Farmers annual race against cold fall weather has already begun.

Another cool spring has delayed seeding and slowed germination, said Harry Brook, an Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development crop specialist at the departments Ag-Info Centre in Stettler.

Looking at the calendar, a lot of these crops like the wheat and the canola its getting to the later end of their traditional seeding time where you can be assured that itll have enough heat units to mature, said Brook.

The later it gets, the greater the risk is that youre going to get hit at the other end with a killing frost before the plant is totally mature.

The past few weeks have seen a big push by farmers to get their crops in, said Brook, who estimates that seeding in the region is about 50 to 60 per cent complete.

For a lot of Central Alberta, its really caught up a lot. Soils have warmed up, and the fact is, people just cant wait.

Getting seed into the ground is no guarantee of a timely crop, however. Plants may be slow to germinate and grow when the soil is cold.

Its still too early to panic, said Brook, pointing out that crops got off to slow starts the past several years but escaped severe frost damage. Last years harvest even generated a record haul.

Were definitely behind, but then again, whats normal?

Despite this springs cool conditions, there hasnt been a lot of precipitation in most areas, noted Brook. Accordingly, crops will need rain over the next few weeks.

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Farmers racing to get crops into the ground

This week I answer questions from readers: Q. I have this horrible weed/flower invading the grass in my front yard. It had little blue flowers in early spring. It has spread through about half my yard. How do I get rid of it? A. You have violets in your lawn - and violets are hard to eradicate. I don't think a broad-leaf herbicide will kill them and a broad spectrum herbicide would kill everything.

You might try covering the lawn with black plastic for a couple of years, then removing the surface soil containing the violet seeds, bringing in new soil and seeding the grass. This is so onerous, however, it's almost unworkable.

In any case, I wonder where the violets came from? If the source of the violet seeds (neighbours? city land?) is still there, seeds could blow in again and you'd have the violets back.

Your best bet is to shade the violets out by letting the grass get a little longer and treating your lawn so

well it stays lush and thick. The violets will remain because they have very deep roots, but they won't be as visible because they'd be submerged in long grass. Nor will they spread as fast because grass is a strong competitor.

Q. Last year my zucchinis all fell off the stems when they were about five centimetres long. Any advice? A. Your zucchinis have a pollination problem. This is happening to more gardeners now that honeybees are vanishing from gardens.

Bumblebees and many tiny wild flies (resembling wasps) still pollinate flowers. Mason bees aren't much help with zucchinis and other late-flowering vegetables because mason bees are dead by the beginning of June.

It would be best to plant pollinator-attracting flowers near your zucchini area. These include dill, chervil, coriander, mint, fennel and Sweet Cicely. If you let a few carrots, cabbage or parsnips go to seed nearby, they'll also draw masses of pollinators.

Your alternative is handpollinating the zucchini flowers. The female flowers have a small, round knob in the centre of the bloom. The male flowers have spiky stamens. You could take a new

paintbrush and brush pollen from the male flowers into the female blooms.

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Tough to rid lawn of violets

(PRWEB) May 15, 2014

The White Houses Report on Climate Change this last week stated that wildfires, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, droughts and more extreme weather are here to stay. Here are a few simple solutions that can help people do their share to save the earth while at the same time saving money, time and water. One of the most effective solutions is around the home, it's keeping the grass fresh.

Cities and states across America spend lots of money to respond to natural weather related disasters after the fact; even better some cities like Philadelphia are adopting major steps to lessen "extreme heat events".

The average person who worries that government and corporate response may not be fast enough, and would prefer to do something positive NOW; can take steps to lessen the impact of the extremes.

