be visible signs of soil compaction. From waterlogged lawns in rainy seasons to parched, dead grass in the height of summer.
"Simply put, aeration creates holes or slits in the soil to allow air and water to pass through freely," explains Chris. "This is mainly done to remedy soil compaction, which often causes waterlogging and can lead to moss and thatch appearing. It's not just water damage that can be an issue either; in dry months, the opposite can occur, with soil struggling to absorb nutrients correctly. If left untreated, this can kill grass as roots become starved of water."
Explaining the problem with compacted lawns Teri says: "Compacted soil impacts the ability of oxygen, water, and nutrients to penetrate into grass's root zone. This can reduce root growth, and result in grass that's more susceptible to stress and damage."
Chris adds: "If you notice a substantial build-up of moss over winter, you should try and work regular aeration into your lawn maintenance routine."
When is the best time to aerate a lawn?The best times to aerate are in summer and autumn when climates are generally better for carrying out the practice of piercing the soil.
"The purpose of aeration is to loosen up the soil beneath the ground to stimulate grass root growth and help the permeation of water and nutrients that help keep your grass green and healthy,' explains Jay Betts, a grass expert at lawn care specialist LawnStarter. "As for the best time of the year to aerate, if you live in a hot climate I recommend aerating during late spring or summer, and if you live in a cooler climate then early spring or fall."
"The best time to aerate cool-season lawns is mid to late spring, or in the fall," advises Teri. "For warm-season lawns, it's best to wait till late spring or early summer."
"Generally, pricking the soil is a good practice throughout the summer as it isn't too severe but gives your lawn a little relief from surface-level compaction in the high-traffic months," advises Chris. "Spiking should be left until autumn when there is less traffic on the lawn."
"If you're aerating in the fall, be sure to remove thatch and fall leaves by raking deep rather than just skimming the rake across the top of the lawn," advises Teri. This process is called scarifying and experts advise that you should avoid scarifying a wet lawn.
Is lawn aeration worth it?Aeration is more than worth it for lawns that are compacted or struggling to see healthy grass growth. "Aeration involves removing small plugs of soil from the lawn to allow water, air, and nutrients to penetrate the soil more easily, which helps to promote healthy root growth," explains Jay.
"Aeration while not essential for most lawns is good practice to ensure a well-drained, healthy, and disease-free lawn," says Chris. "You should consider aerating your lawn if it experiences heavy traffic (kids and pets running around your garden all contribute to compaction). You should also consider aerating your lawn if it dries out easily in the summer and becomes very waterlogged in the wetter months - which is typical of clay soils."
How to aerate your lawn properly: Expert tips"There are two ways to aerate your lawn, coring, and spiking,' explains Jay. "I recommend coring and avoiding spiking at all costs, the reason being that spiking can lead to your soil getting even more compacted around the holes being made from the spikes which is counterproductive to the benefits of aerating."
If you do need to aerate your lawn, we recommend taking the following steps to ensure maximum results:
Turf Specialist Calls 'No Mow May' Well Meaning But Misguided
If you're reading this, chances are you've heard about the #NoMowMay movement that's been gaining steam on social media and in eco-conscious circles these past few years.
Started in 2019 by citizen scientists in the United Kingdom, the call for homeowners to abstain from mowing their lawns during the month has spread to other countries, including the United States.
The intention is admirable: Let your grass and weeds grow and bloom to provide food and shelter for essential pollinators like bees and butterflies early in the season, when such necessities can be scarce.
Frankly, I think it's a terrible idea.
Some of those pollinators you set out to protect will likely get shredded up with the first mow of the season. Grass will no doubt get shaded by tall weeds, which can lead to fungal diseases. And weeds and invasive plants that take hold during the month won't simply disappear once the mowing commences. That might lead people to apply chemical pesticides they wouldn't otherwise use.
And what about rodents, snakes and other undesirables that also will likely avail themselves of the shelter?
Perplexed by the seemingly runaway-train popularity of the now-annual event, I called Tamson Yeh, turf specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County in New York. "Is it me?" I asked.
"I think it's a terrible idea, too," she said. "It's such a nice slogan, but letting the grass grow high and allowing it to do its thing, and then suddenly mowing it back is really counterproductive."
Yeh sees the movement as a "feel-good, stop-gap measure, because if you want to have an impact, you need to establish a permanent cover for insects," not merely temporary housing.
"Bees tell each other where the food is, and pollinators (when they discover an unmown lawn) will remember to come back to it again and again," Yeh said. "Then on June 1, when the food disappears, it's not good for them."
Hibernating insects have memories that span not only from day to day but from year to year, Yeh said. So she recommends planting early blooming shrubs, trees and plants to establish a permanent food source they can remember and rely on as adults when they emerge from dormancy.
Other problems with the practice, Yeh noted, include "confusing insects when the grass is suddenly low again. That gives predators the opportunity to take advantage of them."
There's also the potential to disturb a nest of bunnies when mowing, she said, calling the discovery "the most horrible experience you can have."
An all-or-nothing approach would be better. If you really want to make a difference, consider replacing the entire lawn, or part of it, with native plants or planting a wildflower meadow. Both will provide permanency for birds and pollinators while shrinking or eliminating the lawn, which frankly, has no redeeming value aside from subjective aesthetics, anyway.
When planting for beneficial insects, Yeh advises creating a corridor or path of pollen- and nectar-rich plants for migratory pollinators to travel along instead of spacing plants far apart.
Postponing fall cleanup until spring, which spawned another movement called #LeaveTheLeaves, will create havens for pollinators to lay their eggs and hibernate within. To allow time for them to emerge from dormancy, wait until after spring temperatures have remained above 50 degrees for an entire week before clearing away last season's plant debris.
For those set on letting their lawns go wild this month, Yeh cautions that "allowing grass to go to seed will kill it," so remove seedheads if they form.
It's also important to reintroduce mowing gradually.
"The best height for grass is 3 inches tall, but if you're mowing it down from 5 or 6 inches, do it over several sessions," she advised, adding that cutting grass by more than one-third of its height at one time can cause it to go into shock.
The gradual approach "also will give insects a chance to realize it's not a good place for them anymore," she said. Hopefully, they'll take the hint and move on to safer spaces.
Jessica Damiano writes regular gardening columns for The Associated Press. She publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter.
