Let us help you put a spring in your lawn’s step
The Spring treatment will give the lawn a boost after the cold winter to include: Slow Release Fertiliser, Moss Control & Worm Cast Control
Spring
March - May
March - May
The Spring treatment will give the lawn a boost after the cold winter to include: Slow Release Fertiliser, Moss Control & Worm Cast Control
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.
Read moreMoss 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.
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.
Read moreSquashed worm casts make an ideal growing medium for moss and weed spores/seeds. The casts will add a lot of sticky soil to the lawn’s surface making it bumpy and uneven and quickly smother the turf grasses.
The treatment prevents the worms casting for a 20 days and reduces the muddy surface. Repeat every 20 days at 1/3rd of the initial dose rate.
How we can help bring your Spring lawn back to life
If your lawn is way past its best, the existing lawns’ surface may need stripping off and starting over again. More often than not, the lawn can be renovated without major levelling and soil input by following a Lawn Renovation Process. You may not currently have a lawn and wish to construct a new one, utilising either turf or grass seed.
Whether you are opting for a new lawn via turf or seed, the process of construction is pretty much the same but turf will provide more instant results. Do not be fooled into thinking that once you have a nice new lawn that you can forget about it! The minimum requirement is always fertilising the lawn every three months and reacting to control and weeds, moss and disease and to encourage healthy and dense grasses throughout the year. You should allow a project budget of at least 25% for growing in and after-care for the next 12 months.
New lawns can often get an attack of Fusarium Disease and an outbreak is not the fault of the turf grower nor landscaper or installer – welcome to real grass and real grass problems! Newly laid lawns, whether turf or seed, can quickly become thin with constant use and it is easier to over seed an existing but thinning lawn than to construct it again. London or City lawns will always struggle for an ideal balance of light, shade, water and wear which when in equilibrium, provide ideal lawn growing conditions
We have project managed really small lawn construction jobs up to and including country estates so whatever the size of your lawn, we should be able to assist you so long as we are realistically able to service your geographical location. It may be that you start the process of a booking a Lawn Consultancy visit as this can save you budget, time and growing a lawn pains on the project.
Please email sales@lawn.co.uk with as much detail as possible including size in square metres and some bullet points as to the problem/request and we can provide some sample costings for your consideration based upon past experiences.
Scarification assists in the removal of the dead grass leaves that will turn into thatch.
The older turf grass leaves will naturally fall off the turf grass plant with new ones emerging and these old leaves will drop down into the turf sward and build up as leaf litter debris if not collected by the suction action of the mowing process.
The scarifying process should be performed in the Autumn and Spring periods and as part of a complete renovation programme and in the normal lawn growing season, not outside it. For routine scarifying, little and often in different directions is the best method to adopt for a domestic lawn.
Most Scarifying machines have solid / rigid metal blades and these can be quite rough on the lawn’s surface if not used correctly and at the incorrect time of the year. There are also wire comb reels that are great for a light clean up following the winter on better quality lawns and croquet lawns and tennis courts for example.
It’s always best to mow the lawn in multi directions ahead of scarifying as this will reduce the vegetative volume of grass and make it much easier for the Scarifer to do it’s best on the day.
Clear the Scarifier debris with a rake or blower, working in the direction the machine last travelled and then mow the lawn afterwards to tidy it up and collect any debris that was missed during the clear up operation.
Aerate after Scarifying. The lawn should be fertilised and then over-sown with grass seed following ahead of any top dressing to restore the micro levels.
Aeration aids root development, air percolation, drainage and allows the roots to breathe.
It should be performed in the Spring and Autumn periods and also as part of a complete renovation programme.
Whether you use a pair of aerating shoes, a garden fork or a mechanical aerator, the important aspect is to aerate with what you have available or can hire in as doing nothing will not help the lawn one bit.
The majority of lawns require deep solid tine aeration, and then hollow tining every 3 to 4 years to assist in thatch reduction. You can also use over seeding tines and chisel tines.
Total Weed Control of weeds and weed grasses on non crop areas like pathways and driveways can be performed at any time during the growing season.
