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56<br />
Love Your<br />
Lawn<br />
Look out of your window at your lawn and<br />
you’ll probably see that it has suddenly taken<br />
off and is growing rapidly. This means that<br />
now is the perfect time to get to grips with a<br />
bit of spring maintenance. True, your lawn<br />
will survive without it, but if you want it to<br />
look a good deal better than average, then get<br />
your skates on! In most areas temperatures<br />
should have evened up a little and the soil in<br />
beds, borders and under your lawn should<br />
hopefully not be wet and soggy.<br />
Grass needs regular mowing from now on; in some areas<br />
this may mean once a week, so make sure that the mower<br />
blades are good and sharp. On so-called utility lawns you<br />
will need to cut to about 2.5cm or 1”, while on higher<br />
grade smart lawns cut to about 1-1.5cm.<br />
Lawns benefit from a specially formulated spring feed at<br />
this time of year to encourage good strong growth and<br />
strengthen the grasses up after any winter setbacks. If you<br />
use a granular formulation, make sure that you water it in<br />
well if you cannot time the job so that the rain does this<br />
for you!<br />
Give yourself a bit of a workout too and scarify the<br />
lawn. This means using a spring-tined rake to pull out<br />
any accumulated debris or thatch from the base of the<br />
grasses. This allows for a better flow of moisture and air,<br />
thus ensuring that the grass grows stronger and more<br />
healthily.<br />
If your lawn has developed a lot of moss (especially<br />
likely if it has suffered compaction, is shaded or has been<br />
particularly wet), then apply a proprietary moss killer<br />
before scarifying. Use a combined feed and moss killer<br />
to save yourself time if you like, but whichever product<br />
you choose, make sure that you leave the specified time<br />
between applying the treatment and raking the dead<br />
moss out. If you don’t, the moss problem could become<br />
a lot worse, as you’ll spread the pieces of living moss as<br />
you rake.<br />
Worm casts may be there in abundance now too, so if<br />
necessary simply use a besom or brush to brush them<br />
away or distribute them over the lawn.<br />
Humps and bumps in the lawn or indeed any other sort<br />
of uneven surface can be dealt with now, but you will<br />
need to get this done promptly, just in case the weather<br />
gets hot and dry soon. A minor problem can be dealt with<br />
using a sandy top-dressing mixture, but if there are some<br />
prominent problems then use a sharp spade to cut an ‘H’<br />
shape over the bump or hollow. Now carefully peel back<br />
the turf and then remove or add soil as necessary before<br />
replacing the turf flaps, firming well and providing a good<br />
drink.<br />
It is also worth sorting out any stepping stones that<br />
have sunk too low or become uneven. Use a spade to<br />
ease them out of the lawn and lift and readjust the level<br />
beneath before replacing them.<br />
It may sound as if there’s a lot to do, but remember that<br />
every hour spent now will make a huge difference to how<br />
the lawn looks for the rest of the year!
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