One simple solution is to save water, money and time by planting Pearl's Premium Ultra Low Maintenance Lawn Seed because it is a grass with very deep roots (12 inch) that requires very low water usage. A grass such as Pearl's Premium can be seeded right over your existing lawn to look like this:

Pearl's Premium is not just a beautiful grass, it requires only 1/3 to 1/4 the water of other grasses and is much more drought tolerant because it grows 12-14 inch deep roots (if it can go deep) and grows very slowly. Pearl's Premium has more surface area on the blades of grass and deeper roots, it can produce up to 5,760 times the oxygen compared to other grasses. It also sequesters up to 2 tons of carbon per acre per year out of the air, to be locked into the soil. That is 4 times the carbon sequestering per year compared to ordinary grasses which have 3-4 inch roots.

Pearl's Premium has a lush deep green color everyone enjoys and it is extremely soft. It grows incredibly slow after being established. It can be cut once every 4-6 weeks for a well-manicured area, as opposed to weekly with most grass; Pearl's can be not cut at all! It can be left to lean over as a No-Mow type grass. If left to lean over, Pearl's Premium is an ultra low maintenance 3-4 inch-tall meadow for back yards and other residential, municipal or commercial applications! The below picture, is Pearls Premium grass leaned over in a No-Mow type application without mowing for 2 years:

After creating a less thirsty more sustainable lawn that produces far more oxygen for our air and also sequesters far more beneficial carbon into the earth; there are a lot more things you can do to help the environment. You can recycle more, reduce your heat in the winter and AC in the summer, change as many light bulbs to CFL or LED lights, drive smarter with tires inflated, use public transit when possible, buy more energy efficient products and turn off lights when you leave the room.

Why focus on grass as the easiest and highest impact solution to address climate change? It is both easy to implement just seeding a better grass seed over your existing lawn and there is a heck of a lot of grass out there. NASA expert Dr. Cristina Milesi says there are 32 million acres of grass in the US alone and it is part of the climate change problem, (see: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Lawn/) therefore Pearl's Premium can be part of the solution. All grasses are not created equal. One grass called Grassology that home improvement expert Bob Vila raves about uses far less water, requires less mowing and grows deep roots. However, the next generation grass after Grassology is named Pearl's Premium and it uses even less water and saves even more time.

TIME: The EPA says that the average homeowner spends 40 hours per summer dealing with the home lawn grass. What if you could have an ultra low maintenance grass with deep roots? What if your lawn was much more drought tolerant, saving 3/4 of your lawn time because Pearls Premium requires far less maintenance, watering, mowing, or ever having to chemically fertilize the lawn? You could use, the 30 hours you save with your Pearls Premium lawn (on average), helping mom or your significant other, playing with the children or your dog, engaging in that hobby you never have time for. Be a smart shopper and conscientious homeowner. Buy Pearls Premium today! Use the Code FATHER2014 at http://www.pearlspremium.com/ for 10% off until Father's Day!

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Grass Seed That Saves Money, Water & The World

Published on May 12, 2014

The No. 16 hole at the Cabot Cliffs golf course in Inverness is shown in this recent photo. Construction of the new course is now underway. It's expected to open in 2015.

Submitted by Ben Cowan-Dewar

Published on May 12, 2014

Seeding is underway at the new Cabot Cliffs golf course in Inverness. This photo offers a view from the No. 17 hole of the new course that is expected to be ready for the 2015 season.

Submitted by Ben Cowan-Dewar

INVERNESS Seeding on some holes at the new Cabot Cliffs began this week as the course remains on schedule for a July 2015 tee off.

The new 18-hole course is being built on the Cabot Links resort, just north of the now renowned Cabot Links on a property overlooking the coastline of Inverness.

Ben Cowan-Dewar, managing partner for Cabot Links, said the same grass underfoot will give those who have played Cabot Links a sense of familiarity when they finally get the chance to walk Cabot Cliffs.

Familiarity will also come from the fact that Cabot Cliffs designers Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw share some of the same philosophies as Rod Whitman, who designed Cabot Links.

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Cabot Cliffs on schedule for 2015 opening

Stick rake for Ride-on Lawnmowers
Cleaning up leaves and Sticks with a stick rake designed for Ride-on mowers. In areas with a lot of trees, picking up the fallen sticks before mowing can sav...

