Whether you have a home with a large yard or an apartment with a small lanai, plants create a more luxurious mood. Attractive trees, shrubs and lawns actually increase the value of a home. In fact, if you cut down that big shade tree in the front yard, you actually might be reducing the value of your property by thousands of dollars. Just think how much it would cost to have a landscape company replace it. When trees are destroyed, it affects the whole community.
The key to success is to put the right plants in the right place. Hot, sunny areas of the islands require shady gardens to create a comfortable environment. Windbreaks are important to reduce excessive winds. Many tropical landscapes do not include grass. Examples might be found in books such as “Tropical Asia Style,” “Thai Garden Style” and several books featuring the Hawaiian landscape. The use of palms adds even more luxuriance to the design. For some great ideas on using palms in your garden, sign up for the Hawaii Island Palm Society tour next Sunday, Aug. 16, at the Brian/Gibbens estate. For details, call Tim Brian at 333-5626.
Other horticultural groups to get involved with are the Outdoor Circle, American Bamboo Society and American Rhododendron Society Hawaii chapters. Members always are willing to share information and plants.
Besides trees, shrubs and bedding plants, one of the main elements of many landscapes is ground covers including grass. It might be Bermuda, buffalo, centipede, zoysia, seashore paspalum or a mix. Whatever type of lawn it is, green and healthy is the key.
It is important to remember lawns generally require more maintenance, fertilizer and water than more deeply rooted ground covers, shrubs and trees. Thus, many communities are minimizing turf except in parks and recreational areas such as golf courses.
However, it is pleasing to see a healthy, well-maintained lawn. An expanse of green lawn can serve as the right setting for the homes it surrounds.
Artistically, lawns serve as the plain element in a garden picture, offering contrast of simple greenness to surrounding mixtures of color, texture and form in flower and foliage. This simplicity should be maintained by keeping the smooth sweep of lawn undisturbed by intrusions of shrubs and trees.
This does not mean shrubs and trees can’t be placed at strategic spots in the lawn. If carefully done, these can be used without disturbing the unity of the picture. But in general, it is best to keep the lawn uncluttered and unobstructed.
From a practical standpoint in the tropics, a lawn serves a number of ends.
First, it reduces heat and glare as the sun beats down on the earth. Green is a soothing color. No doubt that is why there is so much of it in nature. Second, it controls mud and erosion. It definitely beats concrete and asphalt or gravel.
The chief value of a lawn versus other kinds of ground covers is it offers a pleasing place to walk and play, as well as being artistic. In a dry area, a grass such as Bermuda makes a successful path, or can be used for auto parking.
A well-maintained grass cover also offers one of the easiest ways to control weeds. Just mow frequently and fertilize occasionally, making sure the grass cover has sufficient water to keep its green color.
Of course, if you want a perfect lawn, that is a different proposition. Your idea might be just a green expanse to set off the surrounding landscape. Then, it really does not matter what the expanse consists. It might be a combination of grasses kept in check by frequent mowing.
Ordinarily, grass is not a good cover for steep sloping areas where it is difficult to handle the mower. In spots such as these, it is wiser to use ground covers and shrubs.
Lawns are a garden heritage from Europe. They are not typical in the Orient except through Western introduction. Oriental design uses moss, pebbles or sand for its plain element in landscaping. But in England, turf is key to the landscape and has become an essential part of the garden tradition. Mainland Americans inherited this tradition. They generally consider a lawn a necessary part of the landscape. However, in the wet tropics, turf generally is not a part of the native picture, since meadows are infrequent. Here, it is a good idea to stop and consider whether or not a lawn is an essential part of your garden. In many parts of the mainland where water is scarce and expensive, grass is fast disappearing as an aesthetic element.
Jungle effects with paths and patios tend to relate to the tropics more than do extensive lawns. And yet, even here, there is much use of the lawn in open expanses around a dwelling.
A perfect lawn in the tropics is an expensive proposition. To keep it perfect requires constant attention to weeding, rolling, fertilizing, mowing, watering and control of diseases. Just about the time you think you have everything under control, some new condition arises, and the lawn goes up in smoke.
Today, there is a strong inclination to let the lawn be more informal along with the rest of the garden. This means other plants and “grasses” (so-called weeds) are permitted to live together. Such a mixed green cover has its appeal, being more like a meadow than the monotype lawn.
A semi-natural lawn such as this also has its practical aspect. It reduces maintenance by eliminating most of the weeding and also the struggle to make one kind of grass grow under the varying conditions of sun and shade that make up the average lawn area.
There is, no doubt, a legitimate reason for cultivating a green expanse around a dwelling even in the tropics. But let’s not make such a burden out of it. When a weed pops up here and there, let it be. The secret is not in exterminating the weeds, but in keeping the area mowed so the weeds cannot dominate and go to seed, keeping them from spreading too much.
Whatever type of lawn you have, chances are it will require watering, except in the extremely rainy locations. Deep watering is preferred. Frequent shallow watering will encourage shallow rooting. It is best to water in the early morning. There is less waste of water through evaporation at that time.
Along with water, green growing things need fertilizer. This especially is true with lawns. A fast growing grass such as Bermuda might need fertilizer every month. On the other hand, zoysia can be fertilized three to four times a year or less. A slow-release fertilizer high in nitrogen usually is best.
For insect and disease control, your local garden supply dealer has several good products. Be sure to use the most environmentally friendly ones available and follow directions on the label.
The important thing is to think green. We humans created too much desert in the past. The old saying, “Rain follows the forest, desert follows man” does not need to apply to wise Hawaiian gardeners.
This information is supplied by the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. For further information, contact the office near you.