Total weed killers can come with many different modes of action and as a result are applied at varying times throughout the year. There are three main classifications of total weed killers – Contact, Systemic and Residual.
Contact weed killers, those containing the active ingredient of Diquat also written as Diquat dibromide, Westland Resolva 24H Concentrate is one god example that will kill the weed upon contact by quickly turning the weed foliage black. You may remember the total weed killer Paraquat doing a similar task. Apply Contact weed killers in the growing season when weeds are present. Diquat may be joined in a control product by a Systemic weed killer such as Diflufenican or Glyphosate also written as Glyphosate diammonium. Glyphosate stops the plant producing chlorophyll and treated weed grasses will turn a pink colour a week or so following application before total death. Weeds will take a bit longer to fully die.
Apply Systemic, also called Translocated weed killers in the growing season so as early as March to end of November but ideally April to September when what you want to kill is actively growing. Systemic weed killers will kill what is there at the time and a repeat application may be required some 3 months following the first application to keep the area weed free.
The last group of total weed killers are Residual weed killers, applied usually to cold soils in the non-growing season as a blanket spray (all over) to prevent weed growth in the usual growing season occurring. The active ingredients are held in the soil for a few months and form a proactive barrier killing germinating weeds and grasses before they mature. Active ingredients will include Diflufenican, Oxidaizon. Residual weed killers often have some Glyphosate in the mix to pick up on any green vegetation present in the area at the time of the application. Gardeners make the mistake of only applying Residual weed killers in the growing season months of April to September when ideally they work better going forward if applied in November to March when soils are traditionally much colder. The active ingredients naturally break down in drier and warmer soils into harmless elements. It is an odd concept weed killing a gravel driveway when there are no weeds present but give it a go and this winter apply your weed killer containing the active ingredient of Diflufenican or Oxidaizon and you will visibly note a vast reduction of weeds coming through in the spring.
A typical weed control programme for gravel & non crop areas:
Jan/Feb – Apply Residual Weed Killer as blanket spray (all over) to cold soils to form a residual barrier in the soil to prevent pre germinated weeds and grasses. Even if weeds are not present. Weedol PathClear
May/June – Apply Systemic Glyphosate based product as blanket spray or spot spray to provide translocated weed control to weeds and grasses. Repeat after 6 weeks if control not achieved of tougher weeds like Ground Elder and Brambles/Nettles Weedol Ultra Tough Weed Killer Concentrate
August/Sept/October – Apply Systemic Glyphosate based product as blanket spray or spot spray to provide translocated weed control to weeds and grasses Weedol Ultra Tough Weed Killer Concentrate
Repeat annually. The important one is the Jan/Feb residual barrier spray treatment
How many times have you battled with trying to guess where you have or have not treated using a garden sprayer on your driveway or lawn?
Indigo Garden Spray Dye is a clever granule that is mixed into a garden sprayer containing your chosen treatment spray solution. When you start spraying your lawn or driveway etc, Indigo will literally provide a temporary visible spray pattern to show where you have or have not treated / sprayed. It will save you time, money, treatment product, effort and the guess-work when you make your next lawn treatment or driveway treatment. You can buy Indigo Garden Spray Dye in the Shop.
Worm Casts should be controlled in the period Autumn to Spring when they are active in the upper root zone.
The treatment product CastClear prevents the Earthworms casting for a 20 day period but does not stop them naturally aerating the soil beneath the grass. Repeat every 20 days at 1/3rd of the initial dose rate.
Squashed Worm casts make an ideal growing medium for moss and weed spores/seeds.
As the soil air to water ratio changes in the more traditional autumn months, you will notice an increase in lawn soil cast activity. The wetter the Autumn or Winter, the greater the Worm activity will be.
The root zone of the lawn will become spongy as the Worms undermine the upper surface and mowing will become difficult, especially with a cylinder mower. The use of the lawn will diminish as a result of the soil casts on the surface making the lawn uneven, bumpy and also muddy.
See the Technical Leaflet in the Download section of this site to discover more about Worm Casts.
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