Time
Required
60 minutes
Directions
Sometimes it’s hard to believe how many different
types of turfgrass there are! Most garden centers
sell blends that combine several varieties to meet
your site needs such as shade or dull sun, drought
tolerant or wet areas. It may be tricky to find a
single variety but it’s worth the effort in
order to get to know the subtle differences in color
and texture different varieties can have. There are
12 varieties of Kentucky Blue Grass alone and over
250 varieties of perennial rye grass.
-
Decide
on your pattern – striped, checkerboard, abstract.
For these instructions we’ll use a striped
pattern.
-
Using
a ruler measure and mark each outer long side of
the container in at least 4 equal segments.
-
Using
tacky glue or a hot glue gun, attach Popsicle sticks
to each of the marks, on both sides of the container.
-
Cut string to length and tie between popsicle sticks
to that string is taught and as close to the soil
as possible.
-
If
you have more than one variety of seed, carefully
sow within the boundaries of each stripe, alternating
each variety as you go.
-
If
you aren’t able to find more than one variety
of seed, carefully sow every other section now.
Wait 3-7 days before carefully sowing the remaining
sections with the same variety of seed.
-
Keep
evenly most by misting once or twice daily as needed.
In crop art and creative mowing the plant materials
are cut to different lengths, bent or suppressed in
such a way to reveal a pattern. These patterns can be
as simple as stripes or a checkerboard or as elaborate
as portraits. It’s difficult to simulate the cutting
and bending techniques on a small scale but sowing varieties
of the same plant with slight color and texture variations
in a patterned succession can yield similar results.