52 THE QUEENS COURIER • AT HOME • JUNE 13, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
at home
Expert lawncare tips for a happy summer lawn
It’s been a rough winter in many parts
of the country, but spring is here at last -
and that means it’s time to give your lawn
a bit of TLC.
Although grass is highly resilient, you
can help your lawn recover from winter
and make sure it’s in top shape for
summer with these tips from turfgrass
researchers around the U.S.
1. Aerify to relieve
soil compaction.
If your lawn is old or heavily traffi
cked, or if it sat under wet snow for
much of the winter, the soil may be compacted.
Aerifying the turf with a core
aerator (you can rent the equipment or
hire a professional) can open up the soil,
allowing water, nutrients and oxygen to
reach the roots of the grass more easily.
Aerifi cation is recommended annually
for cool-season lawns, but according
to Clint Waltz, Ph.D., of the University
of Georgia, a warm-season lawn that suffered
drought-induced dormancy the previous
summer can also benefi t from aerifi
cation through mid-May.
2. Interseed for a thicker lawn.
Lawns that are sparse or have worn
patches can be interseeded when the soil
warms up in the spring. Aaron Patton,
Ph.D., of Purdue University said, “Th e earlier
in the year that you seed, the more
time the turf will have for root development
before summer.” Be sure to use a
high-quality seed that is a good match for
your geographic region and your lawn’s soil
type, sun exposure and irrigation patterns.
3. Watch your mowing height.
Don’t wait too long to start mowing
your lawn. Scalping an overgrown lawn
causes stress that can aff ect the grass the
rest of the season. As a rule of thumb,
never cut more than one-third of the grass
blade height at a time. Leaving the grass a
bit taller can also improve the wear tolerance
of the turf, said Geoff rey Rinehart of
the University of Maryland. More leaf tissue
allows the grass to better withstand
foot traffi c and protects the growing point
at the base of the blade.
4. Grasscycle to feed
your lawn naturally.
You’ll probably want to remove the
grass clippings the fi rst few times you
mow, to reduce shading, but once your
lawn gets going, consider “grasscycling” -
simply leaving the clippings on the lawn.
Grady Miller, Ph.D., of North Carolina
State University said, “Grass clippings
decompose quickly and can provide up to
25 percent of the lawn’s fertilizer needs.”
5. Fertilize - but sparingly.
Even if you’re grasscycling, you should
fertilize your lawn at least twice a year
(mid-May and mid-September work well
in most areas). Cale Bigelow, Ph.D., of
Purdue cautioned that the spring application
should be sparing and should feature
slow-release nitrogen fertilizer to minimize
excess growth. Too much fertilizer
can lead to rapid but weak growth, leaving
your turf more susceptible to wear
and stress.
6. Water properly.
Proper irrigation in the spring can help
prevent or reduce pest problems and environmental
stress later in the summer, said
Miller. He recommended watering to a
soil depth of 4 to 6 inches. (You can check
the depth by pushing a screwdriver into
the soil. If it goes in easily, the soil likely
has enough moisture.) Watering deeply
once or twice a week is better than frequent
light watering.
7. Take it easy.
Moss, mushrooms and other lawn pests
may make an appearance in early spring,
but once your grass comes out of dormancy
and begins growing quickly in
late spring, the hardy turfgrass will push
many of these invaders out. Issues will
oft en resolve themselves if you create the
conditions that favor the grass. If infestations
recur, your county extension agency
can help you identify the underlying
problem and provide recommendations
that are specifi c to your region and type
of grass.
A little spring maintenance can pay off
big later in the year. If you want healthy,
wear-resistant turf for the high-traffi c
summer season, now is the time to start
setting your lawn up for success. Learn
more about quick, easy lawn improvement
and maintenance tips from the
experts at Grass Seed USA, a coalition of
grass seed farmers and academic turf specialists,
at www.WeSeedAmerica.com or
follow @WeSeedAmerica on Facebook
and Twitter.
Courtesy BPT
There’s a classic tool in your toolbox that might be an impostor
When you think of a list of the most
common tools - tools that you start using
as a kid and become part of your toolbox
everywhere life takes you aft er that - it’s
probably got fi ve or six must-haves. Th at
list would likely include a hammer, screwdriver,
tape measure, saw and a Crescent
wrench. All immediately recognizable. All
recognized as essential.
But on this Mount Rushmore of tools
in your toolbox, one of them might be an
impostor.
“Th ere’s a good chance that what a person
thinks is a Crescent wrench isn’t actually
a Crescent wrench,” said Brendan
Walsh, director of product marketing at
Crescent Tools. “It’s just an adjustable
wrench. And, yeah, there’s a big diff erence.”
Th e misconception starts with the
fact that many people don’t realize that
Crescent is the name of a brand, not the
tool. Crescent Tools started producing the
famed adjustable wrench in 1908, and it
didn’t take long for the tool to boom in
popularity. Th e ability to essentially have
multiple wrenches of diff erent sizes in one
tool was a revelation.
Th is happens when brands become synonymous
with the thing that they sell,
and consumers see it happen all the time.
Kleenex, Band-Aid, Xerox, Jet Ski and
even Zamboni are all brands that are
referenced interchangeably as names for
the items they sell. Kleenex doesn’t sell
Kleenex, it sells facial tissues. On the fl ip
side, their competitors don’t sell Kleenex,
they also sell facial tissues. But everyday
people commonly refer to everything as
Kleenex.
And that’s what happened to Crescent’s
adjustable wrench.
“I can’t blame people for doing it. I
mean, it certainly rolls off the tongue faster
than ‘adjustable wrench’ does,” said
Walsh. “But the fact is that if it’s not
made by Crescent, then it’s not a Crescent
wrench. And, honestly, we take a lot of
pride in that.”
Adjustable spanners - the precursors to
Crescent’s adjustable wrench - had been
developed as early as the 1840s, but the
sliding jaw would easily bind, rendering
them unusable. However in 1907, a gift -
ed Swedish inventor named Karl Peterson
founded the Crescent Tool Company
in Jamestown, New York. A year later,
he introduced the Crescent wrench, an
adjustable wrench with a smooth-sliding
jaw so superior to anything else on
the market that the Crescent adjustable
wrench was an instant success.
Th e Crescent wrench has since been
the brand’s signature item, overshadowing
Crescent’s growth into one of the most
respected professional hand tool brands
in the world. Crescent recently expanded
to include fi ve other legendary hand tool
category creators: Nicholson (fi les), Wiss
(scissors, snips and cutting tools), H.K.
Porter (heavy duty cutting tools), Lufk in
(measuring) and JOBOX (tool and equipment
storage).
“We make so much more than the
average person - even a heavy tool user
- knows about,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick,
product manager at Crescent Tools.
“We’re innovating now the same we did
a hundred years ago, listening to tradesmen
to develop and improve tools in ways
that make their lives easier. For example,
we just launched our Crescent Lufk in
Shockforce measuring tapes this past
March, and the reaction over how innovative
they are has been overwhelming.
Tradesmen didn’t know that tapes could
be improved so much, but we’re doing it.”
While other hand tool brands don’t
market their adjustable wrenches as
“Crescent” wrenches, consumers still use
the term interchangeably regardless of
the brand.
“It feels good to know we’ve built a tool
that is so popular and so well respected
that its name has become the default
name for the tool itself, but it’s important
to know that the brand matters. It’s not
a Crescent wrench unless it’s a Crescent
wrench.”
Courtesy BPT
/www.WeSeedAmerica.com
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