16:02 - 07 September 2010
When the lawn is neat and healthy it transforms the look of the whole garden. After a summer of heat waves, torrential rain and everything in between, the garden lawn has truly had a lot to endure. It might be looking green after the start of the autumn rain, but the constant changing weather will already have taken its toll.
Take a close look at what makes up your lawn. Is it green because it is mossy? Have weeds taken advantage of the vagaries of the weather and invaded your grassy sward? Or maybe games of football, hoards of visitors or other factors have simply worn patches in your carpet of green? If so don’t despair, for every problem there is a solution.
Autumn Feed
Every lawn needs an autumn feed to boost it before the onset of winter. Of course your lawn will survive without one, but if you want to ensure it will thrive through the harsh winter conditions and be ready to spurt into growth next spring, treat it to a dedicated autumn feed. Don’t be tempted to simply use up some old summer lawn feed lying in the shed; it will do more harm than good summer feed contains high levels of nitrogen fertiliser to encourage your lawn to grow soft sappy spring like growth that won’t fare well over the winter. Autumn lawn feed is not a con. It is specially designed to provide your lawn with the correct nutrients to boost root growth and gently nurture strong, but not sappy leaf formation that will sustain your lawn through the difficult months ahead.
Moss Control
Moss thrives in low nutrient conditions, so simply by feeding the lawn you can actually create a growing environment that doesn’t encourage moss. But if a healthy moss population already occupies your lawn you do need to tackle it. Seize the opportunity to feed your lawn and deal with moss at the same time by applying a double action lawn food, with moss killer.
In order to have good control of moss you need to alleviate the conditions that encourage it. If there are overhanging trees and shrubs creating extensive shade, look at pruning these to let some light it. Aerate the lawn to improve drainage and prevent waterlogging and feed with a dedicated autumn feed to raise the nutrient levels.
New Lawns
Autumn is by far the best time to create a new lawn. Laying turf is the quickest way to create a quality garden lawn. Alternatively you can choose to grow a new lawn from seed. The main benefits are the cost, seed is much cheaper than turf and you also have more control over the grass mixture, so you can select a lawn mix to suit your growing conditions.
Lawn Repairs
When the lawn is worn in places or simply in need of some attention around the edges, it's not a difficult task to carry out repairs. Tackle each area depending on its position.
Worn lawn edges
There are two ways to tackle this problem, you can either re-cut the lawn edges removing the offending edge completely, or if the damage is limited to a smaller area, simply cut out a 'turf' sized section including the damaged area. Lift the 'turf' and rotate it 180 degrees so that the freshly cut edge lines up with the existing lawn and a new clean edge is formed. The worn patch will now be within the main lawn and can be easily reseeded.
Bare patches
Simply work over the exposed soil, loosening the surface and removing the weeds. Break up any clumps of soil and add some topsoil to improve the seedbed. Scatter the lawn seed lightly but evenly over the area. Water gently to avoid washing the seed away and keep moist.
Alternatively sow grass seed into a seed-tray filled with topsoil. Water well and lightly trim the emerging grass every week to ten days until it is well established. Tip out this individual turf and use it to repair damaged areas of the lawn.
Thinning lawns
A lawn that is a bit thin on top can be quickly and effectively rejuvenated by the application of more lawn seed. This is called over-seeding and is especially useful if you find the lawn quite depleted after dealing with moss and weed problems.
Poor Drainage
A well-trodden lawn, or grass on heavy clay soil can quickly become compacted. In hot weather the surface bakes hard and can crack. Water does not drain freely and puddles form on the surface. Waterlogged soil is bad news for the health of the lawn. It is simple to alleviate in most circumstances but does require some effort. The most effective solution is to use a hollow tined aerator to remove soil cores from the lawn. Brush topsoil or lawn dressing into the resulting holes and repeat annually until the problem improves. The best time to do this is when the ground is moist in early summer or autumn.
