Lawn Care

Spring  Lawn  care.

Feeding

Now  that  the  warm  weather  is  here  it  time  to  look  after  your  lawn   and put  back  what  this  wet  few  months  have  taken  away from  it  all.

The  signs  to  look  out  are  as  follows  :-

• Is  your  grass  getting   a  bit anaemic

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This  can  caused  by  two  things   :-

1. The  grass  could  be  too  long  still  and  the  shoots  aren’t  getting  another  light – If  that  is  the  case  then  all  you  got  to  do  is  make  sure  the  strands  stand  up

A process  we  call  in  the  trade  as  verticuting  or  tilling   

• . This process   not  only  makes  it  easier  to  cut  on  fine  grasses  but  also  gets  rids  off  excess  moss  and  thatch   that  will  eventually  clot  your  mower.
• This  can  either  be  done  manually  with  a  wire  rake  on  small  lawns  or  with  a  mechanical  or  electric  lawn  rakes   for  big

lawns

 

 

 

• In  cases  of  long  grass  its  best  to  use  a  power  trimmer  and  continue  raking  it  and  cutting  it    until its  the  right  length. (  bear  in  mind  that  afterwards  you  will  get   have  nothing  but

1. yellow  storks  at  the  end  of  if  it ,This  may  look  unsightly   as  it  just  the  storks  showing   but  after  a  feeding  regime  and  watering. with  in a  few  weeks  young  green  shoots  should  appear.)

The  only  disadvantages  is  that  it  does  leave  your  grass  looking  a  bit  scruffy   as  the  picture  bellow  slow

After the lawn rake

lawn being raked by lawn rake

 

 

If these  do  not  apply  to  you  then  go  to  step

• (2) OK  so  the  only  thing that’s  upsetting  your  grass  is  a    fungus  called  yellow  spot.

Then the treatment is to apply a fungicide mixed with nitrate to green the grass

Feeding  the  Lawn  

Not  long  ago  the  general  rule  was  to  feed  the  grass  3  days  before  you  cut     or  three  days  after  this  was  so  that  the  feed  wont  scorch  the  newly  cut  grass.

But  now  there  are  After  cut  on  the  markets  so  you  can  cut  and  feed  the  lawn    at  the  same  time .  the  only  difference  is  the  price .The brands to look for are the ones with high nitrogen ratio content.
These are then measured out and dispersed by the use of a hopper see picture opposite. After  wards   leave  for  3  days  or  until  the  Moss  & weeds  have  died  or  turned   black  in  some  cases  then  rake  it    either  with  a  rake   or  scarifier.

See  above  on  Verticuting  or  tilling

A Bosh electric lawn rake

 

 

Next  thing  to  do  is  to  reseed  any   patches  that  you  left  when  you  raked   the  lawn.
This can either be done by hand ( I  go by the Golden rule to allow for Birds and poor germination and mix up twice as you would recommended by the packet  a  30 grams  to  metre square ).

Lawn fertilizer and seed spreader

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then a good helping of lawn top soil you then spread it evenly into the grass, As  with  fertilizers  you  now  can  get  pre-germinated  seedling  that  have  all  ready  been  treated to  start  germinating  therefore  giving  less  for  the  birds  to  eat as  they don’t  eat  grass  shoots.
However these seeds have to mixed with fine sand to separate the seeds.

All  this  preparation  is  best  carried  out  in  Spring  before  the  weather  gets  to hot  and  there  a  chance  of  rain

Since  I  wrote  this  article  there  has  been  some  recent  developments  in  feeding  techniques  and  mowing.  Since  now  We  are  going  towards  the  trends  of  Organics  now.

The  first  way  is  by  using    a  machine  called  a  mulcher, basically  this  machines  the  grass  so  finely  that  it  doesn’t  need  a  bucket  and  thus  cuts  out  the  need  of  composting  or  taking  the  grass  cutting  to  a  dump.
How ever since I haven’t used them since I started gardening.I cant give My views on it. all I can say  is  it  will  only  work  if  the  grass  is  short

 

Related articles

• Lawn Doctor Offers Expert Tips for Spring Lawn Care (prweb.com)
• Fall Lawn Care (planitdiy.com)
• 5 Easy Tips For Better Lawn Care And Maintenance
• http://www.mountfieldlawnmowers.co.uk/lawn-mower-buying-guide/mulching-lawn-mowers
• http://landscapehub.co.uk/group/maintenance-group/forum/topics/to-use-a-mulcher-or-not-to-use-a-mulcher