By: Oil Burner

Excerpt from:
Stick rake for Ride-on Lawnmowers - Video

Now you are ready to seed your lawn. If the planting area has been leveled smooth and all debris has been removed along with the end of construction activity --- you are now ready to seed your lawn. LETS GET STARTED!

Determine the amount of grass seed you will need for your lawn. You can use the chart at http://www.lawngrasses.com or look on the seeding page for your particular lawn grass species. Once you have the seed and are ready to start --- Continue on to Step (1)

NOTE: COMMERCIAL CONTRACTORS OFTEN USE A METHOD CALLED HYDROSEEDING

PLANTING METHODS -- How can I plant grass seeds? SEASON TO PLANT -- When can I plant seeds?

This method can help avoid erosion problems and is an efficient way to seed large areas of turf. For more about seeding with this method, read our page above.

Step (1) Your lawn area should be already tilled with all roots , weeds and other debris removed . Secondly the final level smooth surface should have been obtained. If not, now is the time to remove hills and depressions so that you have a nice smooth lawn for years to come.

Step (2) Plant the seeds. You can use a commercial turfgrass planter or sow the seeds by hand (not recommended), or just as easy and much preferred, buy a broadcast seeder (hand held models are available for $8-30). Set the seed for the correct seed application rate. Remember, you can always seed a second or third time, but it is pretty hard to pick up the seed you broadcast if you only planted 1/3 of your lawn and ran out of seed.

We suggest you use a 2-step PLANTING process... Divide your seed into two equal quantities. Set your seeder rate so that you will cover the entire lawn with 1/2 of the total seed. You will need to determine how far the seeder is throwing the seed as you walk. An ideal use is to walk in a pattern that allows double coverage (seeding) of all areas. Most seeders come with instructions that explain this planting principal.

Plant the first 1/2 of the seed walking in one direction with your seeder. Then plant the second 1/2 of the seed walking in a direction 90 degrees to the first time. This double spreading provides for a more uniform broadcasting of your seeds and also insures that you get complete coverage of your lawn area. Always sow lawn seeds at the recommended rates. Good quality lawns require lots of seeds in order to achieve the correct plant density. You will save very little money by cheating on the quantity of seeds to plant.

Step (3) Once your seeds are sowed, rake or drag the seeded area, so that as many of the seeds as possible are lightly covered (1/4 inch is ideal covering for grasses). Be sure and use the correct rate for seeding your particular lawn seed. You can also drag a small fence post or preferably a piece of chain link fencing behind a mower, 4 wheeler or tractor. This will drag the soil so as to cover your grass seed. Not every seed will be covered by these methods, but a large quantity of them will, and over time soil and wind action will also work to cover additional seeds.

Original post:
Seeding your Lawn With Grass Seed - Plant Grass Seed In A Lawn

Regionally Designed Grass Blends

Our team of golf course experts have specially designed blends for each region of the united states. The following considerations were made during the design process for each regional mix:

The first thing to determine is whether you live in a region with a climate that is best for a warm-season grass or a cool-season grass. Warm-season species are heat tolerant but they go dormant quickly once the temperature starts to drop. Cool-season speciees do very well in cool or cold weather, but they require a lot of irrigation to stay green in high summer temperatures. Once you have determined the best grass seed type for your climate, you can then select the appropriate species based on your needs and preferences.

Natures Seed offers only the highest quality grass seed, with no filler products, and we have created a number of blends that can establish beautiful grass lawns in a variety of environments.

We are experts when it comes to seed and we know that different parts of a state require different seed blends. Click the following links to go to a state specific page:

Click the link for more information about how to choose the right grass seed.

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Grass Seeds - Premium Grass Seed | Natures Seed

When seeding a lawn, you want to start with the best soil possible. If it is a new area of lawn, you want to use a minimum of 4 to 6 inches of topsoil. You should have all of your soil delivered and then spread it on top of your existing soil. It is also good idea to use a rototiller and till it into the existing soil. Seeding a lawn requires careful preparation of the soil. If you decide to use new soil, use a soil roller to roll over on your lawn until you no longer see any footprints. Then, you want to over seed your lawn either by using a drop spreader or a Rotary spreader.

