Bumpy, rough lawns

I have one of these. It was bumpy when I moved here. It was bumpy, lumpy and treacherous to walk on. And mowing was no picnic either. Almost every neighbor I talked to about it told me the same thing. They told me that the lumpiness is caused by an over-abundance of earthworms. I believe earthworms in the lawn is a good thing. Earthworms anywhere is a good thing. From hearing them talk this soil should be rich enough to grow anything I wanted without having to add anything to the soil. I was thrilled to hear that this might be the case, but I found it difficult to believe that the noble earthworm was the cause of my bumpy, rough lawn.

Since I had never lived anywhere where I had to take care of a lawn, I was a lawn-maintenance virgin. And as such, I could not dispute what I was being told so I began reading and searching for other causes of bumpy, rough lawns.

There are several possible reasons for bumpy, rough, uneven lawns. Older lawns become uneven and bumpy as the Turfgrass gradually thins. These lawns have less foliar growth and cushioning effect than thick, dense Turfgrass.

When I first moved in the grass was browning and thin in some areas and so I thought this must be why this lawn is lumpy. The solution seemed clear, if I simply feed it and water it on a regular schedule I could ‘save’ this lawn by myself. This great delusion began in the Summer of 2004. By the end of 2005, after following the commonly prescribed practice of weed & feed at regular intervals, it was very clear to me that what I was doing was not working. After two Summers, two Autumns, and one Spring, I still had no idea how to save this lawn and I still had brown areas, thinning grass and a bumpy, rough surface along with ever increasing water bills.

During this time of indoctrination by fire, I had dug up the lawn in several places looking for these nefarious earthworms but never did find more than a handful. I didn’t find the rich mountains of castings that I was told was creating the ankle-twisting mis-adventures that I had come to expect from simply walking across the lawn.

Other reasons for lumpiness could be poor maintenance, shade, insects, diseases and other factors. I suspect it was poor maintenance. There was no way it was shade because the lawn is in full sun all day long except for under the fruit trees and the grass was lush and thick there. As far as insects and diseases, I didn’t see anything that convinced me that these were the causes. And there are the ‘other factors’. I don’t have a clue what these could be. Maybe moles, voles and other rodents but that is not the case. Never saw any of these here.

Everyone said I should aerate. That should level it out in no time. They reasoned that aeration helps open up the soil to allow air and water down to the grass roots and thereby create a more lush turf. I can’t help but think that if I have such an abundance of earthworms then my lawn is already very well aerated by them. But, I had someone come out to aerate anyway, because it is good practice to do so. The ground was so hard that it was basically a waste of time.

So, if the ground is too hard to aerate, then earthworms is not the cause of my lumpiness.

Spring of 2006 came around and I was not looking forward to fighting a loosing battle so I spoke with a lawn service guy and decided to let them take care of it all for a couple of years. I figured I would pay close attention to when they came around and make note of what they used and then I would be able to take it from there. It is now two years later and my lawn has never looked better. But, I still have lumps.

Their advice was pretty much the same as everyone else who has lived around here for years. Aerate. Is this just a commonly accepted ‘cure-all’ for lawn problems? Even though it obviously does not work.

Just today I read an article that mentioned the freeze/thaw cycle here in Utah. I suppose it is the same in every northern state but it never occurred to me that this might, if not cause the problem then at least it could be contributing to the problem. If this is the case then the only course of action now is to sprinkle top soil and reseed every year. This may have to be the way to go because I don’t think it will ever ‘cure’ the lumpiness.

I guess I am just going to have to live with it. Or, I could replace all of it with wildflowers and sell my lawn mower. Now that sounds like a great alternative.