TestDIYOrganic

Your lawn can benefit from core aeration, especially if you have compacted soil. Renting or hiring someone to aerate your lawn can be expensive and purchasing a manual lawn aerator can be time consuming. There must be a better way?



There are products that claim to be liquid aerators that you spray on your lawn with a hose end sprayer. These include LazyMan Liquid Lawn Aerator, Aerify Plus and Nitron A-35.



But how well does liquid aeration work?



The first bullet point on the Aerify information page states that Aerify "Eliminates the need for mechanical aeration" (in bold) followed by "Reduces soil compaction". The claims for LazyMan Liquid Lawn Aerator are similar. Nitron A-35's makers don't go so far as to say it's a replacement for mechanical aeration.

The makers of Aerify go on to say how their liquid aerating product is better than mechanical aeration.

So what's in these back saving products and do they work?

The ingredient that is in all these products is a type of surfactant. In some it's ammonium laureth sulfate or some other anionic surfactant. The use of these products (alkyl sulfates) are common and chances are you come in contact with them (hopefully) every day. Surfactants make "water wetter" by reducing the surface tension of water. At least that's how Mr. Wizard explained it when I was a kid. The surface tension of water is like a little skin that holds a drop of water together like a balloon. These particular substances are also very good at creating foam.



You're basically spreading shampoo on your lawn. Expensive shampoo. The claim is that around 1 oz of product in 1 or more gallons of water spread over 1,000 sq feet, then watering in will reduce soil compaction. Does it seem reasonable that 1 oz of shampoo can do the same or better job than pulling around 20,000 4" deep 1" diameter cores? That doesn't seem likely to me and I'm someone who spreads cornmeal on my lawn!

University Studies on Liquid Aeration

The Colorado extension office has a page that agrees that there is no proof and that liquid lawn aeration is not effective. (Emphasis added.)

While it is difficult to ascertain what is contained in these products, a few have been shown to contain liquid humates (essentially liquid organic matter) and soap-like materials like sodium lauryl (or laureth) sulfate. It is simply wishful thinking to believe that a highly diluted solution of either of these applied to a compacted soil will in any affect soil bulk density. There is no indication that ANY of these products has ever been scientifically evaluated for effectiveness.



Simply stated, there is no "chemical" substitute for physical remediation of soil compaction - namely the traditional core cultivation techniques that have been used for years on all types of turf areas. At best, these "wonder products" might provide some minor degree of wetting agent effect - and nothing more. Wetting agents increase spreading and penetration of liquids across surfaces and into or throughout surfaces.

These two other publications from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and Oregon State's Cooperative Extension indicate that surfactants can be effective under certain conditions where the soil is very hydrophobic. Hydrophobic meaning the soil will not absorb water and instead will bead up on the surface like on a freshly waxed car. "Water does not bead up on wettable soil; therefore, unless beading is present, a surfactant or wetting agent would be an unnecessary expense." So unless your soil has a shiny factory finish, surfactants don't seem to do too much.



This USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program Study on water retention in golf greens(pdf) included humic acid. The conclusion was that it didn't do anything to aid water retention in the tested greens which is contrary to claims that humic acid will help increase the water retention of sandy soils. Though humic acid may have other benefits to the soil, I can't find any studies indicating that it can be used as an alternative to core aeration.

Just Use Humic Acid?

It seems like unless you have a particular condition, that sounds pretty rare, these products won't help with soil compaction but the humic acid and other nutrients some contain can have a positive effect on your lawn. You can get humic acid on it's own which will probably give you similar results and be cheaper.



I actually have some Aerify PLUS which I purchased based on some advice I received but I didn't see any noticeable difference in compaction. I got it before I started looking into the product. Later on, I core aerated with the Turf Hound aerator and that seemed to really help the grass as the holes allowed water and air to get deep into the soil where the roots are.



Aerify Plus is more than just a surfactant, it contains Humic Acid, Kelp and other elements and micronutrients. I plan to use it up after I found out that alkyl sulphates, such as ammonium laureth sulfate, are easily biodegradable and don't cause any harm to water. Once I finish the bottle, I'm just going to get humic acid and use kelp meal (Organica Kelp Booster) instead.



Maybe even a liquid kelp. At 2 tsp/gal/1k sq ft that 35oz bottle can do the 5 suggested applications to 21,000 sq ft. Need to be careful though because it contains a bit of potassium so make sure not to over apply and keep track of the other potassium you're putting in your lawn. Potassium isn't something that leaves your soil quickly, so you don't need to apply too much.



Basically, this is the way I see it. Wetting agents and surfactants are like tapping a stuck jar against the counter or running it under hot water. It will help get a stuck jar open but it's just a waste of time and water if the lid isn't stuck. If your soil isn't hydrophobic, your lid isn't stuck!

When it comes to organic lawn fertilizers there are many options and different people will find different products useful. I came up with two organic lawn fertilizing schedules that should be effective in many parts of the northeast. I'll be comparing it to a synthetic 4-step lawn program that would cost $24 per 1,000 sq ft per year.



You can use this program to help guide you toward developing your own organic lawn care program.



First thing you should do, if you haven't already, is send a soil sample in to your local cooperative extension because good soil is important if you want a healthy lawn. If your soil's pH is acidic you'll need to add lime. If it's low in organic matter, you'll want to top dress your lawn with 1 cubic yard of compost per 1,000 square feet of lawn. The other major nutrients you should pay attention to are phosphorus and potassium because they are important to grass growth and health.



