Mowing	Apart from a regular feed and weed programme, mowing the grass correctly is one of the most important activities to improve your lawn. In our experience, grass is often cut too short, damaging the grass and creating a browner, weaker lawn. To create a thick, lush lawn, the ideal length for grass is 1inch to 1.5 inches. Cut no more than one third off the current height of the grass. Cutting more than a third can harm the grass, causing brown patches, as will cutting the lawn when it is wet or if the blade needs sharpening. By the way, you will not end up cutting the lawn more as the grasses energy goes into new shoots of grass rather than height!! If the grass is growing, keep mowing year round – weather permitting. So, please continue to cut the lawn to about 1inch to encourage the grass to grow thick and lush. Finally, if leaves fall onto the grass, they should be removed as soon as possible or they will damage the grass. Using a lawn mower at a raised height is a good way of lifting the leaves.

 

 

 

 

Watering	The golden rule is "heavy and infrequent". That means that you should water your lawn heavily every one to two weeks. In doing so, a water layer develops below ground that encourages the roots to grow deeper. Strong roots ensure a stronger, healthier grass.

 

 

 

 

Soil compaction and aeration	With ongoing use of your lawn, together with the impact of prolonged hot dry spells, the top layer of soil will become very firm. This restricts water and air flow, impacting grass development. Aeration (spiking holes in the ground many thousands of times) overcomes this problem and should be performed at least once a year. This can be achieved by using a garden fork, but can be hard work as you need to go into the soil a few inches. Alternatively, you can hire a machine or contact us to schedule an appointment. We offer very competitive rates, use the worlds finest machines and offer various forms of aeration (hollow, solid and chisel tines) depending on the specific requirements of your lawn.

 

 

 

 

Thatch and scarification	Over time, debris such as dead grass stems and crowns builds-up on the surface of the soil. This restricts air and water flow, limited the grasses ability to develop and creating damp areas that encourage moss. Each year, the thatch layer should be raked to keep it at an acceptable level (quarter of an inch). This can be achieved by using a garden rake or by using a machine called a scarifier. This machine can be hired or LawnTender can scarify your lawn using one of the markets leading scarifiers. If your lawn has not been scarified for some years, there may be a layer of sub-soil thatch. This can be removed by using a powerful aerator fitted with hollow-tines, such as those used by LawnTender.

 

 

 

 

Insects	Late summer sees pests such as the crane fly (daddy longlegs) laying eggs in the lawn that will have hatched during autumn. Over the winter the grubs feed on the grass roots, resulting in dead patches in late autumn or early spring. At the first sign of small brown patches on your lawn, contact us for a free assessment.

 

 

 

 

Disease	During autumn, your lawn is at risk from various fungal diseases. This can be treated with specialist fungicides, so let us know if you see signs of discolouration or damage to the blades of the grass in patches of your lawn. We will come to assess the cause and discuss the treatment.

 

 

 

 

Feeding	Lawns should be fed year round with a high quality, balanced fertiliser. Ideally, these should be non-scorch fertilisers that do not need to be watered within a few days. The grass in your lawn requires a variety of nutrients throughout the year, the primary ones being nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). When buying fertiliser, check the balance/level of nutrients – this will be the NPK information on the bag. For example, an NPK of 25-10-15 will mean that the bag contains 25 % nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 15% potassium. Therefore, in a 20KG bag, 5KG will be nitrogen! In general terms, Nitrogen improves the growth and colour of the grass blades; Phosphorus helps develop strong root growth and Potassium helps protect against disease as well as developing overall hardiness. Typically, fertilisers purchased in garden centres, etc will contain low levels of NPK and tend to provide surge growth to the grass – which is not really desirable and not long lasting. They will also generally need to be watered into the lawn within 3 days. As part of our service, we provide the correct balance of feeds for each season. Our feeds are non-scorch, do not need to be watered in and will last for about 10 weeks without any surge growth.

 

 

 

 

Weed control	There will be thousands of weeds "sleeping" in the soil of your garden and many more thousands looking for an opportunity to jump over your fence and into your lawn! In addition, there will be the weeds already growing in the lawn. The key is to apply an effective selective weed control regularly during the growing season to kill the visible weeds, as well as have a healthy lush lawn. If the grass is in poor condition (lack of feed, mown too low, etc) it enables the weeds to develop and also new weed seeds to gain. Not all weeds will die instantly and may require further treatments during the year. Patience and persistence is key! Weed killers should be applied (and stored) with caution – always read the label and take notice and the safety precautions. If your gardener applies the weed killers for you, they should be NPTC certified by law. The LawnTender service addressed weed control in two ways – by developing a strong healthy lawn and by killing the weeds with a high quality selective weed killer applied by NPTC certified operators.

 

 

 

 

Moss	In general terms, moss will form where there is a persistently damp area on the lawn. This can be found on poorly drained lawns, where there are bare patches (potentially due to mowing too low) of firm ground where water is retained or where there is a build-up of thatch. Thatch – which is debris in the lawn formed by items such as dead grass stems, weak grass, lateral growing grass, etc – is a common problem. The thatch retains water, forming a moist area of ground ideal for moss infestations. If shaded from the sun, these patches can remain damp year round, forming unsightly and damaging heavy moss areas on your lawn. Although using a moss killer is popular, the key is to first target the cause or the moss will keep returning. Bare patches should be seeded as soon as possible. To remove the thatch build-up, the lawn should be raked by hand or by using a machine called a scarifier. To improve drainage, the ground should be spiked with a fork or by using a machine called an aerator. Once completed, any moss left will gradually die as the temperatures increase. Most importantly, when these activities are completed the lawn should be regularly mown at about 1 inch high to help develop a thick, lush lawn. LawnTender provide a full moss control service, continually assessing your lawn for signs of moss and the causes for its development. We used the very best scarifiers, aerators and moss controls to both address this problem and ensure the reasons for it do not have an opportunity to develop and allow its return.

 

To arrange a FREE assessment, please contact us or call 01672 851581