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Basic Lawn Care - Mowing,
Scarifiers, Aeration, and Watering Tips
The arrival of summer
heralds a time of increased wear and tear
for the average garden lawn. Children's
yard games, barbecue parties, outdoor
sports and generally more activity in the
garden means your lawn is set to come in
for something of a beating and without a
little TLC is likely to start showing
more than a little worse for wear. Stomp
all over any living thing and it doesn't
respond too kindly but with a little
help, your lawn can remain looking great
all through summer and beyond!
Fertiziler
For a lusher, healthier, faster-growing
lawn you can't beat a bit of fertilizer.
Test your soil type and choose a
fertilizer to compliment this for best
results. Most lawns will benefit from
around three to four fertilizer
applications through the year, with the
first around a month before the start of
the growinf season to give your grass a
kickstart and then up to three more with
approximately a two month gap in between
applications can give good results. You
can either spread the fertilizer by hand
if you have a smaller lawn area to cover
or use a specialist spreader tool for
more even coverage, using a drop spreader
for small lawns or a rotary/broadcase
spreader for bigger areas.
After fertilizing it is generally a good
idea to water-in the fertilizer or plan
on adding fertilizer before an expected
rainfall unless otherwise stated in the
usage instructions. The important thing
with fertiliser is to follow the
manufacturer guidelines and not be
tempted to over-do it. An excessive
application of fertiliser is not a good
thing and can lead to fungus, over-growth
and weakness. Keep to the guidelines and
you'll get that lush, thick green grass
you wanted.
Watering
If you live in a hot climate or dry
region, and particularly during the
summer months then regular watering of
your lawn is important. The best time to
water a lawn is early in the morning or
late in the afternoon to achieve the best
results. Avoiding evening watering is
advised as soaking grass over night can
increase the risk of lawn diseases and
mid-day watering when the sun is hottest
increases evaporation and water wastage.
Excessive watering is also something to
avoid and ensure if you use a sprinkler
you do actually get out there and move it
around rather than allowing large puddles
to form whilst other regions of the lawn
area remain dry. Too much surface lying
water can starve the roots of oxygen and
lead to the same symptoms (leaf rolling)
as lack of water.
It is important to know when to water
rather than just watering because you
think a lawn needs watering. There are a
few basic tests you can do to know if
your lawn needs irrigation. Look for leaf
rolling and curling and the slightly
blue/purple tinge which comes when grass
is being starved of moisture. Also, try
the foot print test. Stepping on a
healthy lawn should see it spring back
into position quickly but if your lawn is
slow to react then it's time to add more
water.
Lawn Mowing
The key thing to remember here is that
the object of mowing a lawn is lawn
"mowing" not lawn
"scalping"! To take good care
of your lawn you need to make sure you
are mowing with sharp lawn mower blades
so you cut rather than rip at the grass
and ensure you do not set the blades at
too low a level as you do not want to cut
it back lower than is recommended for
your particular species of grass. Cutting
too low on a regular basis is the easiest
way to do lasting damage to your lawn.
If your lawn has become too overgrown
then do two or more passes with your
mower rather than trying to take it right
down to a desirable length straight away
and never cut grass when it is wet. Grass
clippings may be left or raked as you
please if you do not have a lawn mower
with a grass collector. Left clippings do
not automatically lead to thatch, this is
only occurs when there is too much dead
organic matter to be broken down and a
few clippings actually add nutrients back
into the soil.
Edges are something lawn mowers can not
handle but a simple pair of long handled
shears will make short work of tidying
them up. Strimmers are a simple solution
for cutting around obstacles such as
trees and immovable garden structures.
Aerating Your Lawn
Grass is a living thing and like all
living things it flourishes better when
it is able to breath easy and get easy
access to food and water. Aeration of
your lawn is important as it allows
water, oxygen and fertilizer to penetrate
more easily through to the roots and
improves drainage. If your garden is
being regularly used then the ground will
begin to suffer from soil compaction.
When this happens, drainage is reduced
and it becomes more difficult for roots
to dig down deeper into the soil. The
natural activities of earthworms and
other subterranean insects and wildlife
help break up the soil but compacted
earth can always do with a helping hand.
Basic lawn aeration is very simple to
achieve with the help of a simple garden
fork. Just drive the fork into the earth
at regular intervals to do the job. For
bigger garden areas or for more effective
aeration you can buy or hire specialised
lawn aeration tools which are basically
spiked or bladed rollers either motorised
or hand driven.
An aerator should be used in the autumn
months to loosen compact soil after its
summer beating.
Dethatching and Scarification
Scarifying or raking your lawn to remove
dead and decaying matter which may choke
and hinder water and nutrients reaching
the soil is an essential part of a good
spring and autumn lawn maintenance
routine. Raking removes thatch, the
accumulation of dead and decaying organic
matter like leaves and old grass
clippings from around the base of the
grass stems. This scarification improves
drainage and enables increased amounts of
water and air to penetrate down to the
roots as well as reducing the chances of
lawn disease occuring. Before detatching
a lawn you should ensure there is no moss
growing there as this process will only
help spread the moss around. Kill the
moss first with a specialised moss killer
found at good garden centers and then
scarify the lawn. Scarifying a lawn may
be performed manually by raking whilst
for larger lawns it might be recommended
to use a power lawn scarifier machine
which can be hired or bought for the
purpose.
Removing Worm Casts
Worms are the gardener's best
friend...unless your lawn is your pride
and joy. Worm casts are those unsightly
piles of mud which appear on the surface
of your lawn and left to their own
devices may encourage moss and weed
growth. Removal is simple during dry
weather, just wait until they are dry and
brush or rake them away but during
prolonged wet periods you may just have
to put up with them. Use of acidic
fertilizers may discourage worms from
coming to the surface but for most
gardeners just consider worms are your
friend, they help aerate the soil and
drag organic matter from the soil surface
into their burrows thus making the soil a
richer growing environment.
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