While you're waiting for your soil test, it's a good idea to measure or map out your lawn areas. Since anything you apply to your lawn will need to be done based on a rate for 1,000 square feet, it's important to know how many sq ft of actual lawn you have. If you know your lot size from your property survey, you should be able to easily subtract the house footprint, driveways, walkways and pathways to get a good estimate.



The most important nutrient you add to your lawn to keep it green is nitrogen (N). Unlike phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), your lawn will use up a lot of nitrogen where the other two will stay in your soil a long time and don't need as much replenishment. With the traditional synthetic 4 step program, you wind up putting 3.26 lbs nitrogen, 0.1 lbs phosphorous and 0.01 lbs of potassium per 1,000 sq ft of lawn each year. If your soil test indicates you need phosphorous or potassium, you'll need to factor that in.

How much nitrogen does a lawn need?

A typical cool season lawn needs 4lbs of nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft each year. This will help it grow thick and green.



We're only going to aim to put around 3lbs/1k sq ft down, which is about what the synthetic program applies. About a quarter of the nitrogen will come from not bagging your clippings. As the lawn clippings decompose, they will deliver nitrogen back into the soil. You can adjust this up or down to suit your needs and soil conditions. Unlike with synthetic fertilizers, it's very hard to over apply organics and burn your lawn. For example, the synthetic fertilizers can contain around 30% nitrogen while the most potent organic will contain only 11%. You'd smother your lawn or hurt your back carrying enough bags to provide a burning amount. The organic fertilizers tend to work a bit slower too.



When you mow, remember it's best to leave your grass long (3-3.5") and cut it frequently enough so you never cut off more than 1/3 of the grass blade at a time. So when it gets to 4.5" cut it to 3" or if you're cutting it to 3.5" you can let it grow to 5.25". Also make sure your mower blade is sharp. Sharpening or changing your blade can be dangerous, so make sure you find instructions on how to do it right or someone that knows what they're doing to do it for you.



There are two different versions. One is just fertilizer, the other has some extra amendments to help the fertilizers out. Both should help you with your organic lawn care program. Choose the one that fits your maintenance and cost requirements.



To make it easier to determine the correct spreader settings, I used the application rates recommended by the manufacturer and worked the program around that.

Just Organic Fertilizer

This organic lawn care program is just a fertilization schedule. For most people, this is more than they want to do with their lawn. It's a very easy program to follow consisting of 3 applications that will deliver 3.45lbs of nitrogen, .03lbs phosphorus and .001lbs of potassium.



The cost of the program would be $37 per 1,000 sq ft per year which is not to bad compared to the $24 synthetic cost. You should be able to find these items locally but if you can't, shipping will only add about $10/1k sq ft to the cost. It's a small price to pay for the benefits of not spreading potentially dangerous chemicals.



You'll need two different fertilizers here. One for the spring and another for the remaining applications. Alternately, you could use the spring fertilizer throughout the year but it might be cheaper and easier to use two different ones.




Early Spring - when the forsythia bloom you want to apply 20 lbs per 1,000 sq ft of Corn Gluten Meal (CGM). This is going to be around early to mid March when the soil temperature gets to be above 55 degrees for a few days at a time. The CGM applied at that rate will provide more than half of the nitrogen we plan on applying the whole year. It will release slowly though. The reason for the heavy application is that CGM acts as a mild pre-emergent for crabgrass and some other weeds when applied at that rate. This will help annual weed seeds from germinating.



This is not the same thing as cornmeal so don't run out to your supermarket to get some. While cornmeal can serve as a fertilizer, you would have to add two and a half times as much and you wouldn't get the crabgrass prevention.



CGM is sometimes hard to find locally. If you have a feed store nearby or a good garden center, you might be able to get it there. The types that are made specifically for use as a fertilizer are sometimes granulated which makes them easier to spread than regular meal which is like a flour. If you're using a rotary spreader, you're going to create a dust storm. If you can't find it locally, click on the picture (above right) to order it online. Shipping isn't too bad but one 40lb bag only covers 2,000 square feet.



If you're planning on overseeding your lawn, it's best to wait until fall. If there are dead or thin spots you need to reseed, do not spread CGM in those areas as it might prevent the grass seeds from germinating.



Late Summer - Sometime between late April and early July, depending on how your grass is looking, you'll apply another round of fertilizer. If you want, you can apply CGM again at half the rate (10lbs/1k ft^2) but it's going to be a little bit cheaper and better to use something else.





Either Scotts Organic Care Lawn Food at 7.5lbs/1k sq ft or Organica Lawn Booster at 10lbs/1k sq ft. The Scotts Organic Fertilizer has a little higher concentration of nitrogen and may be easier to find locally, but the Organica Lawn Booster also has some beneficial bacteria and fungi that will help your lawn. If you can't find Organica Lawn Booster near by, shipping isn't too bad, especially if you get more than one bag of product at the same time. If you're getting them through Amazon, using the links in the photos, try and find merchants that are selling all the products you need and order them all at the same time. You can save on shipping and won't have to worry about forgetting to order anything later in the season.





