How to get your lawn looking its best

Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
LAWNMOWER MAN — Russell Fitzpatrick of Houlton uses a gas-powered “paddle broom” to clear a lawn. Traditional raking or using more modern technology is a great way to get a lawn looking its best in the spring.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    Anyone who has ever watched a baseball game has likely viewed the intricate patterns appearing in the outfield grass.
    So just how exactly do groundskeepers make those designs? The answer is not as complicated as one might think, according to Russell Fitzpatrick, a landscaper located in southern Aroostook County.
    “The best way to achieve special effects on your lawn is to first make sure you have all grass,” he said.
    Designs in grass are achieved by a process called lawn striping and requires only a mower and a roller or broom. Patterns are revealed by light shining off the bent grass. Lighter shades of green are caused by sunlight reflecting off an entire blade of grass, while the darker shades are created from blades that have been bent by the broom or roller.
    Using different blends of grass can also achieve special effects on lawns as they vary in color, he said.
    “If you are really looking to show off, let the grass grow to about 3.5 inches,” Fitzpatrick said. “That way you can really see the patterns from a distance. If you crop it too close, you will burn out your lawn.”
    Fitzpatrick said one of the more dramatic effects he’s created were on the lawn of a Nickerson Lake home.
    “This customer was having an Irish party in the middle of the summer and wanted a huge four-leaf clover on his lawn with lights all around it,” he said.  “We took a string and outlined the clover. Next we fertilized and let the area grow to about 4 inches in length. Then we cut it down to 3.5 inches, raked off the clippings and then broomed the grass to achieve the desired effect.”
    The grass around the clover was cut lower to 3 inches in order to make the design stand out even more.
    “A half-inch difference doesn’t sound like much, but it really makes it stand out,” he said.
    Fitzpatrick’s background in landscaping is an extension of his professional background with a local florist business.
    “My wife (Karen) and I purchased Daniels’ Florist from her grandfather in 1978, but I didn’t really get into landscaping until 1980 when I did some work for Carvel Hatfield. That’s where I got my approach to designing ideas.”
    For those that don’t have a roller attachment for their mowers, chaining a mat to the mower can accomplish the same effect.
    The advice Fitzpatrick gives to homeowners looking to have a stellar lawn is simple.
    “Give your yard a good, thorough raking,” he said. “Aerating and applying lime are also good things people can do for their lawns early in the spring. Most people wait for the frost to leave. If you get a lot of sun and have good drainage, you can rake earlier. If you have a lot of shade or wet areas, you can do some damage by raking too soon.”
    The practice of burning grass in the spring doesn’t benefit the lawn as much as some would believe, Fitzpatrick said.
    “It’s really just a lazy man’s way of raking,” he said.
    Renting a gas-powered paddle broom can save homeowners a great deal of time and energy as it sweeps dirt from the lawn. Using a lawn sweeper for yards with light debris is another quick way to clear the lawn, he said.
    Once the lawn is cleared, applying commercial lawn products can help the grass grow quickly, he said. These types of products typically involve a multi-step process of applying chemicals to your yard at various stages of the spring, summer and fall.
    Deciding on whether to plant annuals or perennials is another question many homeowners often wrestle with, Fitzpatrick said, as they both come with pros and cons.
    “Perennials have really taken off in the last decade,” Fitzpatrick said. “The were virtually non existent before. But now people have really come to prefer them.”
    Perennials are flowers or plants that bloom, die off, go dormant, and then repeat the cycle during the next growing season. Annual plants flower for a longer period, but then die and do not re-bloom.
    The advantages of perennials, such as tulips and lilies, are that they require very little maintenance and often multiply as they grow providing more plants without additional costs. However, because they multiply, perennials must often be culled back to avoid overcrowding.
    The advantage of annuals is that they come in a variety of colorful sizes and shapes, making it easy to create a certain look around your home. Because they do not grow back, annuals come with an increased cost over a longer period of time.
    Fitzpatrick added that many of his customers use a combination of the two, planting annuals such as marigolds or petunias, once their perennials have died off.
    Caring for lawns is just one facet of landscaping, Fitzpatrick said. Planting of perennials and annuals are another area, as is placement of outdoor fixtures such as fountains, stone pathways, patios or rock walls.
    Over the years, Fitzpatrick has had the opportunity to come up with some interesting designs and layouts for homeowners. The most creative freedom he had, however, was at the McPartland Pumping station in Houlton.
    “John Clark from the Houlton Water Company came in and said he wanted to do something to dedicate the area to one of their board members,” he said. “That was pretty wide open for me. I put some different types of arborvitae, white pine, crimson king maple and flowering deciduous varieties.”
    Finding the right look is also about a person’s individual tastes and what they are looking to accomplish.