We all have different attitudes about our lawns. Some people truly enjoy keeping them lush and green, while others would rather sit at their picnic tables or lounge on their patio furniture, so unconcerned about the appearance of their grass, that they wouldn’t even care if it all dried up, turned brown, and died.Naturally, such a sight would be a nightmare for those who prize healthy, emerald lawns; and it’s something that more people are seeing every year, as an increasing number of municipalities set restrictions on water usage during the summer. However, the condition may not be as devastating as it appears, as brown grass is not necessarily dead grass. It may simply be dormant – and that can actually make the grass even healthier.Grass is very well equipped to endure the hot summer, and dormancy is a part of the natural cycle that helps it to survive these months. In fact, when the temperature reaches the high 90’s, it shuts itself down and goes through a cool-down process. Even dormant grass can sustain itself quite well, as long as there is enough moisture getting to the crowns of the root system. With as little as ½ inch of water per week, a healthy, established lawn will do quite nicely.Even so, there are certain measures that you can take, which will help your lawn to thrive under normal circumstances, and be particularly beneficial during dormancy. For instance, fertilizing your lawn with the proper balance of nutrients will help it to get through periods of stress, while also preventing weeds and cutting down on insect infestations. Fertilizers and weed-and-feed products will also help your grass to become more drought-tolerant and disease-resistant.While your lawn is dormant, you should also take the opportunity to remove excess thatch, which is a build-up of partly decayed grass stems, roots, crowns, and other organic debris. Although a certain amount of thatch helps grass to stay healthy, by insulating the soil against temperature extremes, holding in moisture, and fertilizing as it decays, more than ½ inch of it can encourage insect infestation and disease. De-thatching your lawn will loosen up the overload of debris, allowing air, nutrients, and water to get into the soil.This should be good news to everyone, whether or not they like yard work. Those who hate it can claim that their neglect is helping their lawns, while those who enjoy it can take more breaks, without feeling guilty. Either way, we’ll all have more time to enjoy cookouts with our friends and families; and we’ll definitely have the time to choose a beautiful new picnic table from AllPicnicTables.com.AllPicnicTables.com has an enormous assortment of decay-resistant cedar, pine, oak, teak, and cherry tables, as well as maintenance-free aluminum, thermo-plastic coated steel, polywood, and vinyl tables that are available in dozens of stylish colors. In every size, color, shape, and style imaginable, there’s a picnic table to complement the décor of any porch, patio, and deck – and liven up any yard, whether it’s green or brown.AllPicnicTables.com also has design consultants and customer service professionals who are always ready to answer your questions about picnic tables. To contact them, call 1-888-293-2339, or e-mail contact@allpicnictables.com.
One of the greatest social events ever dreamed up, a picnic is a combination of food, family, friends, recreation, entertainment, and merriment. At the first sign of spring, people begin firing up their grills and taking their meals outdoors, and they don’t go back inside until the world freezes over once again. In fact, there are some year-round, die-hard barbecuers who won’t quit unless someplace much larger and hotter freezes over, too. Although the summer is filled with picnics, little is generally known about how and where they originated. Listed as a new word, “pique-nique" first appeared in the 1692 edition of Origines de la Langue Françoise de Ménage. It is believed to have been a combination of “piquer," meaning to “pick" or “peck" and “nique," an obsolete word, which meant “trifle" or “little pieces." It was described as a potluck gathering, to which everyone brought a dish, and the food, transported in the first picnic baskets, was set out for all to “peck at." The word “picnic" was first introduced in English in 1748. In the 19th century, a group of wealthy Londoners formed the Picnic Society to promote this fashionable social affair, to which each attendee was expected to bring food, as well as contribute some form of entertainment. It was around the middle of the century when it became associated with the outdoors, and the first picnic blankets appeared. Its rapid rise in popularity soon led to the invention of the picnic table. Today, a picnic can be anything from a casual meal on the porch, with paper plates and plastic forks, to a formal picnic lunch, with gourmet food served on good china. It can be a large gathering at a park, or a cozy lunch for two on a picnic blanket in a scenic spot. A picnic can be a grand affair, planned or months – perhaps even catered – or a spontaneous move outdoors to enjoy the weather. No matter how differently they may be defined, however, everyone agrees that picnics are fun! Like the picnic itself, the picnic table has undergone many transformations. With porches, decks, and patios becoming more elaborate every year, and backyard gazebos popping up in record numbers, outdoor entertaining has reached new heights. Beyond barbecues, people are hosting dinners, formal parties, and even weddings in their own backyards. In order to accommodate these diverse uses, picnic tables have been created in a variety of sizes, styles, shapes, colors, and materials, to fit any occasion. Besides the classic, rustic-looking cedar, oak, and pine tables, there are elegant dining sets, sometimes made from cherry or teak. Other tables are constructed from virtually indestructible aluminum, thermo-plastic, vinyl, and polywood. These are the tables you’ll find lining hospital grounds, industrial parks, office complexes, and college campuses. They can be rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, square, round, or oval, with benches attached or detached.