Mid-Late Fall - Somewhere between late August and early November, before the frost comes, maybe after you've taken care of your fall leaves, apply another round of fertilizer. You can use what was used in late summer at the same rate. If you don't have a compost pile for your leaves, you can just mow your leaves into your grass, which will provide them with some nutrients and organic matter. The chopped leaves break down pretty quickly but you may want to make two passes over the lawn in different directions to get them as small as you can.

Organic Lawn Program

This next program is very similar to the last but it adds some more organic treatments that will help your soil and grass. If you're transitioning from a synthetic program or your lawn needs some extra help, this might be better for you as well as adding some compost to your lawn as discussed earlier.



Early Spring - Just like before (when forsythia bloom, around early March), apply Corn Gluten Meal at 20lbs per 1,000 sq ft. This will fertilize the lawn and act as a mild crabgrass pre-emergent.



Late Spring - Somewhere between late April and June, apply Organica Kelp Booster to your lawn at a rate of 4lbs/1k sq ft.



This is a biostimulant that contains plant growth hormones, micronutrients, vitamins & amino acids. Stimulates healthy turf growth, increases root development. Provides turf with essential micronutrients, amino acids & vitamins. It provides turf with increased resistance to environmental extremes (drought, heat, foot traffic). Rich in calcium (essential for cell wall development & plant growth).



The effects of Kelp will help your grass grow stronger to be able to deal with the stresses that come with summer. This is a good article that describes the benefits of kelp.



Besides Amazon, one of the cheapest places I found to get Organica Kelp Booster is Yardiac.com

Early Summer - Around mid to late August apply an organic fertilizer such as Scotts Organic Choice Lawn Food at 7.5lbs/1k sq ft or Organica Lawn Booster at 10lbs/1k sq ft. This will give your lawn some food to help it start recovering from the heat of summer.



Late Summer - This is a good time to put down 4lbs/1k sq ft of Organica Microbial Soil Conditioner which contains beneficial soil bacteria, actinomyces, fungi, vitamins, amino acids. provides turf with increased resistance to environmental extremes (drought, heat, foot traffic). Improves nutrient availability (solubilizes P, K, Ca, Mg and fixes atmospheric N). Rich in calcium (essential for cell wall development & plant growth). Improves soil structure, increases humus levels.



We usually attribute bacteria and fungi as bad things, but there are many good bacteria and fungi. These are important to the soil and plants to help them fight off the bad bacteria and fungi.



Both the Soil Conditioner and Kelp Booster have a base of calcium carbonate, which is limestone. Keep that in mind if you are already applying limestone or have alkaline soil. It shouldn't be too much to throw off the pH of your soil.



Yardiac.com usually also carries Organica Microbial Soil Conditioner. If you order the Kelp Booster at the same time you save on shipping.



Late Fall - This is your last treatment of the year. Apply fertilizer as you did in the early summer to help your lawn store up food over winter. This application goes down in early November.

Final Thoughts

The above programs should work well in most situations and give your lawn a good feeding to help it grow thick and healthy, along with proper mowing and watering.



The prices aren't too bad compared to a normal 4-step synthetic program but you are going to lose a lot of the weed killers and pesticides and you might need to come up with alternatives to those if you develop a problem. Once your lawn starts growing thick, it will crowd out the weeds. Until then, you should pull as many as you can from time to time. A little bit of white vinegar sprayed onto many weeds will help kill them.



For some tougher weeds, you might need to reapply for 2-3 days. This will also kill the grass in the surrounding area so try and be careful with your spray and prepare to reseed if necessary. The best advice is to accept a less than weed-free lawn, especially for the first year or two.



Hopefully this helps you get started and you learn more as you go.

Did you plant a new lawn or overseed an existing lawn and your grass seed failed to germinate properly?

That's very common. Grass needs three things to germinate. Good soil to seed contact, proper temperature and water. Lots of water!



Good soil contact is achieved by raking the soil to loosen it, then using the back of the rack to press the seeds in and/or top dressing with compost. Soil temperature should be above 70 degrees farenheight. This is one of the reasons fall is the best time to seed in this area. The soil will retain a lot of the heat from the summer while the opposite is true in the spring.





Keeping the seeds moist is where a lot of people seem to fail. If the seeds dry up after being planted and moistened, they die. So it's very important to keep the seeds moist. A good watering schedule is to water the seeds 3 times a day for the first 2-3 weeks then 2x a day for 2 week followed by once a day for 2 weeks until all the seeds have germinated. Keep in mind, if you have a mix of seeds, some varieties will germinate faster than the others. Kentucky bluegrass is the slowest cool season grass to germinate. If your mix has fescue and bluegrass, don't stop watering just because you start to see germination. The bluegrass might not have germinated yet.



You don't want to drown the seeds, just keep them moist throughout the day. This can be accomplished by watering around 10 minutes at 10am, 2pm and 4pm. Then as you water less frequently, increase the amount of time you water. Once the seed is established you can go back to your normal deep and infrequent watering schedule.



This is a lot of watering and is hard to keep up, especially if you don't have someone home all day or have an automatic sprinkler system or even a small automatic lawn sprinkler setup. Because of this, a lot of people have problems getting a good potion of their grass seed to germinate.



Luckily, a company called Zeba came out with Zeba Seed Coating which helps seeds retain moisture. The coating absorbs up to 400 times it's volume of water to keep the seeds moist, even with less frequent watering.



