The French drain, also called a sub-drain, is so called because the person who is supposed to have invented it, an American, was named French. First used for agricultural purposes in New England before the development of perforated plastic pipe, the system invented by Mr. French was probably somewhat different from what we call a French drain today. Unlike a surface drain system which collects and removes surface moisture, this type drain system collects and removes subsurface moisture.

A sub-drain, by modern definition is basically a trench filled with gravel with a perforated pipe at the bottom. Moisture accumulating in the trench percolates down and enters the pipe which transports the moisture to some point of discharge.

A French drain system can be of great benefit in solving a variety of foundation repair problems. When surface drainage control is not enough, I often recommend French drain systems to dry out wet crawl space areas under a house or building.

Some contractors may be tempted to pursue a cheap solution and install surface drains in the crawl space area, collecting water when it starts to pond in the lowest areas. These contractors do not understand the problem. The crawl space must be kept dry at all times. Waiting for water to pond in the crawl space and then drawing it down is like living in a house with no roof and then mopping the water off the floor after each rainstorm!

A Typical French Drain system consists of the following.

1. Excvate problem area at lowes point creating a ditch.
2. Installation of ½ perforated drain-tile allowing water to enter on top of pipe and flow through bottom of pipe to release at designated area.
3. Installtion of clean stone on top of pipe acting as a filter for the top half of the pipe.
4. Installation of soil/mulch, sod, seed/straw Ect… on top of “Ditch” allowing water to slowly seep down through soil, stone and into pipe.

A French Drain system is a very discreet yet effective way of diverting water from one place to another.

Like all projects worthwhile, it must start with an idea…..a vision. Once you meet with our landscape designer they will work with you to help draw out your own ideas, and needs for your property.  They will collect information about you and your families overall goals for your property.

We will use all of your insight in conjunction with our own ideas and industry expertise to help you reach your goals for your property.  Once we have collected all of the necessary information to get started, we can then conceptualize a landscape design that is appropriate for your particular circumstances.

A Landscape design takes all of the guess work out of the project.  We will provide a precise scaled layout of your property.  This will enable us to present you with an accurate and itemized estimate on each individual part of the project. This will allow you to space-out the entire job into several smaller projects to accommodate time, other conflicting projects ( Fence, Pool, Addition ect…) and budgets when necessary to do so.

A landscape design will keep the job going right on target so that there is no wasting of valuable time, unnecessarily wasted money and resources due to trial and error.  It can be easy to get off track when there is no plan in place. When taking into consideration the high cost of man hours, equipment and materials, a landscape design becomes a very inexpensive and efficient way to start your project.

What does a landscape design consist of?

1. Landscape Design and scaled plan.  Includes consultation with client.
2. 1- Original scaled landscape plan to 1/8″ scale.
3. 1- Black & white copy of plan to 1/8″ scale. (For your notes)
4. 1- original plant list.
5. 1- copy of plant list. (For your notes)
6. 1- Itemized estimate of complete plan.

How much water does my lawn need?

This varies somewhat depending on grass type. In general, applying one inch of water per week is the recommendation when there is insufficient rainfall during summer drought.

An inch of water can be measured by marking the side of a tuna or pet food can placed in the lawn. **Remember that if nature provides water by rainfall, irrigation may not be needed. Nothing is more wasteful (and sure to attract attention for all the wrong reasons) than seeing irrigation running in the rain! Pay attention to current weather conditions and forecasts in order to use water more responsibly.

Tips for better watering

       Deep and infrequent watering maintains a healthy root system and reduces weed infestation (as opposed to light and frequent irrigation, which promotes shallow roots and germination of weed seeds).

       Applying one inch of water is often difficult to achieve in a single watering given the slow infiltration rate on most Virginia soils. Therefore, smaller amounts of water applied every four to five days may be required to allow water to enter the soil without causing runoff.

       Water is best applied early in the day (5:00 to 10:00 a.m.) when evaporation loss is lowest. Afternoon watering is acceptable but wind may affect uniformity. Night watering minimizes evaporation, but may increase fungal diseases.

       Water the lawn, not driveways, sidewalks, or roads, by adjusting sprinkler heads.

       Mow your grass at the right height during the summer. Longer grass blades increase the depth of the root system, shade the soil, and help drought tolerance (see following table).

Learn to set you own control box.  There is no one time setting for the entire year!  An irrigation system is a great tool for maintaining a healthy lawn but must be managed according to ongoing and changing seasonal conditions.  When in doubt – Less Is More!

Set for infrequent watering days.  During very hot & dry conditions when your lawn starts to show extreme fatigue, manually over ride your system and give it an extra day of watering and then let system resume normal infrequent pre-set programmed days.  This will train your roots to chase deep into the ground searching for water making them much more mature and naturally drought resistant.

Seeing your fescue lawn stress during the hottest 6 weeks or so during the summer is normal for our climate zone hear in Central Virginia.

Virginia Cooperative Extension materials are available for public use, re-print, or citation without further permission, provided the use includes credit to the author and to Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, and Virginia State University.

Spring is best time to dethatch your lawn

CORVALLIS – Thatch, a layer of living and dead grass stems and roots, is the natural consequence of a healthy lawn, according to Tom Cook, turf grass specialist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. It becomes a problem only if you let it get too thick.

