Nothing To Lose

Discover the World Your Way

Recent Posts

  • When to Roll Your Lawn
  • How to Insulate a Tent for Winter Camping

Categories

  • Camping
  • Gardening

Powered by Genesis

  • Camping
  • Gardening
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

When to Roll Your Lawn

July 13, 2019 by George Leave a Comment

There are certain gardening practices that are worth doing while others can be a mere waste of time. 

For instance, lawn rolling is one of these practices that some people believe to be a waste of time while others think it is the right thing to do.

Some people believe that it is important to roll lawn during springtime. As such, this article critically looks at the question of when to roll your lawn.

Arguments Against Rolling Lawn

when to roll your lawn after seeding

Rolling your lawn can compact the ground while 50 % of healthy earth should be empty spaces. These spaces are filled with air and they allow water to seep through during the time you water your lawn or when it rains. When grass grows, its roots fill these spaces and they do not grow into the soil.

Therefore, when you compact the lawn, then it means that the roots will have nowhere to grow. The result is poor healthy lawn and it will struggle to grow particularly in spring when it should experience a booming phase in terms of growth.

The water will simply wash on top of the grass after compacting your lawn. This will also mean that the flowing water will wash away vital nutrients resulting in poor quality grass.

However, rolling out your lawn is not completely bad since there are certain instances when it is required.

You can only do this practice when it is really necessary but there are also certain steps that you should take. The following factors are essential to take when you decide to roll your lawn.

When to Roll Your Lawn?

when not to roll your lawn

You can roll your lawn after seeding since this helps the seed to get into close contact with the earth. When you spread the seed on the bare lawn, you need to compact it to enhance germination.

The practice is optional since the germination goal can be achieved through raking. Compacting can be beneficial where the lawn is patchy.

The other scenario when rolling your lawn is recommended is when you lay new sods of grass. This practice will enhance deeper growth of roots when they are compacted such that they can reach greater depths. The new sods of grass should not be left exposed since they may dry up.

Winter season can also bring about changes to the texture of the soil. For instance, winter that is characterized by longer mild periods and cold snaps can lead to soil heaving. Therefore, rolling the lawn is one good way of correcting the problem.

When you compact the law, it is a greater way of filling the void created in the earth during the period when conditions are not stable.

The other period when you can consider rolling your lawn is after notable mole activity. Moles can spend some time burrowing into your lawn and the practice of rolling it can help to level the bumps created during the period.

The technique of rolling your lawn is effective since it helps the earth to fill unnecessarily large gaps created as a result of mole activity.

Apart from these periods, the practice of rolling your lawn may not be necessary since it can only lead to issues with your soil. You should make sure that you role your lawn when there is a real need to do that.  

However, there are also certain things that you should consider when rolling your lawn.

Factors to Consider When Rolling Your Lawn

when to roll and aerate your lawn

When you decide to roll your lawn, make sure that you do it when the ground is not soaked but just damp. If the ground is soaked, then the practice will encourage soil compaction which is not good for the growth of the grass. The grass needs air to grow so if you compact the soil, circulation of air is suppressed.

The other thing to consider is that you should not use a heavy-duty roller on your lawn. A heavy roller may impact negatively on your lawn since it can compact the soil.

When the soil id heavily compacted, it can affect the growth of the grass since water may not easily penetrate the soil but just runs on top.

The best period for rolling your lawn is spring when the grass is actively growing. The grass will be coming out of dormancy and it will be entering an active growth stage such that it can recover from the stress of rolling.

You should also avoid rolling your lawn in winter when the ground may be frozen. Summer is also not a good season to roll your law since the ground is baked.

The other important aspect to consider is that you should not roll your lawn annually. You may end up damaging the law as a result of compaction of the soil. You should only roll the lawn when it is really necessary.

You must also avoid rolling your lawn on heavy clay soil. It compacts quickly than other types of soil.

Filed Under: Gardening

How to Insulate a Tent for Winter Camping

July 13, 2019 by George Leave a Comment

Most people think that going camping is an activity that you can only enjoy during the summertime. And, that you should put your tent away during the cold winter months. However, this isn’t the truth.

There are many ways that you can keep your tent warm during the winter so that you can still enjoy camping. One of these methods is to insulate your tent.

With this guide, you will be able to know everything there is to know about insulating your tent for winter camping.

And, you will also get some other tips that you can use to keep warm while you are enjoying camping in the winter.

Adding Thermal Insulation to a Tent

insulating a tent for winter camping

The best thing that you can do, is to add thermal insulation to a tent. This can be installed on the outside or inside of the tent. It is best to install it inside the tent, but this can be quite hard if you don’t know exactly how to do it.

There is designed insulation that you can purchase for this purpose. The problem is that this can be quite expensive, and then you can’t use the tent during the summer again.

Your tent will be way too hot during the summer to use. This means that you will need to have two tents, and need to buy the insulation. This can be really expensive.

If you don’t have the money for this, there are some other options that you can consider to insulate your tent as well.

The Smaller the Tent, the Warmer It Will Be

If you have a smaller tent, the tent will be warmer inside. You should make sure that you have a tent that is just big enough for the number of people that needs to sleep inside the tent. If the tent is just for you, then you should really just get a 1-man tent.

This is why it is recommended that you are getting a larger tent for the summer. This is so that the tent can cool off and that you don’t get as warm. With a smaller tent, a warm sleeping bag, and floor insulation, you don’t need to worry about getting cold at night.

Insert Heat Pack Inside Your Tent

how to insulate a tent for winter camping

You can insert heat packs inside your tent, to heat up your tent before you are going to bed. Just take note that we are talking about the water heat packs and not electrical heat packs. The last thing that you want, is to add electrical heat packs inside your tent.

This will heat up your tent so that you can warm up before bed. And, if you have some added insulation to your tent, with the heat pack, you will really not get cold, and the heat pack will stay warmer for longer.

Cover Your Tent With Another Layer Over It

Something else that you can do, is to cover your tent by adding another layer on top of it. Basically, the same as adding insulation on the outside of the tent.

There are many different layers that you can add to the top of your tent. Hail and snow cover works well. Or you can make use of the weather blanket. You are just throwing it over your tent. There are many different ways that you can use the weather blanket to insulate your tent for extra heat.

Insolating the Floor of Your Tent

Did you know that most of the cold inside your tent, is coming from the floor? The moment that you are adding insulation to the floor, you are going to have a much warmer tent.

There is some floor insolation that you can purchase for your tent, or you can make your own. You can throw a mattress on the floor, that is covering the floor of the tent. And, underneath the mattress, you can have a weather blanket. Making sure that no cold is getting from underneath the tent.

Last Tips to Insolate Your Tent for the Winter

insulating a tent for winter camping

There are other things that you can do, to just insolate your tent to get some heat while camping. The sleeping bag that you are sleeping in can also make a huge difference in staying warm.

And, the clothes that you are wearing. Take a look at the stuff that you are taking with you when you are camping in the winter and ask yourself what can you do, to ensure that you are staying warm while you are camping.

There are many different ways on how you can insolate your tent when you are in the mood for camping during the winter. Installing insulation in the inside of your tent is just one method to ensure that you are staying warm at night.

The only thing that you should make sure about, is that the method that you are choosing is going to work under the weather conditions that you are going to camp in.

Filed Under: Camping