Posts Tagged ‘grass seed’ < back
Mowing Tips
28th Jun:
Firstly and most importantly choose the correct lawn mower for your lawn. Cylinder mowers are only really suitable for perfectly flat lawns with finer grass types. Consider whether you want stripes (in which case best results come with some sort of roller) whether there are hard to reach or sloping areas (use a lighter fly-mow) or if you need the mower to collect cuttings too.
Make sure your mower is serviced regularly and that the blades are as sharp as possible which will ensure a better cut. Do not cut your lawn too low.
Whenever you fill your mower with petrol, never do this on the actual grass as petrol burns grass.
Don’t cut your lawn too short (min 1 inch). Cutting your lawn too short can encourage lawn diseases, moss and weed growth. Also never cut more than a third of the height at any one time. If you do, it can cause scalping which can take 2-3 mowing cycles to recover.
Also try to remove any clippings from the lawn as this can encourage thatch which means moss will thrive.
Cut your lawn frequently as this encourages it to grow thicker which keeps out the weeds.
Don’t mow the lawn when it is wet as this can cause the soil to be compacted which suffocates the roots and causes bald patches.
Keep your edges nice and neat by using either a half moon edging tool or even installing an edging product such as EverEdge.
If conditions are very dry and the lawn is looking brown, try to keep off the lawn as much as possible as the grass will be dry and brittle and liable to break. Do not cut shorter than 2 inches and do not cut again until there is a sign of growth.
When watering, don’t overwater by watering every day. In the summer every 2-3 days should be enough. Water the lawn early in the morning or during the later part of the day when evaporation is at its lowest. An irrigation system is always a good idea.
Watering deeply will encourage deep root growth.
Aerate your lawn, using a fork on the smaller lawns and specialist machines (that can be hired) on the larger lawns.
Once this is done, scarifiy your grass, again using a hand rake on smaller areas and machines on the larger lawns. These jobs can be done in either order.
Next is the grass seed. On a small lawn scatter it by hand thinly. Careful not to be too generous at the start and run out before all the area is covered. Then using a stiff brush gently ‘encourage’ the seed down the holes as much as possible.
Next apply a top dressing, which is a mixture of compost and wash sand which helps improve drainage and fertility of the soil. Using a soft rake, gently spread the topdressing into the grass.
Feed your lawn regularly with an appropriate lawn fertiliser. This will make it greener and thicker, and helps return nutrients to the soil.
Gardening jobs for April
16th Mar:
Jobs for April
1) Slugs and snails – they’re starting to wake up, so do beware! It’s early days, but a mild spell will see them destructively active, and they will munch up any tasty new shoots and growth. Slug pellets are effective, but a risk for birds and pets; nematodes are effective – highly effective, easy to source online through mail-order; birds are great – entice them with food and water, and enjoy their company; copper tapes around pots is great, but slugs can come up through the holes in the bottom and bypass; anti-slug drenches are very effective – they will wipe out everything in sight, but they’re very strong, and aren’t good for soil organisms. Do your research, and consider your options. If you have a ‘major slug problem’ – accept it, and adapt. There are many plants that slugs won’t touch – even some varieties of Hostas (their favourite).
2) Lawns – time to kill that moss. Use a drench or spray, and get on top of it now. Scarify in a month, and give your grass room to grow and re-colonise. Perfect time to lay new turf, and it’s fine to reseed a lawn now. Have a look, and think that if ‘it looks bad now, imagine it in the hot Summer months’ – now is the time for major repairs, or starting-from-scratch, or simply improving what you have.
3) Pruning – it’s not too late to prune your Roses, ornamental grasses, deciduous shrubs etc… get them ready for their new growth. Prune your Dogwoods, and other Winter-interest-stem-plants. Get them right down low, and they shall shoot back up. Shrubs that flower in late-Summer can still have drastic pruning work, and will still flower. Late Spring/early Summer-flowering shrubs should be left, unless you can accept them not flowering this year.
4) Pot plants – get them re-potted now, if they look like they could do with the extra room. Top dress plants that are happy in their pots with a good few inches of compost – ‘proper’ compost, either manure, or home-made; never ‘multi-purpose’.
5) Plant, plant, plant – it’s still a perfect time to get large and mature, specimen shrubs into your garden. They’re dormant, so require little in the way of watering, and availability is good for ‘instant’ hedges, trees, and mature plants. Perfect time to invest, and think of the near-future.
6) Weeding. Dig over those beds and catch your weeds before they go to seed and spread. Trust me thos will save a lot of time later in the year.
