Monday, July 30, 2012

Soil. It's More Than Dirt.

A long time ago, Gary Larson put out one of his famous and memorable cartoons showing cavemen who proposed a Periodic Table. That first element proposed was dirt: 'De'.

The soil in your garden is more than ordinary dirt.

Let's take a look at what garden soil - and good garden soil - really is.

Yes - it is dirt. Dirt is, more or less, various inorganic particulate matter. What that means in ordinary English is that it's made of bits of various kinds of stones and sands and clays. It does contain some minerals and trace elements which will make your garden better. However, on its own, dirt isn't that interesting.

Organic matter is what makes soil really interesting. Decomposed organic matter usually is various decomposed plant and animal matter. Plant matter is, obviously, decomposed leaves and twigs and the like. Animal matter is normally manure - in other words: animal poo. We'll go into more detail about what poo is safe and what you need to do to the different kinds to make it useful. Some kinds, in the 'raw' state will cause more problems than they will solve.

Microbial and other 'live' activity completes the perfect three. In a healthy compost or garden there are many kinds of unicellular, microbial and other microscopic organisms at work. There are also many lifeforms which you can see. Usually, common earthworms are a really good indicator of a soil's health. There are many more. However, in this case, if you have worms, you have something good happening.

If your soil doesn't seem to have these three things happening, then some repairs are needed.

There's more to it than first meets the eye. Check in with us again another time  for some hints about making your soil different - and making it better. More importantly, we can show you how to make it suit the plants and trees and crops you're most interested in.

Until soon!
 


Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Why do I need to mow so often?


Sometimes, the question "Why does the lawn need to be cut so often?" comes up.

Here's why:
  • If you let it grow for a long time, it doesn't look tidy. 
    • How tidy you like it is up to you. That's a personal thing.
    • In some neighbourhoods and stratas and estates, some other co-residents have a pre-conceived idea about how that place should look. Thus, it isn't completely up to you. Sometimes, penalties may apply, including the strata or estate forcing some expensive guy to do your lawn and garden, against your wishes. 
    • In some localities, a long grassed area can represent a fire hazard and may be subject to legally enforceable penalties. Those penalties can be far more costly than the cost of regular, or even irregular, maintenance. 
  • If a lawn is cut infrequently, it can become unruly and hard to return to a smooth and well-cultured state. 
    • This is can be costly to correct to a basic standard. 
    • It can also be very costly to correct basic standard. (Yes, same reason twice - for a reason... it really is that bad.)
    • It can be extremely expensive to correct to a perfect standard.
During the warmer seasons - say Spring and Summer - a Couch grass lawn can grow up to 450 mm or more in a six week period. Imagine your land, covered in luscious Couch grass to a depth of eighteen inches! It's not just the height that is the issue, but what happens to the root and leaf structure during that time.

If you had that Couch grass lawn, and you went away for a break over Christmas and a month or so, then that refined lawn would have become nearly feral by the time you came home. The effect is that the finely controlled leaf structure which you so carefully cultivated would have grown massively; the root structure may have more than quadrupled; and the result is a grass that is reaching for the sky and endeavouring to reproduce more wildly than rabbits partaking of aphrodisiacs. Yes. It really is that bad - a hugely knotty mass that looks more well suited to an agricultural setting than your lovely home.

Regular mowing, lawn and garden service? It's not just an investment - it's insurance.

Like to know more? Call us on 02 8006 5543 or visit mygardenguy.com.au or e-mail us. We're ever so happy to help.

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Mowing the lawn or cutting the grass?

Mowing lawns? Yes we do that!

There is more to lawn care than you might realise.

There is "cutting the grass" and "mowing the lawn". Do you know the difference?

Cutting the grass is just cutting the grass shorter when you think it's too long. If you like to do things that way, we can do that for you.

If you want us to mow the lawn, then that's a more detailed activity. We can turn your grass into lawn with a little garden magic. It's called regular mowing combined with quality lawn care.

Cut your grass? Yes, we can do that for you.

Turn your grassed areas into a smooth green velvet that is fun to walk and play on, and looks fantastic? We would love to do that for you.

Call us. It's the right time of year to make a start.

Pruning Roses.

It's that time of year. It's time to prune the roses. Best pruning occurs during July and sometimes into early August.

There is an old rule of thumb that pruning '61 days' before you want a good display of flowers is the time to do it. It's almost true.

Obviously, being a biologically entity, the roses will pretty much do what they want and when they want to do it. The average benchmark works in most a cases, but it may vary for you.

Some species, such as Iceberg, can still have some ad looking blooms at this time of year. Bite the bullet and take some sanitised secateurs, and other sanitised tools, and sally forth!

Pruning roses can be hard work if you're not experienced or if you feel that you have better things to do with your time.

We have the experience, and thus the efficiency and efficacy.

Allow us to prune your roses. Ask us about including this service with your next regular garden service.

Monday, July 02, 2012

Mossy Lawn? We can help.

At this time of year, lawns can become mossy. In some cases, some grassed areas can become more moss than grass.

It's nothing to be embarrassed about because it happens quite often in the North Shore.

The causes are usually simple, but the cures are slightly more complex.

The main causes of mossy lawns are:
  • Chemical imbalance in the soil
  • Insufficient light on the area
  • Excessive moisture

The soil's chemical imbalance is usually a sign of long term neglect or lack of awareness of the situation. It can be remedied.

A lack of light in the area can be the result of excessive growth of trees and shrubs surrounding that area. We can thin those areas to permit plenty of light so that the new growth in spring will be strong enough to avoid this issue next winter.

Excessive moisture can be slightly more complex. How the extra water arrived on your land is the first question and is followed by "why is it still there?". We can assess your site and make recommendations on how you might like to proceed to chance that circumstance.

We have developed a private formula which may assist your immediate needs without the necessity of complex remediation. It's a quick fix and may help your needs.

If you would like to know more, please contact us via e-mail and we'll work to help you.