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From YouTube: Summer Lawn Care Tips for OKC Residents
Description
Louis Scott, Naturalist for OKC Parks and Rec., gives you summer lawn care tips to consider. Visit www.okc.gov for more information from the City of Oklahoma City. View more OKC videos at www.okc.gov/ch_20.
A
Hi,
my
name
is
Lewis
Scott
I'm,
a
naturalist
with
the
city
of
Oklahoma,
City,
Parks
and
Recreation
Department
and
I'd
like
to
talk
to
you
today
about
some
easy
summer,
lawn
care
tips
that
will
really
help
you
out
in
maintaining
your
landscape.
One
of
the
things
I
want
to
discuss
with
you
today
is
some
of
the
typical
features
that
you'll
find
on
an
average
home
lawn
mower.
This
is
a
mulching
mower
with
a
bagger
attachment.
A
What
I
want
to
talk
to
you
about,
though
briefly,
is
you
are
able
to
adjust
the
height
of
the
mower
so
that
the
blades
will
mow
the
grass
taller
or
shorter
and
that's
important,
because
you
always
want
to
try
to
reduce
the
amount
of
lawn
clippings
that
you
generate
whenever
possible.
One
of
the
things
that
you
can
do
is
manipulate
the
levers
by
each
of
the
four
wheels
to
raise
or
lower
the
height
of
the
cutting
blade.
A
Your
kind
of
behind
and
the
grass
is
a
little
taller.
It's
much
better
to
operate
with
a
bagger
at
that
point
and
catch
those
larger
clippings
and
compost
them
or
do
other
things
with
them.
And
then
you
can
get
back
to
your
regular
mowing
schedule
if
you
are
using
a
mulching
mower,
that's
great!
What
you
always
want
to
try
to
do
is
never
remove
more
than
about
one
third
of
the
height
of
the
grass
blade
at
any
given
moment.
A
You'll
see
that
effect,
and
it
really
prevents
you
from
getting
an
effective
cut
on
your
lawn.
One
of
the
next
subjects
we
want
to
discuss
is
proper
watering
techniques
so
that
you
can
conserve
water
but
also
water
plants
when
they
actually
need
it.
As
far
as
lawns
are
concerned,
a
very
easy
way
to
tell
if
your
lawn
needs
a
drink
is
to
simply
step
on
it
with
your
foot
withdraw
and
if
the
grass
springs
back
up
as
it
did
there.
A
Obviously,
it's
got
enough
hydration,
but
if
you
step
on
your
lawn
and
when
you
withdraw
your
foot,
the
grass
stays
depressed
for
a
little
bit
before
it
springs
back
up
or
if
the
grass
starts
to
assume
kind
of
a
little
bit
of
a
grayish
cast,
it's
probably
time
for
a
drink
of
water.
One
of
the
things
about
watering
is
this
the
best
time
of
day
to
do.
It
is
early
in
the
morning
as
early
as
possible,
right
at
or
around
sunrise
for
two
reasons.
A
Generally,
the
evaporation
rate
is
a
lot
lower
at
that
time,
but
also
our
winds
tend
to
be
lower
so
that
if
you
have
to
apply
irrigation
above
ground,
the
water
actually
goes
where
you'd
like
it
to.
The
second
rule
of
thumb,
with
proper
watering
is
to
make
sure
that
you
water
deeply
but
infrequently,
and
that
may
mean
that
if
you
have
a
heavy
clay
soil,
you
may
have
to
irrigate
for
a
little
bit.
A
Let
the
water
soak
in
then
irrigate
little
longer
and
let
the
water
soak
in
because
you
really
want
to
avoid
as
much
surface
runoff
and
wastage
of
water
as
possible,
also
for
proper
watering
techniques.
Generally,
you
want
to
think
about
applying
at
least
one
inch
per
week
under
somewhat
normal
growing
stance
circumstances.
If
we've
had
a
rain.
Obviously
we
don't
need
the
water,
but
most
plants
either
Bermuda
grass
or
shrubs
need
about
an
inch
of
water
a
week
to
really
prosper.
A
One
of
the
easiest
ways
to
determine
that,
if
you're
putting
down
enough
water
with
your
sprinkler
or
hose,
is
to
actually
get
a
small
shallow
container
place
it
in
the
area
where
you're
going
to
be
watering
or
sprinkling
turn
on
the
system
or
the
hose
or
sprinkler,
and
see
how
long
it
takes
for
one
inch
of
water
to
accumulate
in
that
shallow
container.
At
that
point,
you
know
you've
actually
applied
enough
water
needs
for
the
following
seven
days
for
the
majority
of
those
plants.
A
Another
aspect
of
proper
watering
is
being
concerned
about
mulching
in
your
shrub
and
flower
beds.
Once
you've
applied
the
water,
you
really
want
to
get
the
most
benefit
out
of
it
that
you
can
and
an
easy
way
to
do,
that
is
to
mulch,
and
you
can
use
either
an
organic
mulch
or
an
inorganic
mulch.
Organic
mulches
such
as
these
woodchips,
I'm
getting
ready
to
use
in
this
flowerbed
are
from
previously
living
material
in
organic
mulches
are
things
like
pea,
gravel
or
cobblestones.
A
A
What
you
want
to
make
sure
that
you
do
with
the
mulch
is
that
you
apply,
or
an
organic
mulch
like
this
to
the
depth
of
four
inches,
which
may
seem
quite
tall,
but
you
really
need
four
inches
to
get
the
maximum
effect
from
the
prevention
of
weeds
and
also
to
to
retain
as
much
moisture
as
possible
in
your
flower
beds
or
shrub
beds.
One
of
the
indicators
that
they
need,
watering
is
the
leaves
will
be
either
begin
to
yellow
or
maybe
droop
slightly,
and
that
can
be
a
good
indicator
that
they
may
need
water.
A
However,
the
best
way
to
determine
if
your
flower,
bed
or
shrub
bed
needs
watering
is
to
actually
take
your
finger
work
it
into
the
top
inch
or
so
of
soil,
and
if
it
feels
dry
to
the
touch
you
may
need
to
water.
The
thing
you
need
to
remember
is
that
flowers
and
shrubs
will
also
yellow
leaves
and
droop
leaves
with
too
much
water.
So
really
your
finger
is
the
best
guy
just
go
over
test
it
to
about
an
inch
or
so.
If
it
is
dry,
you
really
may
need
to
water.
A
If
there's
good
moisture,
then
you
need
to
be
concerned,
maybe
you're
watering
too
much
and
again
you
want
to
water
deeply,
but
infrequently
we
hope
these
tips
will
help.
You
have
an
easier
time
of
taking
care
of
your
home
landscape
over
the
hot
months
of
the
summer.
Please
again
remember
three
basic
things:
try
to
mow
appropriately,
try
to
water
appropriately
and
try
to
mulch
appropriately,
if
you're
interested
in
further
information,
the
city
of
a
clumsy,
Parks
and
Recreation
Department
does
offer
free
classes
that
address
these
particular
issues.