Month: March 2015

How to Get a Golf Course Quality Yard

Posted on by baggervance71

green-grass

4 Steps to Greener Grass

If you’ve ever been to a golf course, you might have noticed that the grass quality there is absolutely astounding!  I know I’ve always been jealous of how perfect the grass at golf courses are.  Then I decided to do something about it.  If your lawn is thin, bare, and dry, you are not alone.  But it doesn’t have to be that way!  Complete turf renovation is only four steps away.  Here are four simple steps you can take in order to achieve lush, green, golf course quality grass in your own yard.

  1. Dethatching
  2. Vacuuming
  3. Aerating
  4. Overseeding

dethatchingDethatching:

Thatch is that layer of dead grass, roots and stems that can build up between the surface of your soil and the grass.  Thatch can build up when your turf produces organic debris quicker than it can break it down.

While it’s true that a thin layer of thatch can be healthy for your lawn, when thatch buildup becomes thicker than half an inch, thatch can act as a sponge and prevent water & other essential nutrients from reaching the soil.  When this happens, thatch can literally choke your lawn, slow down growth and turn your grass an unhealthy brown shade.  Don’t believe me?  Grab a rake, go out to your yard, and firmly run your rake along the turf.  Chances are, it will pull up a layer of dead grass.  This dead grass (or thatch) can be fatal to the quality of your yard.

When you dethatch your yard, you are essentially combing your yard of matted thatch that can stifle grass growth.  For smaller yards, dethatching can be done with a rake, but when it comes to bigger areas, a dethatcher can be essential.  Popular types of dethatchers available include walk behind dethatchers or pull behind dethatchers, if you have a riding lawn mower.

baggerVacuuming:

After you dethatch your yard, you will essentially have a layer of dead grass right on top of your turf.  In order for you to maintain a healthy, beautiful yard, it is essential to get rid of the thatch.  If you don’t vacuum the thatch from your yard, it will only be a matter of time before the thatch is matted down into your turf again.  Vacuuming your yard can be done with a lawn vacuum or even a lawn mower equipped with a bagger or grass catcher.

After vacuuming, your yard will be totally free from thatch and much healthier.  And by now you should even begin to notice a difference in the color and quality of your grass.

aeratorAerating:

The third (and possibly most important) step in achieving a healthy, beautiful yard is ensuring that your soil can breathe properly.  Over time and years of traffic, your soil becomes compacted.  When this happens, it becomes harder for your soil to take in nutrients, water, and oxygen. Lawn Aeration helps to stimulate root growth by making tiny holes in your yard.  This helps your lawn to better breathe and receive necessary nutrients.

 

There are basically two models of aerators: spike aerators and plug aerators. Spike aerators simply cut small holes in the turf.  On the other hand, plug aerators cut larger, deeper holes, and remove plugs of turf, scattering them along the turf.

The best time to aerate your yard is when the soil has some moisture to it, so be sure to aerate your yard after a light rain.  Although rain isn’t necessary — just make sure to water your lawn the day before you aerate.

seedingOverseeding

The last step to a greener yard is overseeding.  Often times, if your yard looks “dead,” it’s because it is.  Over time and use, grass dies out, making your yard look thin.  Overseeding is the act of planting grass seed directly on top of existing turf.  This will help to make your lawn look thicker, and will even fill in bare spots, giving you a greener, more lush yard.

When overseeding your yard, it’s important to make sure that the seed comes in direct contact with your soil.  Because of this, the best time to overseer your yard is immediately after aeration.  After overseeding, be sure to gently pass over your yard with a rake in order to help the seeds settle in.  It’s also usually a good idea to water your lawn right after you overseed, in order for the grass seed to take root and germinate.

After taking these four steps, you will be well on your way to having a beautiful, healthy lawn that you can take pride in.  Not only will your yard be the best looking lawn on the block, but your grass will soon be looking as green as the fairway on Hole 9.

The History of Grass

Posted on by baggervance71

The History of Grass in the United States

Today, taking a drive around the neighborhood on a typical Saturday morning, the chances are that you will probably see a few people mowing their yards.  However, this wasn’t always the case.  You might not have given it much thought, but the idea of a well manicured lawn is a pretty new idea to the United States.  Here is a brief timeline of the history of grass in the United States.

Around the time of the 18th century, during the European Colonization in the United States, colonists noticed that the quality of grass in the United States was far behind the grass quality in Europe.  In the States, grass typically contained less necessary nutrients, and died much quicker.  Because of this, new colonists preferred to bring grass seed from Europe over to the States.

The First Reel Mower

In 1870, a man named Elwood McGuire of Richmond, Indiana designed the first reel mower in the United States, which made it possible to produce reel type mowers on a massive level.  The first type of mower in the United States resembled a series of blades arranged around a cylinder, with a push handle attached.

