Soil

Traditionally, we think of seeding lawns in either spring (April-May) or fall (August-September). But increasingly, turf specialists are recommending a new option - dormant seeding. With this method, the area is prepared in fall but the seed is not distributed until after the growing season has ended. Seed remains in place, but does not begin to grow until soil temperatures are warm enough for germination in mid-April.

Soon leaves will begin to turn red, yellow or brown and fall from our trees. Plant waste from flower beds, vegetable gardens and container plants will also accumulate. Why not take advantage of these great organic materials, instead of sweeping them into bags and hauling them off to the landfill? You can easily turn them into nutrient-rich compost.

Earthworms are very beneficial to a home lawn and landscape, serving as an indicator of healthy soil. Their movement through soil provides natural aeration, improving the growing environment for grass roots by increasing air and water movement in the soil. They also help decompose thatch and alleviate compaction.

When the soil around your home or getaway cabin is less than ideal, you can fight it by planting trees and shrubs that aren't well adapted to the site or select plants that do well in the conditions your landscape provides. Although many locations in Nebraska have clay soil, sandy soil is also very common especially along the Platte River and across the Sandhills.

The best time to seed cool season grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue, is between August 15th and September 15th, so it's time to start your site preparation.

Getting your seeding done as early as possible is really important, because each week of delay in seeding translates into 2-4 additional weeks required for the grass to mature in fall. It is critical to seed tall fescue no later than mid-September. Tall fescue seedlings take a longer time to develop cold hardiness, so get your seeding done early.

Beginning in late summer, most gardeners have an abundance of landscape waste; whether it's dead plants from vegetable gardens or ornamental beds, foliage and branches from pruning trees and shrubs, or fallen tree leaves. Why not make use of these great organic materials, instead of piling them into bags and hauling them off to the landfill? You can easily turn them into nutrient-rich compost to use in your gardens next year.

Composting is a great way to recycle garden waste and reduce the money spent on trash disposal and store-bought fertilizer.

The ground is still covered with leaves in many neighborhoods, but don’t throw them away - put them to work for you. Even if you only have a few leaves and little time, consider bag composting.

Bag Composting
Bag composting is perhaps the easiest composting technique. Its a passive method, so leaves break down slowly, but much less work is required of you! No turning materials with a pitchfork on a regular basis as you would with a traditional compost pile.

Most gardeners know food scraps contain nutrients that can be used to improve garden soils. The most common way of handling kitchen scraps is adding them to a traditional compost pile, but a less well-known composting method also works very well – pit or trench composting.

This method is also called vertical composting and soil incorporation composting, but no matter the name, it's one of the simplest methods of handling smaller quantities of food waste.

Many Nebraska soils have high clay and silt content making them prone to compaction. Foot traffic from both human and pets, equipment and vehicles are all common causes of soil compaction. Look for the following as signs of potential soil compaction in your landscape.