Davis: Of bare spots and pears gone wild

Bare spots in lawns are a common sight after the drought of 2008. Some of these spots contain the dried remains of grass, while others have bright green weeds.

Replanting the bare spots might be necessary, if they are larger than a plate. Smaller areas are probably going to heal on their own, if spring rains are adequate.

The current season for planting grass seed ends April 15. Seed planted after that will germinate too late for the seedlings to have any chance of surviving summer. The next seed sowing season begins August 15.

A steel garden rake is all you need for replanting bare spots. Use it to rough up the surface and incorporate a starter fertilizer, such as 5-10-10. Then sprinkle on the grass seed and rake lightly to make sure soil particles are in contact with the seeds.

If your whole lawn needs this treatment, get a self-propelled aerifier machine or an aerifier made for towing behind your garden tractor. You can put the seed and fertilizer down together, before or after aerifying.

Fertilizer put on your lawn in spring will guarantee plenty of leafy growth. This is beneficial if you are trying to get the grass to fill in bare spots, but it is not a substitute for fertilizing with nitrogen in fall. Brown patch disease is worse on lawns given excess spring fertilizer, so go easy on it and use only half of a normal dose.

Lawns are in bloom right now with white chickweed, purple henbit, baby blue speedwell and yellow dandelion. Many weed killers are available for controlling these European wildflowers (broadleaf weeds) in lawns, and they are not necessarily compatible with your plans to sow grass seed. It is safe to use them a month before or six weeks after planting grass seed. They can harm tender young grass.

Pears gone wild
Those white trees blooming in the woods in March are not dogwoods. Many of them are the offspring of Bradford pears.

This ornamental tree introduced by the U.S. National Arboretum nearly 50 years ago is well-known for splitting apart in storms. Now it is escaping cultivation and invading natural areas. Space once taken by native vegetation is becoming a pear thicket.

Birds are attracted to the pea-size fruit produced on Bradford pears. They eat it and then fly around dropping pear seeds on the ground. The result is an infestation of thorny pear trees.

Travelers on Lynchburg’s expressway can see these pears gone wild, growing in a grove between Big Lick Tropical Grill and Lynchburg Inn. Others are right along the ramp leading from the expressway to Wards Road.

Bradford pear, once called “the best garden, street and park tree of the 20th century,” may actually be an environmental nightmare like Norway maple, English ivy and kudzu. It has been called “the Paris Hilton of trees.”