Reasons for being Evergreen

In warm tropical regions, most rainforest plants are evergreen, replacing their leaves gradually throughout the year as the leaves age and fall, whereas species growing in seasonally arid climates may be either evergreen or deciduous. Most warm temperate climate plants are also evergreen. In cool temperate climates, fewer plants are evergreen, with a predominance of conifers, as few evergreen broadleaf plants can tolerate severe cold below about -25°C.

In areas where there is a reason for being deciduous (i.e. a cold season or dry season), being evergreen is usually an adaptation to low nutrient levels. Deciduous trees lose nutrients whenever they lose their leaves, and they must replenish these nutrients from the soil to build new leaves. When few nutrients are available, evergreen plants have an advantage, even though their leaves and needles must be able to withstand cold and/or drought, and are thus less efficient at photosynthesis. In warmer areas, species such as some pines and cypresses grow on poor soils and disturbed ground. In Rhododendron, a genus with many broadleaf evergreens, several species grow in mature forests but are usually found on highly acidic soil where the nutrients are less available to plants. In taiga or boreal forests, it is too cold for the organic matter in the soil to decay rapidly, so the nutrients in the soil are less easily available to plants, thus favouring evergreens.

In temperate climates, evergreens can reinforce their own survival; evergreen leaf and needle litter has a higher carbon-nitrogen ratio than deciduous leaf litter, contributing to a higher soil acidity and lower soil nitrogen content. These conditions favour the growth of more evergreens and make it more difficult for deciduous plants to persist. In addition, the shelter provided by existing evergreen plants can make it easier for other evergreen plants to survive cold and/or drought.

Aerating the Lawn

What is lawn aeration?

Lawn aeration is the process of creating air channels in your lawn so that air can freely pass into the soil and circulate around the grass roots. Its is achieved by either removing small cylinder shaped cores about 0.5cm wide and 5-10cm deep (similar to the idea of coring an apple) , this is known as core aeration, or by creating aeration channels by inserting solid spikes (such as the tines of a garden fork) into the soil.

Why do you need to aerate the lawn?

Over time the soil that the lawn grows on can become compacted which can have a negative effect on your lawn. The damage to your lawn from soil compaction results from the pore spaces within the soil becoming smaller and this leads to both a reduced amount of air held in the soil, restricted air flow and reduced water infiltration into the soil.

Reduced air levels and restricted air circulation in the soil means that the grass roots are less able to take up oxygen. Reduced soil pore space also leads to reduced levels of nutrient uptake from the soil. Oxygen is a vital input into a plants growth cycle. If the ability of water to infiltrate the soil is limited by soil compaction then the water will not infiltrate as deeply into the soil as normal, this means the lawns roots will not develop as deeply and so the lawn will be more at risk from drought.

How does lawn aeration benefit my lawn?

• Lawn aeration has a number of benefits including:
• Increased water, oxygen and nutrient uptake by the grass roots
• Improved development of roots to greater soil depths
• Enhancing water infiltration into the soil
• Encouraging the breakdown and decomposition of thatch by soil microorganisms

Does your lawn need aerating?

How can you tell if our lawn needs aerating? The simplest way to determine this is to remove a section of turf from the edge of the lawn to the depth of a spade. If the roots of the grass are only reaching an inch or two from the soil surface then your soil is potentially compacted and could benefit from aeration.

How do I aerate the lawn?

Lawn aeration can be carried out by hand or with the aid or a lawn aerator machine. Lawn aeration should be carried out once a year and should be carried out at the beginning of the lawns growing season, normally early spring. There will be less competition for light, water and soil resources from weeds at this point in the growing season.

When should you avoid aerating the lawn?

If you have sown a new lawn from seed then do not aerate it in its first year of growth. If you have a lawn that receives no significant compacting affects and you have aerated it recently then there may be no need to aerate it every year. You should also avoid aerating the lawn after periods of heavy rainfall when the soil is wet through. This is because wet soil will stick in the ‘cores’ of the aerator and so the coring action of the aerator is greatly impeded.

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