When seeding a lawn, make sure to follow the directions as indicated on the package to get the best results. You need 3-4 times more seed with a new lawn then you need if you are just over seeding. Different types of grass seed come in different sizes, so the rate of application will vary, based on the size of the seed and the amount of ground you want to cover. Youll want to apply about 7-10 pounds of grass seed per thousand square feet for new lawn installation and about 2-3 pounds per square foot when you are over seeding. (Kentucky Bluegrass requires less seed.)

Lawn experts recommend you get a soil test before applying lawn seed to decide whether your soil is too acidic. If you are adding topsoil from a nursery , youre probably okay without doing a soil test. Most nurseries that deliver soil will usually have pretty good quality. If you are just doing lawn seeding to fix spots or parts of your lawn that are sparse, rather than seeding a new lawn, you want to make sure to use a layer of light topsoil as a dressing, or else use peat moss to cover-up the seed and help it to germinate more quickly. This help to keep the lawn seed moist, but it will also help keep birds from devouring it. I always recommend that you put down starter fertilizer at the same time you are seeding lawn. The advantage of using starter fertilizers that helps the grass to establish itself faster, this often leads to better results, because you dont have to continue watering your lawn three times a day to have good results. Once the lawn seed has grown in, you can water your lawn at the same amount you normally would.

When to Seed Lawn Lawn Seeding

It is important to know when to seed lawn to get the best results. Essentially, there are two different types of grasses. Warm weather grasses tend to do really well when you plant them in the spring time or the early summer. This is probably the best time of year for you to plant a new lawn. Cool weather grasses can do just fine in the spring, (if you are careful about the weeds) but they also do really well during the fall. If you are planting this type of grass seed, you want to either planted in the beginning of the spring, or in the beginning of the fall. (* I just completed reading two books that said to over seed your grass in the fall if it is cool weather grass. However, after having eight years of landscaping experience in Portland, Seattle, and Idaho, I think that the spring time works just as great for cool weather grasses!)

When You Learn How to Seed Lawn, You Want to Wait out the Weeds

When you are seeding a lawn, you want to be very careful about weeds. As a general rule, you can wait out or you can use a mild weed killer to get rid of them. Once you have your soil ready, a lot of people will wait 7 to 10 days for weeds to germinate. Then, they will go out and either spray the weeds, or just hoe them out. If you do this a couple of times, you will get rid of all of your weeds. (Dont use apre-emergent(like Preen) on your weeds, or else your grass wont grow!) Advantages of Seeding a Lawn Vs Using Sod

The biggest advantage of using lawn seed instead of sod is that it is a lot less expensive. Your typical sod will cost anywhere from .20 per square foot to .50 just for the material. If you want a contractor to prepare your lawn and install the sod, you could easily be looking at paying $2-$3 per square foot. This means that 1000 ft. long will probably end up costing you around $2500. Including the soil preparation, you can probably install 1000 ft. of lawn seed for around $200 if you do the work yourself. Lawn seeding can save you a lot of money. Not only that, removing and installing sod is a lot of work. Did you know that sod weighs about three pounds per square foot. And a role of Sod that is 2 feet wide and 8 feet long, can weigh between 40 and 50 pounds.

How to Take Care of a New Lawn

Some books recommend that you cover your grass seed straw. This might work well with warm weather grasses, but with cool weather grasses, straw doesnt do a lot. I recommend that you use a light covering of peat moss. Generally you can cover 1000 ft. of lawn with about 8 ft. of peat moss. After your lawn seeded, cover it with a shallow top-dressing, make sure to water it regularly. You want to water at least twice a day, but if the weather gets over 70, consider watering your lawn three or four times per day. The grass doesnt come up right away. Generally it takes about a week for the seeds to germinate and then they start to grow into seedlings. It takes about 4 to 8 weeks for your new lawn to come in, depending on the type of grass you install and the temperature.

