I had centipede grass installed last year. For the most part it's doing well. However, around the air conditioner unit the grass is very sparse. Any ideas as to how to avoid having the hot air burn up the grass????
TIA
This is Turtle.
I don't see how the grass can be effected by the hot air of the coil for the air is coming in at the bottom and only hot air is discharged out the very top. Also
125ºF air is not bad for grass as to stunt it's growth in anyway.Now if you do have a side discharge model the hot air as you say is not hot enough to mess with the grass and it's growth in anyway. Grass grows very good in 125ºF temp.s.
TURTLE
Don't run the AC
Was it seed or sod? The hot air is discharged at the top, but it is draw in from the bottom. Perhaps, if it was seed, the seeds were sucked up before germination. The air currents will also keep the blades from sprouting the way they normally do. Perhaps a baffle will help, but don't block the airflow or you can lessen the efficiency and do possible damage.
On most units,t he hot air vents out the top. Perhaps an earlier repair guy spilled a bunch of compressor lubricating oil, and poisoned the soil.
Actually this is an unit built in the late 80's and the air is discharged from the side.
Now we know the problem. Pour cement. Grass will never do well there.
Gotta love it. Combined simplicity, and great advice.
We should meet someday.
Well, that changes matters entirely. Don't know what to say, except possibly build an air deflector?
dk,
The horizontal air flow from older AC units is very tough on grass. The combination of high temps and high flow rate cook the grass rapidly, in a manner similar to the principal of the convection oven. A strong flow of air is good for animals exposed to hot dry air - the airflow increases our ability to cool off through the evaporation of sweat. But the effect is the opposite for plants - the airflow greatly increase the transpiration rate for the plants and they can quickly wilt and die.
I've helped a few folks with your problem. You only need a modestly sized deflector to reduce the problem tremendously. I've made a few from some sheet metal or plywood. They need to be the width of your unit and about 4-6 inches deep. You want the deflector to sit on the ground at the base of the unit and the deflector should angle upward at about 45 degrees. Two small blocks of treated wood with a 45 degree cut work well. If you use sheet metal, then you can break it (bend it) at a 45 degree angle and use a brick on the base to hold it in place.
It doesn't seem to take a very big deflector to keep most of the super hot air off the grass. Obviously the deflector stops the horizontal flow of air from the bottom of the unit, but it seems to also create a sufficient upward flow of air in that region to protect from some of the air flowing out of the unit in the area above the deflector. With the small deflectors, I've seen no adverse impact upon the compressor units.
I prefer a metal deflector, but be certain that whatever you use is well protected from metal corrosion or wood rot. Also, the deflector usually doesn't interfer with mowing since it will usually fit on the portion of the concrete slab that projects in front of the condensor unit. If you use metal, be sure to round any dangerously sharp corners or edges.
If you toss something together quickly just to test the concept before making a more permanent deflector, try to be certain that very little or no air is escaping at the base of the deflector. It is pretty easy to test the concept with a scrap of wood or metal which you wedge between the unit and a couple of rocks or bricks sitting in front of the unit. The rocks or bricks should be able to hold the deflector in place and hold it at a reasonable angle for a week or so of testing.
So far, I haven't encountered a situation in which the deflector didn't fix the problem. Of course, it takes a while for the grass to recover from its previous heat stress and you are going to need to water that area for a while during the recovery process.
Good luck, Gideon
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TIA
This is Turtle.
You mean to tell me that you can't get grass to grow on cement slab of a condenser. here is South Louisiana we get grass growing in the condenser unit and coming out the sides on a concrete slab. I get some calls of customers to come pull the condenser fan motor and blade off so the customer can get inside to weed eat inside the condenser.
TURTLE
Thank you!!!
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