Aerate

Aeration aids root development, air percolation, root pruning and drainage. Aeration is the process of making holes in the lawns surface. The action of aerating will let the stale Carbon Dioxide air out of the soil and the fresh Oxygen rich air into the soil. The action of aerating will also stimulate and encourage root growth. The majority of UK lawns require regular and deep solid tine aeration, not hollow tining that so many lawn care companies adopt as the norm.

Disease

There many Lawn Diseases. Weed grasses, are also prone to Disease more frequently. The majority of Lawn Diseases rely on a Disease triangle consisting of Pathogen / Host / Environment. It is mostly the environment of which we have little control over that changes; resulting in Disease appearing to include: temperature, soil moisture, air moisture, shade, drought. Such lawn / turf diseases may include the very common Red Thread in the growing months, Fusarium in the lesser growing months, Fairy Rings in early Autumn and also Rusts and Smuts. There are numerous diseases of new seedling grasses.

Fertilise

An application of a slow phased release granular fertiliser with a nutrient analysis appropriate to the time of the year. The nutrients in the fertiliser will be released over a period of 8 – 12 weeks, thus providing a steady supply of food to the turf grasses to get them out of the winter doldrums and to keep them fit and healthy without the production of excessive vegetative growth. You can fertilise your lawn as soon as you commence mowing it and also straight after you have mowed but do not mow three – five days after applying fertiliser otherwise it may end up in the mower collector box. Alway fertilise your lawn ahead of applying a selective weed killer. You can use a Spring and Summer fertiliser product at half rate as an Autumn and Winter fertiliser, as the technology of such products is so good, the nutrients will stop releasing when the weather turns colder and start again when it warms up.

Moss

Moss should be controlled in the early spring and once the lawn has received it’s first mowing with the view of eradicating what we refer to as winter moss.
Moss can be controlled just ahead of a lawn renovation programme when the lawn is completely over-sown with grass seed. If your lawn has too more moss than grass in it, plan to renovate it.

Mow

Mowing can make or break a lawn, even a newly constructed or renovated lawn. Turf grasses will grow all year round, not at the same rate each week or month but even when you think that you should stop mowing for the winter. The timing of the peak growing months is really dependent on the prevailing weather and in some months you will be mowing weekly or twice weekly and in the lesser growing months just once a month. Mowing depends upon the ground conditions and prevailing weather too.

Pest

The are many lawn pests, most of which will be under the turf, eating the grass roots. Chafer Beetle and Leatherjacket Larvae will literally strip a lawn bare of grass cover and sadly, there are no pesticide control products to control them. Your only option is to go for Biological control using Nematode worms which seek out their specific host and eliminate them.

Renovate

Any Lawn Renovation Programme will involve the Client performing a few tasks before, during and after the process and it is important to then go onto a programme of feeding afterwards so as to give the renovated lawn the best possible chance to develop into a great lawn! The lawn will be initially treated for weeds or killed off totally. After two weeks the lawn will be mown really short by the Client.

Scarify

Scarification assists in the removal of the dead grass leaves that will turn into thatch.
The process should be performed in the Autumn and Spring periods and as part of a complete renovation programme but always in the growing season so as natural regeneration and recover can occur, never in the winter.
A lawn should always be over seeded with new seed after scarification.

Seed

Turf grasses on lawns do not last forever, pretty much like a shrub in the garden. If a lawn is not ‘pruned’ (mown) at the appropriate time, the density of the lawn will become thin and sparse giving rise to the ingress of weeds and moss. A lawn should always be over-seeded after Scarification and when it shows natural signs of thinning throughout the year. Grass Seed is per square metre, a very cost effective product in improving a lawn either as part of a new construction or renovation so do not be shy to over-seed your lawn if it looks like it needs some. Don’t expect your newly sown grass seed to germinate overnight! Be patient. About two to three weeks to germinate and then just over a week to ten days for each additional leaf stage up to four leaves and then a few more weeks to get to five or six leaf stages. Count the leaves. Mow at 4 leaves and no more than 25% of the height at any one time.

Top Dress

Top Dressing a lawn is the term used to describe the careful application of a loam, sand or soil conditioner material to the surface of a lawn to restore the micro levels. The term is often confused with a Fertiliser application as a ‘dressing’. Top dressing is typically applied in the spring and autumn after scarification, aeration, over seeding and renovation when around 8mm or 1/4 of an inch of material is applied and worked into the lawns’ surface.

Turfing

If you do not have time to wait for grass seed to grow, opt for turf. It can be more expensive per square metre than seed but the end result is really worth the increase in budget and you get an immediate visual. Like seed, you will have to be a little patient and wait for the newly laid turves to knit together and there is a greater need for watering to prevent shrinkage in the more traditional dryer months.

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Water

Quality, not quantity is the key. When and how much water should you give your lawn in the summer months? Should you water your lawns or not in the dry summer? We can also get dry Springs and Autumns. The natural water loss from the lawn can be 7mm per hour when the temperature is 29 degrees and 4mm per hour when it is 24 degrees. We say no, don’t bother and water your plants instead before there is a hosepipe ban.

Weed

A healthy lawns should not have any weeds in it. Weeds compete for vital water with the turf grasses plus they look unsightly and grow faster than the grasses. Some larger rosette weeds can be easily dug out but the finer weeds are best sprayed with a Selective Weed Killer with a garden sprayer. Always apply a liquid or granular weed killer a few days after mowing and do not mow for a few days after, longer if you can.