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Seeding a Lawn How to Seed a Lawn | Aerate Lawn

Provided By: National Gardening Association

Dorling Kindersley Limited 2011

Turfgrasses are broadly grouped as warm- or cool-season, based upon their optimum temperatures for growth. Generally it's best to use warm-season grasses such as Bermuda grass, centipede grass, St. Augustine grass and zoysia in southern areas (their best growth occurs above 80 degrees F). Use cool-season grasses such as fescues, Kentucky bluegrass and perennial rye grass, in northern areas (their best growth happens between 60 degrees and 75 degrees F). Choose grasses that require less water, such as Bermuda grass, buffalo grass and the improved tall fescues, for dry-climate lawns. Tip: For an attractive winter lawn while the permanent grasses are dormant, overseed warm-season Bermuda grass or zoysia lawns with fast-germinating perennial rye grass seed in mid-October.

Before seeding, spread a 2- to 3-inch-layer of compost, either dolomitic limestone or sulfur, to adjust pH as necessary, and organic or slow-release fertilizer. Use the results of a soil test to determine the correct amount of limestone or sulfur to apply. Mix these amendments into the soil with a rototiller.

Rake and level the tilled soil, adjusting the soil level to eliminate high and low spots and to slope soil away from buildings. Roll with a heavy water-filled lawn roller to make a firm bed for planting the seed.

Adjust spreader to apply seeds at one-half the recommended rate on the package. Sow seed by walking back and forth across the lawn, overlapping rows by an inch or two. Then, walk at right angles to the first sowing to apply the second half of the seed. Roll the seedbed again.

Cover lightly with mulch, such as chopped straw, to maintain soil moisture and deter birds from eating sprouted seed. Avoid hay mulch that contains weed seeds. Water with a sprinkler as needed to keep the soil uniformly moist until seeds germinate and become firmly established. Begin mowing with a sharp-bladed lawnmower when grass is about 1/3 taller than the desired lawn height. Caution: Avoid using weed-and-feed fertilizer because it may damage newly sprouting grass.

Welcome to the new HGTVGardens. Leave your comments, questions and feedback here.

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Seeding a Lawn - HGTV Gardens Design Ideas, Expert ...

JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. A big truck, strength and knowledge of a job site. Thats what deputies say someone had to have in order to make off with more than 1,200 pounds of grass and wildflower seed, meant to complete a roadside project at the Interstate 35-Homestead Lane interchange.

Rick Clark is a superintendent with RFB Construction. He told FOX4s Megan Dillard hes in charge of the seeding for this project. He said, in the 18 years hes done this type of work, hes never had anything stolen like that off of a job site.

Shock, disappointment. It affects everything. The equipment, anything we have to profit, goes back into the company, along with guys raises, bonuses, is now shot on this job, Clark explained.

Johnson County deputies say someone stole nearly $30,000 worth of seed. Someone took 16 bags of grass seed and sixbags of wildflower seed from the job site, sometime between 8 p.m. Tuesday and 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Each bag weighed nearly 60 pounds, and come at a heavy cost as well.

The highway department mixes those together, puts them out here on the interchange, grass down for erosion control. That seed is specially formulated. Its very expensive,Detective Brett Wilson explained.

Clark explained how he learned something on the job site went wrong.

One of the workers came over and told me. I sent him over to get the seed this morning so we could finish up here and on the other side, and he said that it was gone, he said.

Clark says the seed blend is specific to certain job sites, making it a waste for someone to steal the seed.

It was more or less a waste for someone else to use it, unless it was some individual seeding their house or something like that, which if they did, they got a lot of seed, Clark said. Everything that weve got is certified for this job. Our search has to match. Everything we do is certified, all our seeds are, everything has to be tested. If anyone went to resell it or use it, theyd have to have paperwork to do anything with the state.

Police want to remind the public, it is taxpayer money that funds these projects.

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Almost $30,000 worth of taxpayer money in grass, wildflower seed stolen