Lawn Care

Q. Is it true that spraying iron on my not so hot lawn will help it look better even with our drought (I live in Ocala Florida south central Florida). I thank you for your help and hope that these issues will help others.

A. I would check with your local nurseryman about the iron. I would imagine the form would be chelated. As for dilution rate and whether the heat of Florida may lead to burning I do not know. Let me know what is suggested!

Q. My husband insists on hiring a gardener to poke holes in our lawn every year [still it is the worst lawn in our neighborhood even with doing that every year]. I can say that it is a waste of my money. I asked my neighbors and friends why they never poke holes in their lawn but most of their lawns were green and thick like a green carpets. Would you please advise me how to care for the lawn without poking those dumb holes in our lawn? From Stockton California

A. The gardener is poking holes for two reasons. To aerate the soil allowing air to penetrate down below the mass into the root areas and to apply fertilizer right down to the roots [water is allowed deep this way too]. I recommend not poking the holes unless your soil is in such poor condition that it is rock hard solid. Has it ever been roto-tilled? Since yours is doing so poorly you may need to start a new lawn after working the soil and adding organic material. I do not know how large a project this would be for you but the results will speak for themselves!

You could apply with an applicator Scotts Turf Builder. You can get the Plus variety which will help keep down the weeds which you did not mention. I think everyone has some kind of weeds and many times they are greener than the grass! You could try this first and follow the bag's directions. If it does nothing to improve your lawn after several applications then I fear you will need to take more drastic measures to improve your soil which is the base for the lawn.

Q. My lawn looks terrible? with weeds crabgrass brown areas etc. despite years of paying a landscaper $175/month to take care of my yard. I live on half an acre of land in a suburban area in northern New Jersey. The only part of my lawn that looks good is the area that is covered with clover which to me looks nice and looks very green (even greener by far than the areas that have grass).

A. What are the good points and bad points of just having a whole lawn full of clover? To me it seems like this might be an easy solution but I am not sure. Also if I were to go ahead with a clover lawn how would I go about doing it? Would I need to buy clover seed to plant? How would I get rid of the crabgrass (and whatever bit of real lawn grass that I still have) in order to make way for the clover?

First of all you have to get rid of that crab grass. It is early spring in NJ so you could get started as soon as the soil is workable. rent a roto-tiller and turn all that junk including dread and dry grass areas and pick out anything green. Use a rake and go over it weekly. There will be seeds left which you will have no control over as you cannot add weed killer to the lawn area if you wish to plant clover this spring.

Clover is often planted by gardeners as a soil conditioner. It grows quickly and easily chokes out weeds and is easily 'turned in' to the beds when planting time draws near. The deep root system reduces soil compacting. Clover is also a nitrogen-fixing plant which enriches the soil with natural fertilizer.

Clover also works well.