Lazy Man’s Lawn Care Guide
You may have neither the time nor inclination to look after a lawn that looks like a putting green, but having said that, if you’ve got grass then you want it to look healthy. Your Grass is a plant just like any other perennial in your garden, and so it needs a bit of care and attention to be able to grow and thrive and show itself off to your neighbours!
Lawn Care demands regular mowing throughout the growing season, and regular accurate application of a good Lawn Fertilizer. Start mowing in late spring when you can see new growth. Set the cut between 1.5 – 2,5cm high. Cut once or twice a week depending on the rate of growth. As growth slows during autumn, cut less often and rarely in winter, and never when it’s frosty.
There are a number of Lawn Care products on the market for “Feeding” or “Weeding”. Most are in pellet form and if you don’t apply it evenly you may get uneven colour and feeding. You must apply these pellet fertilizers just before it rains as there’s a risk that you’re grass may ‘burn’ as the pellets [spin]remaining|resting[/spin on the leaves scorch the foliage if the sun is strong.
To avoid this risk you need to use a Quality Grass Fertilizer. You should start feeding your lawn at 4 to 6 week intervals beginning in March through to October. Use Superspray type Lawn Sprayers to apply the Lawn Fertilizer to your lawn. Connected to your hose pipe, this sprayer mixes the concentrated Lawn Fertilizer as you spray. It’s much easier to get a more even feed with less effort, it’s not as time consuming and there’s no risk of scorching either. It’s better if you feed either early morning or late evening to minimise evaporation.
When it comes to weeding you’ll see that regular cutting along with regular accurate application of a Quality Lawn Fertilizer will discourage or even get rid of most of the moss algae and weeds that begin to take over when your lawn is undernourished.
If you look at your lawn the most obvious weeds are the bigger broad leaved varieties like Dandelion, plantains and such. Cutting & Feeding your grass will eventually get rid of these, but if you can’t wait; you can just dig these out with a long blade knife but you’re then left with a small bare patch that if not grassed will become home to another weed.
Here’s a great idea for you! Next time you’re in the Garden Centre, look out for the pot carrying trays which the plants are standing in. Garden Centres usually throw these trays away and so can be “free” for the asking. Look for one with the circles about 8cm across. Fill these with seed compost and sow grass seed in each circle. Very soon you’ll have a little circle of grass ideal for making an instant repair after removing the offending weed. The turfs can last as long as you want them to; just keep cutting with scissors.