One of the first products to use the Zeba seed coating was Patch Perfect. You know, that magic grass that used to be on late night TV infomercials. In addition to the Zeba coating, it had a coating of fertilizer. The product didn't seem to get good reviews though. The problems seem to be that it didn't cover nearly the area claimed and the quality of seeds weren't great.



This past year, Scott's started using the Zeba seed coating as well. The Scotts Water Smart Grass Seed comes in many varieties and it seems like all the locally available Scotts seeds are now Water Smart coated. They even have a line of seed called ez seed that is similar to Patch Perfect.




Some other seed farmers are using the Zeba technology, but not many. What if you want to use something better than Scott's or other seeds you find at places like Home Depot or Lowes? There is such a thing. One popular blend of kentucky bluegrass is Galaxy Kentucky Bluegrass Blend another is Best of the Blues Kentucky Bluegrass Blend. It has a very dark genetic color, and good resistance to drought and disease. But you can't get it with Zeba seed coating as far as I could find. The Zeba coating isn't something you can buy a small batch of and coat seeds with yourself either. So what do you do?




Normally, you would just cover your seed with hay to help shade the sun and keep the seeds moist. But that can be messy and not very effective. Encap has a product called Lawn Start Mulch. It uses their Seed Watering Technology which are cyrstals that swell up when they absorb water. When they stop sparkling, it's time to water again. Similar to the Patch Perfect seed.



It's easy to apply with either a drop or broadcast spreader and one bag will cover 1,000 square feet.



It's not terribly expensive and the shipping is reasonable if you can't find it locally. If you're using an a quality, expensive grass seed, such as the Glaxy Blend, it's a good investment to help ensure you get the most germination you can.



If you're trying to grow grass on a slope, Pennington Seed Mat can help to keep the seeds in place and moist.

In 1984 Dr. June Irwin, a dermatologist in Hudson, Quebec, Canada who also owns an 80 acre farm where she raises chickens, sheep and geese, concluded there was a connection between the symptoms she was seeing in her patients and the herbicides and pesticides used in lawns. Her patients even had traces of lawn care chemicals in their blood. That's when she began her letter writting campaign to alert the newspapers, town meetings and other government agencies of her concerns over the severe health risks and unknown side effects on the environment.



Her devotion to the cause resulted in a 1991 bylaw banning the residential use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes in Hudon. Two major chemical lawn care companies, Chemlawn and Spray-Tech, filed suit against Hudson arguing they did not have the authority to institute such a ban. Both the Quebec Supreme Court and the Quebec Court of Appeals upheld the bylaw which banned pesticides.



The entire province of Quebec also enacted a ban and Home Depot doesn't stock those products. A quick look at homedepot.ca and I couldn't turn up any.



That story will now be part of a documentary by Paul Tukey of SafeLawns.org and filmaker Brett Plymale titled "Hudson: A Chemical Reaction" which is scheduled to hit the independant film festival circuit this year.

Lime is an important soil conditioner for your lawn. Some people treat lime like a silver bullet or a fertilizer and apply it every year. It's not either of those and usually doesn't need to be applied every year.



If your soil has a low pH (acidic) lime can seem like a miracle cure. The reason is the pH of your soil can affect so many different things and correcting your soil pH can have dramatic benefits.

Benefits of Adding Lime To Your Lawn

Cool season grasses do better in a neutral pH so if you're soil is acidic you're grass won't grow as thick. Thin grass looks bad and doesn't help to crowd out weeds. Many weeds don't mind acidic soil so they'll have no problem growing where your grass won't.



Lime also provides calcium to the soil. If you're soil lacks calcium, it could lead to more dandelions since dandelions have an easier time reaching down into the soil to extract calcium. A proper ratio of calcium to magnesium is also important in clay soils, which cover most of the northeast region. According to SafeLawns.org, the proper ratio should be 7 parts calcium to 1 part magnesium. Too much magnesium can also lead to soil compaction in clay soils.



Proper pH also makes it easier for your lawn to absorb the nitrogen available in the soil. Maybe that's why people think it's a fertilizer? After a lime treatment to an acidic soil your lawn will be able to get at the nitrogen it couldn't before which will make it green up.



Some lawn diseases such as brown patch also do better in acidic soils.



Moss can also be a problem in acidic soils that are poor draining, compacted and get little sun. All things that adding lime can counteract.



Once you get your soil to the right pH you will see dramatic results if you had acidic soil so it's understandable that people might want to use it every year. But if your soil is already at a good pH then all it will do is add calcium.

Check Soil PH Before Adding Lime

You should check your soil's pH every year before you decide to apply lime. There are affordable ways to test soil pH but you need to follow directions carefully. A test from your local Cooperative Extension Office will be more accurate. It's a good idea to get a soil test every few years to compare against your own tests. Once your soil is at a proper pH, you shouldn't need to add lime for a few years if you're using an organic program. Synthetic fertilizers tend to make the soil more acidic faster.

Encap Fast Acting Lime

The picture on the right shows the transformation of a section of lawn that was in very acidic soil. It is in a troublesom area that gets little sun and water which resulted in moss growth and discolored grass.



The grass was only planted a couple of years before the first photo was taken. The blades were long, bent over and matted. Fertilizers didn't seem to do much for it. The pH is still a bit too low but I didn't want to apply too much Encap Fast Acting Limeall at once. Especially because of the claims from Encap that 30lbs covers 5,000 square feet. The area was overseeded but the new seeds hadn't germinated when the photo was taken. The Encap Fast Acting Lime definately helped.



