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LAWNS Enhance the Environment
Haider Abbas
Our urban surroundings have become increasingly artificial because of concrete and asphalt used in the construction of featureless buildings and ugly transportation system. As a result, residents of the cities are deprived of inner satisfaction and soothness that one gets being close to nature.
It is therefore important that we plan for the humanization of these urban centers through the creative use of plants and vegetation. Green corridors, roadside vegetation, central parks and green belts around the urban areas are among the most popular options in urban planning.
Central Park in the New York city, green belt around London and roadside vegetation in Islamabad are some examples of such approaches. However, in cities like Karachi where because of poor initial planning, uncontrolled growth and illegal encroachments of amenity lands, these options are not operationally viable.
An approach, however, one can use, is to make gardens wherever possible especially in the unutilized public-sector lands and encourage large homeowners to develop lawns in their premises.
There is no second opinion that the lawn is the heart and soul of a garden. To think of a garden without a lawn is to think of the flowers with out petals (The Gardener, 1994).
Although trees and shrubs provide a vertical orientation of green within the landscape, lawn grasses develop the carpet upon which other plantings are located. Recent estimates indicate that of the 83 million households in the United States, 53 million have lawns.
Turfgrass normally consists of over 35 million plants per acre. These millions of grass plants hold our soil and promote infiltration of rainwater. Their roots help to create a microbiologically active soil that aids in the decomposition of certain organic pollutants. Lawn grasses provide oxygen through photosynthesis and help cool the environment as water evaporates from the leaves.
They also contribute to aesthetic, recreational, and safety aspects of the environment. They also provide healthy place for leisure activities and for children games. Lawns also act as a measure for determining pride in the neighborhood and the degree of individual caring within a community.
Last, but not least, a lawn is a place for relaxation, pleasant to look at, delightful to walk or lie on, and the ideal surface for children to romp and play.
Important points for lawn preparation
1. Success of the lawn largely depends on the efforts you put into soil preparation.
2. Grass prefer well drained loam and sandy loam soils
3. It grows happily in medium acidic to slightly acidic soil-(pH--5.5-6.5).
4. For this apply 25-Kg lime/100 square meter. It helps to improve the structure of heavy soils.
5. For drainage reasons the lawn should slope away from the house.
6. All type of soils for lawns needs fertilizer.
7. Phosphorous is important for new growth of sprigs and turf too.
8. Avoid using lawn fertilizers at presowing or preplanting.
9. Spread fertilizer evenly.
10. Lawns need frequent watering until the growth is strong.
11. Don't allow grass to grow too high before you cut it.
12. For lawn maintenance you must consider the type of grass, kind of soil and its growing season.
13. Watering should be based on type of grass, soil and weather conditions.
14. Hundreds of kinds of insects and other creatures live in atypical lawn. Some are so tiny that they are hardly visible; others are quite large. Most do little damage to the lawn, and you are usually not even aware of their presence. Other insects are troublesome to people but do not damage grass. Fleas and ticks are in this category. Only a few lawn pests, such as sod webworms, grubs and chinch bugs, can destroy a lawn within a short time.
15. In trying to discover the source of lawn damage, the easiest and most reliable method is to look--look closely.
16. For their control apply insecticides like Diazinon and
Trichlorofon.
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