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In 1915, the United States Department of Agriculture worked with the United States Golf Association to find the ideal grass type that would be best for America’s climate.

Shortly after that, in 1919, American Colonel Edwin George produced the first gasoline powered lawn mower.  Although lawn mowers and mower technology was on the rise in the United States, maintaining a well kept yard was still viewed as an impractical, time-consuming task which was primarily reserved for the upper class.  Having a nice looking lawn was viewed as a status symbol, rather than a standard until the 1940s.  Although the United States was mass producing lawn mowers on a grand scale, country clubs, public venues, parks, and golf courses were the only people regularly mowing their lawns.  When it came to homeowners, lawnmowers didn’t receive popularity until much later.

World War II

In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed a law to make a 40 hour work-week the standard in the United States. Before this law, blue collar workers typically worked 6 days per week, with a half day on Saturday.  Once the law had passed, homeowners had more time to work on maintaining their yards.  Around this time, having a well-kept yard started to become the standard in the United States.

Soon after, 1941, America entered World War II, leaving women behind to take care of the household chores.  During the war, women were encouraged to maintain their yard as a symbol of strength and morale.

The New Standard in the United States

In 1945, the war had finally ended.  The United States had won the war, the economy was looking good again, and soldiers had come back from war, ready to take on their yard work.  Soon after this, men realized the importance of maintaining a healthy, well-kept lawn.  Beautiful lawns finally became the new standard!

If you’re in the market for a new lawn mower, Mutton Power Equipment has a wide variety of top of the line lawn mowers.  Whether you need a walk-behind mower, a riding mower, or a zero turn mower, they have a wide variety of great new lawn mowers available from industry pioneers such as Toro, John Deere, and Simplicity.  Check out their online store today.

 

The History of Lawn Mowers

Posted on by baggervance71

A Guide to Lawn Mower History

Quite a bit has changed since the 19th Century.  That goes double for the world of lawn mowers.  Compared to their humble beginnings in the 1800s, the types and models of lawn mowers available today are simply outstanding.  In this article, we’ll talk about the History of Lawn Mowers, starting with their rather slow beginning and move forward to their widespread popularity.

The First Reel Lawn Mowers

The year was 1830.  A young man by the name of Edwin Budding of Gloucestershire, England was working in a textile mill.  One day, Budding observed a machine that was used to cut velvet – a material with properties similar to grass.  This led to Budding inventing the first mechanical mowing machine.

Budding’s mowing machine came to be the first reel mower – a series of blades arranged in a cylinder, with a push handle.  Budding’s mower was 19” wide and constructed of wrought iron. 12744-1

Although Budding’s reel mowing machine was widely popular in the UK, the idea took a little while longer to catch on in the United States.  In 1870, Elwood McGuire of Richmond, Indiana constructed a reel mower similar to Budding’s model.  McGuire’s mower was a more lightweight, lawn mower with fewer moving parts – making it an instant hit in the United States and beyond.  By 1885, the United States was manufacturing upwards of 50,000 lawn mowers per year, sending them out all over the world.

Gas Powered Lawn Mowers

Although McGuire’s reel mower was met with widespread popularity, the American consumer still viewed mowing the lawn as a daunting, time consuming task.  What they really needed was a mower that wasn’t man-powered.  Fortunately, the answer to their problems came in 1902 when English engineering company, Ransomes, Sims and Jeffries introduced the first internal combustion gasoline powered engine.

Later, in 1919, an American Colonel, Edwin George made it possible for gas powered lawn mowers to be mass produced in the United States. Although the technology was there, the financial depression in the United States caused a lull in demand for gas powered mowers.  The United States lower and middle class still viewed well-kept lawns as an impracticality.  For much of the 1930s and 40s, a well-maintained lawn was considered a status symbol and a luxury, primarily for the upper class.

The Widespread Popularity of Gas Powered Lawn Mowers

Lawn care and maintenance didn’t become the standard in the United States until well into World War II.  Around 1945, more people began caring for their lawns, which led to gasoline powered lawn mowers finally receiving mainstream success.  American soldiers returned home from war in 1945, ready to resume their household tasks.  Almost immediately, they decided they didn’t want to waste their time and energy on old, outdated push mowers.  This led to the widespread popularity of gas powered rotary lawn mowers, much similar to the ones that are still in use today.

If you’re in the market for a new lawn mower, Mutton Power Equipment has a wide variety of top of the line lawn mowers.  Whether you need a walk-behind mower, a riding mower, or a zero turn mower, they have a wide variety of great new lawn mowers available from industry pioneers such as Toro, John Deere, and Simplicity.  Check out their online store today.