As I was getting ready to go to work this morning, I looked out the upstairs bedroom window to see if we'd had frost. It had been predicted and as cold as it was when I went to bed last night, I was pretty sure I'd see it. But as I looked out over the lawn, it was a deep, dewy green - not the whitish, frosty appearance I'd expected.
About 15 minutes later, I walked downstairs to eat breakfast and looked out the window again and saw...FROST! I grabbed my camera and walked outside, just as the sun was coming up, and snapped this photo:
Do you see what I see?
The lawn in the foreground is ours. The one on the other side of the grape arbor and fence is our neighbor's. He had frost - we didn't. How can that be?
It's like this. Tim doesn't like to mow his lawn, so when he does, he mows it very, very short. That way, he doesn't have to mow it as often. We keep ours longer, to try and keep the ground under it shaded as much as possible, to discourage weed seed germination and to not stress the grass by scalping it. It's healthier that way.
But when the temperatures reach freezing, another benefit is realized. The longer grass holds the heat in better and for a longer period of time than the super short grass. That's why our neighbor had a frosty lawn and we didn't.
Cool, huh?
"Bejeweled"
14 comments:
That is interesting! So far we escaped the frost too. I am ready to get my plants in the ground but now it will be raining for a few days. Quite frustrating!
You're lawn method is what folks are supposed to do. Less water to maintain it - in fact I never water unless I just planted seed. I really like that grape arbor! One of these days I'll add that to my project list!
Absolutely cool, Kylee! Interesting observation. :-)
Interesting observation.
Wow, that's quite an observation. Who would'a known that mowing your lawn to the correct height also kept it frost-free. Love the arbor or wooden structure in the middle of the picture, btw.
Robin ~ I was hoping to get some things planted this week, too, because I'm off work. But we're to get rain most of the week, too! Oh well, it's still early.
Dave ~ We never water our yard either. it's just too big anyway. The grass usually goes dormant and brownish in the heat and dryness of summer, but that's okay. It recovers with a rain or two.
Shady Gardener & Lisa ~ I thought it was interesting, too!
Linda ~ Thanks, Linda. My dad and husband constructed the grape arbor last spring.
Great site, I think we can all learn something from your idea.this is fantastic looking blog..and I love the way you write!
Interesting observation! Never thought about that. Another benefit of doing things right! Beautiful arbor!
We had frost, too. My lawn is mostly weeds, so I do cut it really short to avoid seed heads forming. I never need to water it, though! :)
gardener ~ Thank you!
Sandy ~ Thanks, Sandy! It's fun sometimes to see what "side-effects" come about that you never guessed would!
Monica ~ I don't expect our neighbor to rid his lawn of his dandelions (he'd have a dirt lawn), but I've asked him to cut it before they go to seed! Those dandelions sure grow FAST! LOL.
Hey, the grass IS greener on your side of the fence!
Very cool Kylee! I'm glad the frost skipped your yard.
Sometimes we get frost in the front yard (less tree cover) but not in back. The tree canopy holds in heat too. It's pretty common for our neighbors (less trees) to have frost in their back yards much earlier in the fall than we do. Once the leaves fall, all bets are off!
cool indeed.
Kylee, great observation and good lawn info too. I don't know why everyone wants to grow the lawn so short. It doesn't reduce mowing, but I suppose they think it does. If we scalp it here, our grass will burn up in the summer.~~Dee
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