Encap Fast Acting Lime is not a hydrated lime also known as slaked lime. Hydrated lime also acts quickly but is completely different. Hydrated lime is calcium hydroxide while Encap Fast Acting Lime is made of calcium carbonate which is what is normal, pelletized lime. It won't risk burning your lawn the way hydrated lime might.



The reason that Encap Fast Acting Lime works so fast is because it is ground very fine and has a higher percentage of calcium carbonate compared to other types of lime. The calcium carbonate is ground very fine and then a binding agent is used to group it together to make it easier to spread. When it gets watered in it starts to dissolve and break down into the small particles. The small particles work faster. Think of the difference between using granulated vs cube sugar in your coffee. It also uses two of Encap's technologies, AST and MCT.



AST is Encap's Advanced Soil Technology which helps the applied product integrate with the soil. MCT is Movement Control Technology. It helps keep the lime where you applied it so it doesn't wash away.



I consider this product to be somewhere between using a traditional pelletized lime and the liquid limes. Liquid limes are very expensive. They raise the pH of the soil very quickly but the effects don't last long. Regular lime can last for a long time but it may also take 6-12 months to see significant changes. It seems that Encap found a way to bind the small size of calcium carbonate used in liquid lime so that it can be used in dry form and it won't blow away or run off.



They say you don't need to use as much. I think it's because it goes to work so quickly. When you apply regular lime, it works slowly, so that 50lbs/1,000 sq ft will work a little at a time over a couple of years while the Encap product will be more effective, but may need to be reapplied sooner. Just not as soon as liquid lime. At least that's my impression.

Encap Fast Acting Lime Application Rate

The claim that Encap Fast Acting Lime can be applied at 30lbs/5,000 sq ft (6lbs/1,000 sq ft) for similar results seems a bit too optimistic to raise the soil pH by 1 point. At least with clay soils. Clay soils require a higher application of lime than sandy soils so in the northeast you'll likely need more. I applied a little more than 10lbs/1,000 sq ft last year and my pH only came up about 1/2 a point. The composition of your soil may require you to use more or less. I'll likely use it again because it did seem to work fast in my case. I had one area that was mossy, compacted and poor draining. The grass blades were matted and virtually colorless. This year that same area is much thicker and greener. The blades of grass are standing straight up too.



If your soil requires a lot of lime, Encap recommends applying a double application (12lbs/1,000 sq ft) for your first application and then a regular application every 9 or more weeks until you apply the required amount.



Encap's Fast Acting Lime I believe is also sold under different brand names such as Pennington Fast Acting Lime. If you see something called "Fast Acting Lime" that comes in a 30lb bag, it's a good bet it's made by Encap, just re-branded.



Here's a good review of someone using Encap Fast Acting Lime to grow mushrooms with good results.

Conclusion

Encap Fast Acting Lime is more expensive than pelletized lime but it has the benefit of working fast and is cheaper than liquid lime. If you have a large area and it seems like a lot of money, it could be a good idea to use a combination of Fast Acting Lime and regular pelletized lime so you can see results sooner.

Fast Acting Lime can be hard to find locally but you can order it online. Shipping is a bit high but if you get 2 bags it's more reasonable.

One of the problems with lawn care is you don't get to see the problem until it's too late. It would help if you could detect if there was a problem with your lawn sooner so you could do something about it.

To accomplish this you need to take off your rose colored glasses and have a good hard look at your lawn... with purple colored glasses!



I saw a web page talking about stress detection glasses that are used to see stress in plants up to 10 days sooner. They were very expensive. If you're a turf manager at a golf course or other sports field, the expense might be justifiable, but if you're just an average guy (Joe the Gardner?) spending close to $100 or more to see where your lawn needs watering or is otherwise stressed seems rather excessive. So I looked for other options.



These glasses aren't complicated electronic devices such as night vision goggles, but rather purple colored lenses that filter light. The expensive glasses claim to have be NASA designs or something like that and probably have better tuned filtration to increase contrast or something along those lines. I own a pair of sunglasses that had NASA technology in the lenses. I didn't know that when I was trying them on. I just knew they let me see the best while blocking out light. They were the brightest pair I tried. Very expensive, but worth it in my opinion since I'd wear them frequently.



The way the glasses work is they use a purple colored lens to filter out green light. Green is oposite the color wheel from purple, so a purple filter will block green light making green light appear darker.



Plants absorb red and blue light and reflect green light, which is why they are green. When a plant is stressed it doesn't use as much red and blue light in making food, so it reflects more of it.



Sounds like a good idea.




The University of New Hampshire has a page on plant stress filters, including some example photos, and even a cardboard glasses template you can use to attach the purple filters. When you walk around your lawn with the cardboard plant stress glasses on, make sure you're munching on a bag of popcorn and every once in a while quickly duck out of the way of some oncoming 3D object just to mess around with the nosy neighbors.



If you don't know where to get the purple filters locally, they are available through Amazon. Click on the picture on the right to order a sheet. It's very inexpensive and one sheet is enough to make a number of glasses and camera filters.

