On March 13, 2008, McLean, Jordan, and Becky attended Live Roof training and became certified in installation. Just what is LiveRoof, you ask? It is a modular system of plant trays used to create an instantly green rooftop. Picture a roof blanketed by low-maintenance plants, cutting down on air conditioning costs and absorbing rain water to lessen run-off. It’s a cool concept!
March 19, 2008, Dana and Becky attended a Blue Thumb seminar in Roseville. The Blue Thumb program is something to get really excited about; the program promotes and educates people on the fine art of installing raingardens. Raingardens are one of the weapons in a growing arsenal to combat water run-off, thus lessening pollutants that make it into our water sources and recreational areas. Not just a pretty face, these gardens are as functional as they are beautiful…for more in-depth information, it will be coming soon under the Recent News posts.
FROM THE FIELD: Spreader Calibration Tip
By: J.B. Toorish and Michael Steve
February 2006
URL: http://www.lawnandlandscape.com/articles/article.asp?ID=2976&CatID=&SubCatID=/
We all know that we should brush our teeth three times a day, but how many of us actually do? Studies show only one in three Americans meets this mark, and that doesn’t including flossing. We all know the risk and potential pain associated with poor dental care, but, for some reason, we choose to take the chance.
The same can actually be said of applying granular turf products. Everyone knows they should calibrate their spreader regularly (ideally before each application of a new product), but how many lawn care professionals do this? Not nearly enough, despite the potential downsides.
Consider the benefits associated with regular and proper spreader calibration:
SAY AAAHHHH. Let’s take a look at how easily lawn care professionals can calibrate a granular spreader. Calibrating requires a measuring tape/wheel, scale, bucket, calculator and cones or marking paint. Once you have the tools, follow these steps.
First, make sure the holes in the bottom of the spreader are completely open, set the spreader according to the recommended application rate on a bag of fertilizer that you will use for this exercise and find a concrete or paved surface where you can measure out 1,000 square feet. You need this size space because most fertilizer labels make recommendations based on the pounds of fertilizer per 1,000 square feet.
For this example, assume we are calibrating a spreader with an 18-24-12 fertilizer at 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet.
Next, determine your effective spread width. This should be between 6 and 10 feet. Assume the spread width is 7 feet for our example, so then you want to divide 1,000 square feet by 7 feet, which is essentially 143 feet. With a 7-foot spread width, walking 143 feet means we essentially applied product to 1,000 square feet (7 x 143 = 1,001).
Now that you have that number (143 feet), use the measuring tape and cones/marking paint to mark off that distance in a straight line.
Next pour product into the bucket and weigh it on the scale (at least 10 pounds, which we will assume for this example). This product needs to be poured into the spreader hopper after being weighed.
With your spreader ready to go, push it the exact length of the distance you marked off (143 feet in our example). Do not push the spreader any further. And be sure to walk at your normal application speed because that influences how much product gets put down.
If our spreader is calibrated properly, we should have applied 4 pounds of product since we originally set the spreader on the 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet setting. But we need to confirm what really happened, which means we need to dump the remaining fertilizer from the hopper back into the bucket and weigh it again. Subtract the amount in the bucket now from how much you began with, and that tells you what rate you applied at.
Getting an actual rate that matches up with the spreader setting means your spreader is accurately calibrated and ready to go to work. If you have too much or too little product left in the hopper, then adjust the calibration arm accordingly and repeat this process.
Spreaders do not need to be calibrated every hour or even every day, but they should be calibrated regularly because their performance will change over time.
Upon completion of this project, here are instructions on how to maintain your new sod.
MOWING: After sod has rooted into the ground, the turf should be mowed. For the initial 2-3 mowings, the mower should be run perpendicular to the direction the sod was laid, not parallel. Also, the mower deck height should be set to 3”. After this, if a shorter mowing height is desired or required, reduce lawn mower
height by ½” each mowing until desired height is reached.
FERTILIZING: In the coming years, we recommend using a fertilizer with a 12-10-12 analysis; it should be applied at a rate of 500 lbs per acre, three times a year: the end of April, July 1, and September 1.
WATERING: Monitor sod moisture and water accordingly. For the first two weeks, sod needs to be watered heavily once a day. What do we mean by “heavily?” This means the sod should be so saturated that it positively squishes beneath your feet, and you have a hard time walking on it because it’s so wet. If you ever see us switching sprinklers for new sod, we look really silly slip-sliding around, but it’s what’s necessary to get the grass off to a good start. After those first two weeks, you can cut back quite a bit, but do keep an eye on it. Please remember that water needs fluctuate throughout the season, according to daylight hours, temperatures, and natural precipitation received.
AERATION: After a year, sufficient time will have passed for the sod to be properly established. At this point, an aeration should be done. If possible, this should be done once a year.
