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What to Do to a Lawn After a Flood
Overview
One of the last things you do about after a disaster like a flood
is worry about the front lawn. After the foundation, the basement and the
appliances are squared away, however, that mess out front will have to be
rehabilitated before you can grow anything but plantains and bulrushes. The
first steps in reestablishing a healthy lawn require stabilizing your
transformed environment.
Effects
Flooding suffocates your lawn. If the flooding is the result of a
Hurricane storm surge, salt water deposits a load of sodium on the lawn grass
that can kill it. If water sits on the soil for longer than a week or two, it
can become "hydric", meaning that all of the air is squeezed out of it, making
it fit only for aquatic plants and mosses. Most flooding is not so severe,
however, and it is possible to rehabilitate the lawn. Your objective will be to
get the air back into the soil and "mitigate", or relieve, any toxicity in it.
Soil Rescue
Bacteria and chemicals carried by floodwaters must be removed
before re-planting can proceed. Soil composition may also be severely altered.
Fertilizer will certainly be washed away. The best way to analyze your soil's
needs is to contact your local state university extension or USDA field office
for a soil test. In the meantime, aerate the soil to get air and sunlight to
struggling roots. Spread gypsum over aerated soil with saltwater-damage not
cured by irrigation alone; it will react with gypsum to form sodium sulfate and
wash through the soil with more irrigation, leaving harmless calcium precipitate
in its place.
Restoring Equilibrium
Once soil tests are complete, add lime or sulphur to correct pH and
replace only essential nutrients---usually phosphate and phosphorus---according
to recommendations; a heavy nitrogen feeding will shock lawn grasses into rapid
growth in soil that is unable to support it. Lay down top dressing of an inch
or two of manure or clean compost to establish a new healthy layer of topsoil,
particularly if the turf is very thin.
Re-Seeding
Methods of reestablishing lawn grass will depend on the degree and
type of damage done by flooding. Cool-season lawns in northern states may be
temporarily over-seeded with perennial ryegrass or tall fescue. Overseed with
ryegrass or bentgrass in warm-season areas. Recovering lawns can be fertilized
and overseeded in fall. Heavily damaged lawns should be cultivated, fertilized,
rolled and re-seeded---or sodded--in fall. Mow frequently and water deeply to
encourage re-establishment of lawn grasses and discourage weed
growth. -Garden Guides
Read more: What
to Do to a Lawn After a Flood | Garden Guides http://www.gardenguides.com/89875-lawn-after-flood.html#ixzz2MQzPb0BQ
What to Do to a Lawn After a Flood
Overview
One of the last things you do about after a disaster like a flood
is worry about the front lawn. After the foundation, the basement and the
appliances are squared away, however, that mess out front will have to be
rehabilitated before you can grow anything but plantains and bulrushes. The
first steps in reestablishing a healthy lawn require stabilizing your
transformed environment.
Effects
Flooding suffocates your lawn. If the flooding is the result of a
Hurricane storm surge, salt water deposits a load of sodium on the lawn grass
that can kill it. If water sits on the soil for longer than a week or two, it
can become "hydric", meaning that all of the air is squeezed out of it, making
it fit only for aquatic plants and mosses. Most flooding is not so severe,
however, and it is possible to rehabilitate the lawn. Your objective will be to
get the air back into the soil and "mitigate", or relieve, any toxicity in it.
Soil Rescue
Bacteria and chemicals carried by floodwaters must be removed
before re-planting can proceed. Soil composition may also be severely altered.
Fertilizer will certainly be washed away. The best way to analyze your soil's
needs is to contact your local state university extension or USDA field office
for a soil test. In the meantime, aerate the soil to get air and sunlight to
struggling roots. Spread gypsum over aerated soil with saltwater-damage not
cured by irrigation alone; it will react with gypsum to form sodium sulfate and
wash through the soil with more irrigation, leaving harmless calcium precipitate
in its place.
Restoring Equilibrium
Once soil tests are complete, add lime or sulphur to correct pH and
replace only essential nutrients---usually phosphate and phosphorus---according
to recommendations; a heavy nitrogen feeding will shock lawn grasses into rapid
growth in soil that is unable to support it. Lay down top dressing of an inch
or two of manure or clean compost to establish a new healthy layer of topsoil,
particularly if the turf is very thin.
Re-Seeding
Methods of reestablishing lawn grass will depend on the degree and
type of damage done by flooding. Cool-season lawns in northern states may be
temporarily over-seeded with perennial ryegrass or tall fescue. Overseed with
ryegrass or bentgrass in warm-season areas. Recovering lawns can be fertilized
and overseeded in fall. Heavily damaged lawns should be cultivated, fertilized,
rolled and re-seeded---or sodded--in fall. Mow frequently and water deeply to
encourage re-establishment of lawn grasses and discourage weed
growth. -Garden Guides
Read more: What
to Do to a Lawn After a Flood | Garden Guides http://www.gardenguides.com/89875-lawn-after-flood.html#ixzz2MQzPb0BQ
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