I was hoping to find some free sprinkler design software to help plan out a sprinkler system I want to install but never seem to get around to. There doesn't seem to be anything out there. You would think at least one of the major lawn irrigation manufacturers out there would invest in putting one out and giving it away to help sell their products. Instead they have software that makes it easy for you to send them the details of your property so someone else can lay it out.





Along the way, I ran across Realtime Landscaping Architect 2. It's not free, but it is reasonably priced and they have a trial version available.



The samples caught my attention. The 2D plans looked hand drawn which I found to be very appealing. The screen shot you see on the right illustrates the sketched look in an example from the product info page.



Unfortunately, when I was playing around with the trial version at least, it doesn't draw the plan that way by default. Instead you get the regular rendered view that you see in most other consumer design programs.





I eventually figured it out. You need to check the box labeled "Custom appearance in each view" and then select the the "Color Wash" that best fits.



There aren't many options, but I think that's because the trial software doesn't come with a full library of materials or plants. I would assume the full version has a lot more.



You can also change the default plant symbol to make it look more hand drawn. Right now, the default symbol is a generic green blob that doesn't represent the color of the actual plant. It would have been nice if it was better matched. Maybe that's just the trial though.



Since I'm only looking at the trial version, I don't think it's fair to pick about the deficiencies that might be due to not having a full version, so I'll just focus on the other positives I can see.



In addition to the nice 2D plans, the 3D rendering is very good. When you do a 'Walkthrough' the level of detail in the rendering is impressive. Unlike other programs that need to render a scene for a few minutes, you can walk around a rendered scene in real-time, which seems to be why they called it Realtime Landscape Architect. If you've ever played a first person shooter, you'll find the controls to be similar, except you can't lean or crouch. You can fire fish food into a pond, but not with enough intensity to do any damage. It's neat to see the koi swim up to the food when it lands on the water though.



If you have a fairly recently computer with 3D video, it should run fast. You don't need a super modded gaming system. It doesn't take long to get started if you've used similar software. I was able to come up with the example I used on this post in a little over an hour, having never even heard of Realtime Landscape before.




View the video on the right to see what it would look like walking through this basic landscape. Realtime Landscape makes it easy to create movies walking through your landscape. Just add a new real time camera to the project, pick the points and that's it.



Err... well that's not quite it. The default camera position never seems to be good in most software with a 'Walkthrough' feature, so you have to fine tune where the camera is pointing for the points you selected. After you do that, it's pretty easy.



As I mentioned earlier, it doesn't look like the trial comes with a full library so there wasn't a big selection of plants to choose from. If I had to think of what plants I was choosing, other than basic shape, size and color, it would have taken longer to come up with something. I'm also not a landscape designer, so don't be too harsh about what I put next to what. :)



Where other programs seemed to go for photo realistic rendering that can take a long time to compute, Realtime Landscape seemed to focus on getting as much as possible as you walk around your design. They try and make it seem as real as possible, down to butterflies floating around, and bird tweets depending on the time of day you set to walk around your 3D landscape.



Water and fire is also rendered as well as some plants that are inserted as models instead of photo boards. There weren't many plants as models in the trial but I tested some. You can seem them moving in the wind. Fire looks like fire and water can move and pools can have waves.





When you add sprinklers to your project, you'll see their sprays as you walk around in 3D view. It doesn't help with your sprinkler design, but it looks cool. The nice thing is that you can see the sprays overlapping and get a better idea of your water coverage. It's not perfect because it assumes even precipitation along the whole path. You can see an example sprinkler head placement plan on the right.



Layout out sprinklers was pretty easy to get a hang of but the only option was the standard round heads. While you can adjust the angle and radius, not having special heads, like strip heads, made it difficult to plan out a complete irrigation system in the software. 3D Home Architect Home & Landscape Design Suite has more options in sprinkler patterns.



Here's another video showing some of the lighting, water and fire features. This time, the walk through was done at night. Hopefully, you'll be able to see it in the uploaded video.

There are some good looking rain barrels out there, but they can be pretty expensive. I can understand the decorative ones that look like terra cotta pots or whisky barrels costing around $200 or more, but even the simple looking industrial looking ones are usually over $100.



When I was looking for information on hose reels I noticed a new product on Suncast's website. Suncast now has a 50 gallon rain barrel.



I have to say, I really like how it looks. It's not as pretty as the fancy rain barrels that look like pottery and have a planter on top, but it doesn't look like industrial garbage either.



The best part is it comes with everything you need and is less than $100 including shipping. That sounds pretty good to me.




Even if you got a 55 gal garbage can from the hardware store, the bulk fitting, spigot, and other assorted components and put it together yourself, you wouldn't save much and it wouldn't look as nice.

The Suncast Rain Barrel looks like a winner in my eyes.

Chik - Chik -Chik - Chik - Chik - Chick -- Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch



You know that familiar sound of an impact sprinkler. I find it pleasant, but in the early morning hours when your automatic sprinkler timer comes on, there may be situations where the noise is not appropriate. I have a little trick to help make an impact sprinkler be a little less noisy.



The video below shows a close-up of an impact sprinkler in action and you can hear what it sounds like. The impact sprinkler looks like a Gilmour Polymer Impulse Sprinkler on Polymer Spike.






As you can see, there is an impact arm that swings out when the water hits it, then back when the momentum fades and the spring pulls it in. The force of the arm swinging back and hitting part of the head is what causes it to turn clockwise. In addition to the noise of the water, you also hear the sound of the impact arm hitting the sprinkler head.




