Lawn care is usually something the average homeowner dreads each summer, but there can be serious repercussions for those who do not attend to their property carefully.
Grass in an excess of eight inches violates city code, according to Justin Trefsger of the Pottsville code enforcement and rental inspection. He said the city uses the 2009 property maintenance code in these situations.
“This is one of those things that a quality of life ticket can actually be issued,” Thomas A. Palamar, Pottsville city administrator, said. “However, whenever possible, we try to talk to somebody first before issuing a ticket unless it’s a repeat offender.”
According to Chapter 171 Section 4 of the Pottsville city code, a violation involves “high weeds, grass, plant growth or standing water. All premises and exterior property shall be maintained free from weeds as defined herein and water shall not be allowed to stand or accumulate in a manner that would attract insects or vermin.”
Tresfsger said they send a notice informing property owners they need to cut their grass and most normally do, but some places become troublesome.
The fine for unruly grass is $25 if it’s paid in the first 10 days and $35 in the next 20 days, Trefsger said. After a month, unpaid tickets can be taken to a magisterial court.
“It happens. I haven’t had it happen to me yet, but you can go down there and they have to pay a $300 fine,” Trefsger said.
This time of year is when most people are away from their homes for extended periods of time for vacation or other summer-related reasons.
“This is probably the most difficult time of year for people to get to it ... I think I even have to cut my own grass at home, though it’s not six inches yet,” he said with a laugh.
Palamar said the city owns many lots that they are “constantly working on” and will hire workers to go out and mow every day.
Those who can’t maintain their lawns as often can even consider goats as an alternative to mowing. An earlier edition of the Republican-Herald mentioned that Sandra K. Miller of Painted Hand Farm, Newburg, rents out her goats to others for “mowing” invasive plants.
Phil Keil Jr., general manager at Trail Gardens, Pottsville, said it is actually healthier to keep grass growing a bit longer but, of course, not as extreme as eight inches.
“It is better to leave your grass grow longer. If you normally grow it from two to two and a half inches, let it go to three to three and a half inches. It will survive dry conditions because the longer blade gives it more shade to grow,” he said.
Keeping a nice, clean, green lawn can be more difficult than keeping it trim and proper.
“A lot of the brown spots that we are seeing right now are due to grubs,” Keil said. “They are now laying eggs for the next generation of grubs. There may be some grubs that haven’t turned.”
Grubs are bugs that turn into Japanese beetles around the fourth of July, according to Keil.
“If you dig lower in the dirt under dead grass, you can see they look like little white seeds,” Keil said.
Keil said a good indication of grubs is when grass comes up right away after giving it a little tug.
After grubs evolve into beetles, the beetles lay eggs.
“Grubs hatch within a few weeks but you wouldn’t notice until about September until they can do some actual damage,” Keil said.
Those with grub problems can purchase lawn grub killers that stay in the soil all summer, which kills off the bug as well as any eggs that may be laid later in the year by Japanese beetles flying from other yards.
Keil said another method to eliminate grubs is by using milky spore, a fungus that attacks grubs, which should be applied three times a year for two years.
“Its’ a bit of an up front expense, but the spores last up to twenty years with the two-year build up,” Keil said.
Small spots of dead grass due to drought damage will fill in fairly quickly from surrounding grass, Keil said. Larger areas “with a good raking and throwing a seed down will fill them really quick,” he added. “The problem with putting seed down is that when it’s hot and dry, you have to attend and put water on it in time.”
Keil said it is often better to let the lawn go during drought situations because they have their own defense mechanisms for these situations.
“The grass will turn brown, but rain will make it grow back up green,” Keil said. “If you water a lawn and keep it watered to artificially keep it alive, but you stop for some reason, the sudden cut off of moisture can kill the lawn.”
Keil said the only time a lawn can be hurt by excess rain is when it is newly seeded. The rainwater would wash away seeds with the soil and expose the grass roots.
“Most people don’t do the fall seeding and that’s most important,” Keil said.
Another lawn care tip is fertilizing twice a year, first in spring and then in fall to create a good base for the next spring.
“The real key to a good, healthy lawn is just to do the fertilization twice a year, but not real high-nitrogen fertilizer,” Keil said. “Nitrogren makes plants grow fast and nice and green, but in summer time people don’t want their lawns growing that fast.”
He also said that fertilizer with high phosphorus is good for plant roots and will prevent most weeds, adding that organic fertilizer works best in most cases because “if you put on a little too much, you wont do much damage like regular fertilizer.”