april
April Lawncare Jobs
- by John Quinn, Master Greenkeeper
April is the month that things finally get moving in the garden, although the further north you live the less likely it is that you will be seeing much in the way of growth yet. However, very soon the lawn will want to wake up and we must be ready to help it along the way. Remember if the lawn gets away from you at this stage, it is a lot harder to produce a fine summer lawn later.
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Here are April’s lawn care tips from Greenmaster’s Managing Director and Master Greenkeeper John Quinn.
April Lawncare Jobs
April is the month that things finally get moving in the garden, although the further north you live the less likely it is that you will be seeing much in the way of growth yet. However, very soon the lawn will want to wake up and we must be ready to help it along the way. Remember if the lawn gets away from you at this stage, it is a lot harder to produce a fine summer lawn later.
Moss
Some further treatment of moss may be required. Actively growing grass is a very good combatant of moss and by combining encouragement of early growth with moss control we can start to tip the balance in favour of the grass plants. Lawn-sand (containing Ferrous Sulphate) is still the best bet for moss control, preferably followed by scarifying after 7 to 10 days to remove dead moss and thatch.
Nutrition
An early granular feed will be welcomed by the lawn now. Ask Angus for a recommendation which doesn’t have too much quick release Nitrogen (N), a little Phosphorus for good root development (P) and some Potassium (K).
Weeds
Towards the end of April it is time to keep an eye open for weed ingress. Those of you with worm casting problems will probably suffer from daisies filling in the bare patches. Make sure that weeds and grass are growing vigorously before spot treating weeds with a selective weed-killer. You can fill in any bare patches that remain with seed and soil mix.
Mowing
Double check your mower before starting the mowing season. Ensure that blades are sharp and well adjusted. Find a local “saw doctor” in the yellow pages that can grind and balance your blades. Mow as often as necessary to stop the grass growth leaving you behind, remembering that we never take off more than a third of the leaf at any one time. Decide on your height of cut and don’t let the grass get too far ahead of this before mowing again.
Rolling
Another light roll will improve levels especially where heave has been experienced from late frosts. Those of you using a cylinder mower for cutting could pop a couple of bricks in the grass box for extra weight and roll without mowing if required.
Edging and Repairing
You can still re-visit turfing jobs and carry out any final repairs and fill cracks with seed and soil mixture. Remember that we are now moving into the high risk period for turfing, so access to water must be secured before attempting any turfing projects. You should notice that repairs are really starting to knit together well now and new turf is putting down lots of white roots.
Next Month:
Weed identification, soil moisture/dry patch and nutrition management for great grass.