I use a similar version of the sprinkler except it has a brass head and a zinc spike, which is pictured on the right.



A couple of years ago I was able to hear both of them side by side and from what I remember, the metal version was a little quieter than the plastic version, or at least had a more pleasant sound. It's not all that loud, but I wanted to see if I could eliminate, or at least diminish some of the sound the impact arm creates.



All I did was take a regular rubber band and wrap it around the impact arm where it strikes the other part of the sprinkler head.




With the front of the sprinkler head facing you, pull out the impact arm and you should see a small, round, white plastic disc on the inside of the arm. This is where the impact arm comes in contact with the sprinkler head. I assume without that plastic piece it would be even noisier, but I thought I could do a little better.



Just continually loop a rubber band over that area to help cushion the impact. If you have a different version, just examine where the impact arm hits and see if you can wrap the rubber band around there. For the Gilmour impact sprinkler it was very easy.



In my case, the metal on metal tick sound couldn't be heard over the softer Shhh - Shhh -Shhh -Shhh -Sh Sh Sh Sh Sh Sh noise of the water. I found it to be more pleasant.






Be sure to examine the operation of the sprinkler through a couple of passes to make sure you haven't affected its performance at all.

Quieter Than An Impact Sprinkler

If that's still not quiet enough for you, you can get a gear driven sprinkler. Gilmour calls theirs a turbine rotor sprinkler that should cover the same area as an impact sprinkler. It delivers more water than an impact so make sure to check the precipitation rate and adjust your watering times.




Update: Learn how to replace an impact sprinkler with gear driven rotor to get an even quieter sprinkler. Compare the sound from the video above to this. I used a Hunter PGP Rotor Sprinkler.









Though I like the Gilmour Impact sprinklers, I don't know much about their rotors. I would probably go with a Rain Bird pop up sprinkler with a gear driven rotor head. The Rain Bird rotor sprinklers come in two varieties that are adjustable between 19'-32' radius and 26' to 38' radius.



You don't have to bury the pop up sprinkler. You can attach a pop up sprinkler to a spike base or other types of bases that the Gilmour sprinklers come on such as the sled base. All you need to do is unscrew the impact sprinkler from the spike (may help if you remove the arc stop tabs) then use a 1/2" PVC nipple to connect the pop up sprinkler to the spike base. Wrap the threads on the ends of the PVC nipple with 4-5 turns of teflon tape to prevent leaks.



Gear driven rotors tend to need more pressure to operate than impact sprinklers. If you don't have enough pressure for the rotors you can try a Rain Bird 17 to 24-Foot Coverage Rotary Sprinkler. It is not gear driven. It's a special nozzle that attatches to a normal spray sprinkler but it delivers water in multiple streams that rotate. You don't get as large a radius as with a gear driven rotor but you should get similar amounts of precipitation (inches per hour). The multiple streams of water also look pretty cool.

So wouldn't you know it, after reading all those reviews when I was trying to decide what type of hose reel I should get and seeing so many reports about leaks, as soon as I installed my hose reel, it leaked badly!



This post is going to be my initial review of the Suncast Side Tracker Wall Mount Hose Reel (model STA125B) as well as some information on how to fix leaks. The hose real is great after everything was sorted out.



There are two types of leaks people seem to get. Leaks from where the spool connects to the base and leaks from the back of the leader hose fitting. I was anticipating the former at some point in the future. I was surprised that I encounted the later right away. But it was an easy fix so I'm not too concerned right now.

Leaking Spool/Base Connection

The first type of leak comes from the connection between the spool and the base of the hose reel. There are two o-rings on either side of the hole that the water comes out of. The o-rings keep the water from spilling out where it shouldn't. This is similar to how most single handle faucets work. Over time those o-rings deteriorate and won't hold water.



That's not too big of a problem as the o-rings are cheap and easy to replace. Since the product is covered by a 5 year warranty I think Suncast will replace the o-rings if they wear out within that time though I haven't had to try it. I didn't have any problem getting replacement o-rings when my kitchen faucet started to leak.




The hose reel comes with a little packet of silicon grease to lubricate the o-rings. This also helps keep the hose reel from leaking. It is important to apply silicon grease to the o-rings every year when you put the spool back on the hose reel hub to keep it from leaking and wearing out the o-rings too fast. This should help your hose reel last longer.



The little packets of silicone grease from Suncast are expensive for the small amount of silicone you get. It's important to use real silicone grease because it will extend the life of the o-rings. I bought a small jar of silicone grease online because I had a hard time finding 100% silicone grease locally. It will last for years.



DO NOT USE VASELINE! Or any other petroleum based product. The petroleum will cause the o-rings to break down faster! USE ONLY 100% Silicone Grease!

Leader Hose/Hub Connection Leak

The other type of leak I encountered was from the back of the hose reel, at the connection where the leader hose (the hose that comes with the hose reel and attaches it to the water supply) attaches to the hose reel base. Based on some of the reviews, this seemed to be a problem others had as well.



Water was coming out the back of this hose fitting. I knew right away what the problem was and was kicking myself for not spotting it earlier.





The leader hose is supposed to have a garden hose washer in the coupling to prevent it from leaking. When I was assembling and installing the hose reel, I noticed it didn't have a washer but didn't think anything of it.