“Dethatching a lawn is best done each spring,” said Cook. “When you dethatch annually, you don’t generate a big load of debris. But if you let it go for too many years, removing thatch can become a long, agonizing process.”

The right amount of thatch provides a soft surface for bare feet and makes the lawn more resilient to wear and tear. But with too much thatch, water, air and nutrients will not be able to penetrate below the lawn into soil. Too much thatch makes a lawn too dense. It may be green on top, but it is brown and dead-looking underneath. When such a lawn is mowed, the brown thatch layer is often exposed, and the lawn looks “scalped.”

How do you tell if your lawn needs dethatching?

“If your lawn is soft or spongy, or you have dry spots despite regular watering, then it needs some work,” says Cook. “If only the very top part of the grass plant is green, and the rest is brown, or you scalp your lawn when you are mowing, then, you need to dethatch.”

Regular dethatching removes brown stems and forces buds to grow near the base of the grass stems, preventing the grass plants from being brown underneath and green only on top. Dethatching followed by fertilizer stimulates new grass shoots to grow in thick and lush.

For best results, dethatch your lawn every year or two. Bentgrass lawns, the most common type in the Willamette Valley, are best maintained with an annual dethatching, between late March and mid-July. In central and eastern Oregon, Cook recommends annual dethatching just as the grass starts to turn green, generally in April. Dethatching at this time will also remove moss from lawns and get your lawn off to a flying start for the growing season.

The easiest way to dethatch is to rent a dethatcher. The flail-type dethatcher is the most common machine found at rental yards. Thatching rakes work well, with the addition of lots of elbow grease, but Cook does not recommend the small dethatchers sold as lawn mower attachments because they beat up the lawn mower.

If you rent a dethatcher, first adjust the blades on a paved surface so they are about one inch above the surface of the pavement. If the blades are set too low, they may tear up the lawn and remove entire chunks of sod. Make between one to five passes through your lawn, until most thatch is removed. Always fertilize the lawn with a nitrogen-based fertilizer after removing thatch. The added nutrients will stimulate growth and help the thinned out turf to fill in.

Dethatching an average-sized lawn every year or two will yield one to three pick-up loads of thatch. The thatch can be composted or used for mulch if it is herbicide-free. If you have used a weed killer or “weed and feed” treatment in the month before dethatching, do not use it to make compost or mulch.

By: Carol Savonen
Source: Tom Cook

Authors as Published

Marc Aveni, Extension Agent, Prince William County; and David Chalmers, Extension Agronomist, Virginia Tech

What is lawn aeration?

Lawn aeration involves the removal of small soil plugs or cores out of the lawn. Although hand aerators are available, most aeration is done mechanically with a machine having hollow tines or spoons mounted on a disk or drum. Known as a core aerator, it extracts 1/2 to 3/4 inch diameter cores of soil and deposits them on your lawn. Aeration holes are typically 1-6 inches deep and 2-6 inches apart. Other types of aerators push solid spikes or tines into the soil without removing a plug (spiking). These are not as effective because they can contribute to compaction. Core aeration is a recommended lawn care practice on compacted, heavily used turf and to control thatch buildup.

What will aeration do for my lawn?

As lawns age or sustain heavy use from play, sports activities, pets, vehicle traffic and parking, soil compaction can result. Soil compacting forces are most severe in poorly drained or wet sites. Compaction greatly reduces the pore space within the soil that would normally hold air. Roots require oxygen to grow and absorb nutrients and water. Compaction reduces total pore space and the amount of air within the soil. It has a negative impact on nutrient uptake and water infiltration, in addition to being a physical barrier to root growth. This results in poor top growth and lawn deterioration. Core aeration can benefit your lawn by:

Increasing the activity of soil microorganisms that decompose thatch.

Increasing water, nutrient and oxygen movement into the soil.

Improving rooting.

Enhancing infiltration of rainfall or irrigation.

Helping prevent fertilizer and pesticide run-off from overly compacted areas.

How do I know if I need to aerate?

>If in doubt about aeration, remove a square foot section of lawn at least 6 inches deep. If grass roots extend only into the first 1-2 inches, your soil may be compacted and could benefit from core aeration. Expect a seasonal effect with cool-season grass roots being shortest in late summer and at their greatest depth in late spring.

Other reasons to aerate include:

Your lawn is heavily used or driven upon on a regular basis, causing the turf to thin or look unthrifty.

The thatch layer is in excess of 1/2 inch.

You have a heavy clay soil.

Is there any reason not to aerate?

A lawn that is not exposed to soil compacting events will likely grow well and may not need aerification. Winter freezing and thawing cycles and earthworm activity can help loosen slightly compacted soils. If the lawn has a thatch layer in excess of 1/2 inch, then core cultivation can be used as a preventative approach to control excess thatch build up. Newly seeded or sodded lawns should not be aerated in the first year.

When should I aerate?

In Virginia, the best time to aerate cool season lawns of tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass is in late August to mid September. This is when these lawns are coming out of summer dormancy and beginning a period of vigorous growth. Lawns will recover quickly from aeration at this time. Competition from weeds is also minimal during this time. Warm season lawns like bermudagrass and zoysiagrass are best aerated during June and July, as this is their period of rapid growth