Damaged lawn

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by sunshade, Mar 28, 2017.

  1. sunshade

    sunshade Active Member 10 Years

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    What started as crow damage became skunk damage and our lawn has been destroyed: big chunks and strips of grass peeled back in the search for chafer beetle larvae, no doubt. What are my non-toxic, organic options for renovation and repair?
     
  2. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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  3. sunshade

    sunshade Active Member 10 Years

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    Thank you, Daniel - most informative!
     
  4. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    Many years ago when the crows first started ripping up the boulevards I noticed a chunk of sod missing from our lawn so we bought a bunch of the cheap dollar store garden netting and spread it out over the lawn, staking it off the ground about 4". This seemed to deter the critters, I guess they didn't want to walk on the netting.

    We left the netting for several months and let the grass grow long. Once we removed the netting we kept the grass long for the rest of that year. Since then we have not had any problems with critters even though they are still digging up the neighbors lawns and the boulevard......and I know we have the grubs because I find them any time I do any gardening work.
     
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  5. sunshade

    sunshade Active Member 10 Years

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    Wow, thank you - that's a great idea!
     
  6. sunshade

    sunshade Active Member 10 Years

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  7. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Not directly from us, but I suspect it is available at some of the local vendors. I'll ask the article's author.
     
  8. sunshade

    sunshade Active Member 10 Years

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    Thank you, Daniel!
     
  9. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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  10. sunshade

    sunshade Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks for the tip: I'll check that out.
     
  11. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Reply received from Kerrie (the author of the above-linked article):

    For the open lawn seed mix we combined three sources;

    - Grass Seed Shade Mix: Any general shade mix primarily made up of fescues with some perennial rye will work well. We used a Evergrow's Shade Mix (farm supply wholesaler) with 35% perennial rye, 40% chewings fescue and 25% creeping red fescue. When buying grass, a reputable company will identify the mixture contents in percentages on the packaging.

    -Micro clover (Trifolium repens var pipolina): We used the coasted seed from West Coast seeds, equal to 4% by weight of the overall grass seed mix

    -Western yarrow (Achillea millefolium var occidentalis): West Coast Seeds, equal to 0.09% of the overall grass seed mix. These seeds are very tiny, so please ensure you distribute them evenly throughout the lawn.
     
  12. sunshade

    sunshade Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks so much for this detailed information, Kerrie!
     

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