Garden hose washers are inexpensive and you can find them at your local hardware store for a couple of bucks for a pack of 10. It's good to have some extras in case the hose reel, or your hose starts leaking.



Over time the rubber washers wear down as well as get hard and brittle which causes them to leak so it's important to replace them every few years. They just slip into the garden hose connector. You need to push it in all the way to the bottom. Once it's in, it won't fall out, but you can pull it out with a pair of needle nose pliers if you ever need to replace it.



Luckily I had some washers available and I was able to complete the install.

Use Teflon Tape

Where the hose meets the hose real I also wrapped some teflon tape around the threads  Teflon tape is a thread sealing tape you can find in the plumbing supply section of the hardware store. By the way, it's not really called Teflon tape but everyone calls it that. I don't think DuPont even makes plumbers tape.



It is normally used on metal to metal fittings but you can also use it on plastic fittings. It's a bit hard to wrap it around the fitting while in the hub but I managed to get 5 wraps on. This helps seal the threads to prevent leaks.

Suncast Side Tracker STA125B Wall Mounted Hose Reel Review

UPDATE 6/28/09: Around the time I posted this blog entry I emailed Suncast's customer support department and provided them with the product information, copy of receipt and a list of the parts that I would need to fix the leaking hose reel. In about 2 weeks I received an email that my parts will be sent out to me, another couple of weeks later and I received a shipping notice. It took about a month to receive the parts but Suncast honored their warranty without any problems.



No issues trying to convince them the stuff was really missing and they provided another packet of silicon grease which I requested since I would have to take the reel holder off the base. I'm very happy with this purchase. Some parts of my lawn wouldn't get watered because I dreaded removing the hose and then hanging it back up. That's not the case anymore.



I've only had it installed for a couple of hours, so this isn't going to be a comprehensive review, but I wanted to share my initial impressions of the Suncast Slide Tracker Hose Reel (STA125B).



First, the base seemed pretty sturdy and it had 4 screw holes. The package came with 4 long screws and anchors which I needed since I would be attaching the hose reel to a brick wall. The little parts baggie also had a little packet of silicon grease for the o-rings.



Use a masonry bit to drill the holes for the anchors. Try not to drill them deeper than necessary. I also like to use a smaller sized bit than necessary because the vibration and movement tends to make the hole bigger than it needs to be. The anchors should easily fit into the holes with just a bit of tapping with a hammer. The 4 screws seemed to be sufficient to hold the hose reel in place.



Installation was painless, the only difficulty is getting the leader hose connection tight. It's very awkward to get a pair of channel locks or a small pipe wrench into the tight space.



I didn't have too many options of where I could attach the hose reel. The leader hose that connects to the outdoor faucet is only 4' long. There are 2 indents in the base where the hose can pass through. One on the left and one on the right. I would have preffered if there was another pathway for the hose to come out closer to, or directly at the bottom of the hose reel.



Once the hose reel base is attached to the wall, I used the silicon grease on the o-rings. There are 2 o-rings, a white and blue one. Just cut the silicone lubricant packet and squeeze some onto each o-ring and spread it around with your finger. You don't need too much. I used a little more than half of the packet. I kept some in reserve in case I needed to take the spool off, which I did when I discovered the leak I mentioned above.



Once the base is securely mounted to the wall, it's easy to snap the spool onto it. From there it's just a matter of feeding the end of the hose up through the roller slot on the bottom and then screwing it onto the connection on the spool. The connections are plastic, so be careful not to strip the threads.




The hose I used was a Gilmour Flexogen 100' 5/8" hose that I had before I purchased the hose reel. It's a very strong hose that isn't easy to kink and has strong connectors that won't bend. It has a very good warranty as well and Gilmour is a brand I've always been happy with. Click on the picture on the left for more info on the hose.



One of my concerns was the connector that attaches to the spigot. As you can see from the photo, it is a big peice of plastic. Since this now will connect to the spool of the hose reel, where the hose gets wound, I was concerned that it wouldn't fit and I'd have to use my old kinked hose.



Thankfully, I didn't have a problem. It does seem to waste some space, but not that much. I also made sure to get the hose reel that had a capacity of 125' of 5/8" hose just to be safe.



The roller guide was the feature that attracted me most to this spool. As I expected, it makes it easy to pull the hose out in any direction I would need whether it is straight ahead or to the side.



In relation to the spool, the hose is always beeing fed down so I don't have to worry about straining the hose reel.



It doesn't feel like it's going to fall off the wall, but I'm still careful to not yank on it if it binds if there's a kink. From my limited tests, the hose rolls off the spool very smoothly and easily.



Reeling the hose back up is also easy. It's important to take off any spray attachment you have before you start reeling the hose back up. That way, water can drain out of the hose to help reduce the wait on the spool.




Again, I make sure there aren't any kinks to bind things up or restrict the flow of water later. I also pull the hose closer with one hand, then wind up the slack with the reel. This way, I'm not putting much strain on the hose reel. It seems pretty sturdy and I might not need to baby it as much, but I also find it easier to pull the hose with my hand. The process is simple, yank, reel, yank, reel, repeat until all the hose is in the spool except the little bit that hangs through the roller slot.



I'm pleased with the hose reel so far but I would have been happier if the garden hose washer wasn't missing. It does look much nicer



 on the wall than my previous hose hanger. You barely see the hose in the spool compared to the loopy mess I had before.