Lawn-growing tips
When planning ahead for next season’s lawn care, test your soil. The pH balance should be 7.0 or more. A pH of 6.2 to 6.7 puts the lawn at risk for fungal diseases. If pH is too low, correct it with liming, best done in the fall. Fertilizer is more available to grass if applied just before a rain. Lime and fertilizer should be applied by spreading half of it as you walk north and south and the other half as you walk east and west. This cuts down on missed areas. Any autumn feeding should be done with a low-nitrogen, slow-acting fertilizer.
In areas where tree roots compete with grass, apply extra fertilizer to benefit both. Moss and sorrel in lawns usually indicate poor soil, poor aeration or drainage, or excessive acidity.
These herbs can withstand mowing and heavy foot traffic: sweet violet, white clover, speedwell, thyme, green Irish moss, ajuga (bugleweed), pearly everlasting, rupturewort, stonecrop, wild strawberries, partridgeberry or wintergreen, English pennyroyal and Roman chamomile.