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Seasonal Tips for Feb & Mar - Lawns

 

Time spent nurturing your lawn this spring will be richly rewarded as the season progresses. Winter weather can take its toll on the health of your lawn, so treat it to some tender loving care as soon as possible to rejuvenate the grass plants that make up the lawn and help it to perform to its full potential.


  • As the weather warms up the grass will start to grow more rapidly. Don’t be tempted to cut it if the soil is very wet or there is frost or snow on the ground. Be gentle with the first few cuts of the season and simply trim off the top third of growth, with the mower blades adjusted to their highest setting. Allow the lawn to recover for a few days and then cut again with the blades on a lower setting. At this time of year the lawn may only need cutting about once or twice a fortnight.
  • When you have cut the lawn if it is free from weeds and moss apply Aftercut Liquid Lawn Feed & Conditioner to the lawn as a tonic. This can be applied after mowing every 3-4 weeks from March until October and will boost the lawn and green up the grass quickly. It’s a lawn feed and conditioner that contains a blend of nutrients to support and sustain your lawn during the season. If the lawn is affected by weeds and moss then apply Lawn Weed Feed and Moss Killer (see below). For small patches of difficult weeds such as dandelion and daisies use Lawn Weed Killer a ready to use spot spray.
  • Make a check on the condition of the lawn, in particular for weeds and moss that may have invaded the lawn. It’s very important to keep these problems in check or they will take over the lawn completely. Weeds and moss actually compete with the grass for all the available nutrients and moisture. When these resources are in short supply it makes sense to ensure that it is your lawn that is getting them and not invading weeds and moss.
  • If moss is taking over the whole lawn then although killing it will make the lawn look better, you really need to deal with the underlying causes. A poorly fed lawn is unable to compete with moss for food and water, low nutrient levels in turn, encourage the growth of moss, so the problem is then compounded. If the lawn is poorly drained and compacted then this also encourages moss to grow and if it’s in shade too this creates the perfect conditions for moss to thrive. So if the lawn is shady then try to alleviate this by pruning overhanging trees. When you have dealt with the moss by treating it from March with Lawn Feed, Weed & Moss Killer, over-sow any bare patches or thin areas in shady spots with Shade Tolerant Lawn Seed. This is a special mixture that contains grass species adapted to grow in shady, difficult spots and is ideal for under trees.
  • Lawn Feed, Weed & Moss Killer will turn any moss in the lawn black after about 2-3 weeks. Rake out the dead moss and use the Lawn Repair Kit to treat the bare patches.
  • Compacted lawns can be aerated in spring if the soil is moist. You’ll know if your lawn is compacted because it will be rock hard, slow to drain after rainfall and may also have to bear heavy foot traffic. Paths across the lawn are often quick to compact. Opening up the structure of the soil improves the drainage around the grass roots and encourages healthy growth. Ideally you should remove plugs of soil using a hollow tine aerator and fill these with Lawn and Turf Dressing. You can also use a normal garden fork and push the tines into the soil to a depth of 7-10cm if possible and then brush Lawn Dressing into the holes. Lawn and Turf Dressing contains a mixture of 50% sand, 25% peat, 25% soil and fertiliser, which together add exactly the right ingredients to the soil for premium grass growth.
  • Gently scarify the lawn with a wire rake; this will remove any debris that has built up around the grass roots. Top-dress the lawn with Lawn and Turf Dressing, brushing it in with a stiff broom. This will improve the drainage and add a balanced fertiliser around the roots of your grass.
  • If the lawn is thinning, or there are many bare patches then over sow the whole lawn with an appropriate lawn seed mixture to suit your lawn and the existing conditions. For more information see Dream Lawns.
  • If the weather is cold, delay sowing new lawns from seed and repairing bare patches until April.
  • Recut the lawn edges with a half moon edging iron.

Other useful tips for this season:

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