Creative Gardening

Posts Tagged ‘Clay Soils’

If you have your home in a region that has very little rainfall and long hot periods you might like to think about seeding your lawn with drought resistant grass seed. There are a range of different grass seeds available that can flourish in dry conditions and even remain green throughout the year. We’ve looked at a few of them to help you to discover the right drought resistant grass seed to seed a new lawn.

Bermuda Grass Seed

Bermuda grass seed is one of the top drought resistance seeds that you can purchase. It will succeed in regions that are very hot and dry through the year while it also grows well in humid areas with heavy rainfall. It is a very good all round grass seed to use for a lawn. Bermuda grass can endure full sunshine but also needs a well drained soil. It can stay alive times of severe drought as it has extremely deep roots. It is best mowed to about 1 inch for hard wear and resistance to drought.

Zoysia Grass

Zoysia grass has a gorgeous medium green color though in dry situations it will appear yellower. It is an excellent drought resistant grass since it’s deep roots allow it to locate water at great depths. During colder months it will become dormant and brown. Zoysia grass seed produces a fairly slowly growing grass that’s quite easy to look after.

Tall Fescue Grass

Though tall fescue grows best in humid conditions it is extremely drought resistant and grows well in various different kinds of soils including clay soils that are badly drained. Tall fescue grass seed is perfect for regions that experience hot and humid summers and bitterly cold winters nevertheless if you keep it cut to roughly three and a half inches throughout the warm weather it is able to tolerate drought conditions satisfactorily. It is an excellent plan to overseed tall fescue in the Autumn to guarantee even coverage of your lawn.

In Conclusion

Drought resistant grass seed is a good alternative for sowing a lawn, not only if you reside in a drought prone area, but if you would like a healthy, green lawn that takes less looking after. In many places hose pipes may sometimes be banned which means that lawns turn brown and may possibly die but if you seed the lawn with the right seed blend you can retain a lovely green lawn throughout any drought.

By and large then drought resistant grasses are best for anybody who does not want to do too much maintenance but still wants a beautiful green lawn!

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Most gardeners use some type of fertilizer to ensure that their soil contains an adequate amount of minerals and nutrients to provide their gardens with enough food to grow healthy plants.  In fact, fertilizer is so widely used that a single gardening center may carry several varieties to accommodate individual gardening needs.  But buying fertilizer can be expensive, especially if you have a large garden.  The good news is that you can make your own fertilizer by starting a compost heap.  By doing your own gardening composting, you will have unlimited compost year round.

Why Do Gardening Composting

Making your own garden compost has several benefits, the most obvious one being that it’s extremely cost effective.  So much so that it won’t cost you anything whatsoever.
Using compost improves not only the texture of your soil, but also the soil’s ability to retain water.  It also increases the fertility of your soil without the use of chemicals which can be dangerous to animals or humans.  Compost can also do a great deal to fix common soil issues, such as loosening clay soils and making sandy soils a bit more water retentive. 
From a broader point of view, gardening composting also is very helpful to the environment.  It helps reduce landfill loads.  With space in landfills becoming harder and harder to find, creating your own compost means that more unnecessary waste won’t be added to the already overfull landfills.

What To Use In Gardening Composting

Any type of organic material makes for good compost.  Typically, a good compost pile will be composed of both “brown” and “green” materials.  Brown materials are things such as dead leaves, straw, and wood chips, whereas green materials are fresh items such as grass clippings and scraps from your kitchen.  The type and ratio of these materials can make a difference in the rate of decomposition, and it may take you a while to get the right ratio down.  A general rule of thumb for gardening composting is 25 parts of browns to 1 part of greens.

When it comes to natural yard waste, there are a few you’ll want to avoid using in your compost pile.  Black walnuts trees, sumac, poison oak and poison ivy are all toxic and should be avoided at all costs.

If you use pine needles, be sure to chop them up because their waxy coating makes them slow to decompose.  Grass clippings make wonderful compost, as they break down quickly and are rich in nitrogen.  To avoid them turning sour, you can spread them out on the driveway and let them sit in the sun.  This will dry them out and make them ready for the compost heap.

When it comes to kitchen scraps, pretty much anything is suitable for use in gardening composting.  Vegetable matter like melon rinds, any type of peelings, etc., can be used.  Meats and fatty foods can also go into the compost heap, but keep in mind that these will create a rather unpleasant odor as they decompose, and may attract pests to your compost pile.
 
Other additions to your compost pile can include things like ashes from your wood stove or fireplace, plants or weeds pulled from your garden, hay or straw, and even manure.
 
Conclusion

Doing your own gardening composting not only providing yourself with a ready source of food for your garden; you’re also helping reduce landfill refuse and saving yourself a lot of money that could be spent elsewhere.  Once you know what to put into your compost heap, all that’s left is to choose a spot or a composting bin to start it in.