Spring Lawn Care
I wanted to zero-base this month on what you are looking for before we decide what you need to do.
We are about to enter the season when most of us are finally going to make use of these lawns which we care for all year round.
We will be looking for thick, green lawns, tough enough to withstand the high use of the summer and the potential drought conditions that may just be round the corner. Some of you will be looking for top quality lawns, even bowling or golf greens. The general principles of maintenance are the same, although with higher quality lawns, you will do more of everything. (more fertiliser, cutting and watering). Achieving a thick sward is the most important factor since this helps to control both wear and the weeds. Thick grass is a function of more grass plants and thicker, well tillered grass. In this bulletin we will discuss how to optimise these factors.
You have hopefully all carried out your autumn renovations and sharpened and serviced your mower.
Mowing Strategy
Firstly you will all have started mowing by now, so what strategies will be correct this year with the exceptional long term weather forecast (dry and hot apparently).
Well, as always, the less length you cut off each time and the more often you cut the better, for the following reasons. Cutting little and often will allow you to forget about boxing off the clippings as they will be small enough to fall through the grass and rot away (remember that grass clippings do not add to your thatch, in fact they can help the breakdown of thatch) It is also less stressful for the plant as it less of a shock each time.
The more often you cut, the more the plant will branch (tiller) and so thicken up. Remember to check that your sharpening has been successful. 2-3 days after mowing, get down on your hand and knees and inspect the most recently cut leaves. The cutting scar should be well healed and reasonably narrow and straight. If the edge of the grass is tattered or the cut is broad and dark brown, then this indicates lack of sharpness or poor adjustment. The longer the scar takes to heal, the more moisture you will lose and also there is more opportunity for diseases to enter the plant.
What length should we be targeting?
If we are about to experience drought conditions again, then you should realise that all plants, including grass, balance their root mass with their shoot mass (think of bonsai trees). If you cut grass too short, then it reduces the amount of root available and therefore you will decrease your lawns ability to source water from depth. For these reasons we should be thinking about lengths from 1” growing to 3” if you can work with that length. If you are targeting a bowling or golf green type lawn, then that is fine as long as you appreciate you must irrigate the area on a regular basis.
What fertiliser strategy should we be considering?
Avoid lush top growth by restricting the amount of nitrogenous (nitrogen rich) fertiliser you apply. Consider cutting recommended rates in half. We sell a specialist summer lawn feed which is well balanced and includes magnesium and iron. As I have described before, iron is vital for producing the deep blue/green colour so desired by many. It hardens the cell walls of the plant and can help toughen your grass ready for the drought. Magnesium is an important part of chloryphyll, the element of grass that is green that collects the suns rays and turns them to sugar.
I always recommend a little and often approach to fertilising for 2 reasons. There is always a surge of growth shortly after fertilising. This causes the plant to develop as if that was the natural nutrient status. As the fertiliser application starts to wear off, the plant starts to die back slightly so causing dead material and brownness. Also, it is very difficult to apply fertiliser evenly, so you will get darker and lighter areas. If you do apply little and often, there is less risk of overdosing the same area twice. Remember always to travel in different directions and start and finish in different places.
If you wish to follow a more organic and slower release strategy than we are now launching a brand new product to us, this is a pure organic and sustainable fertiliser created from a variety of natural sources. This product is 5-5-5 NPK. It is slower release but provides a more stable nutrient supply.
Also, remember that our compost based top dressing can be used all year round to give a shot of nutrient, disease control and as an aid to break down your thatch layer. From now on in the season restrict the application rate to 1.5-2mm depth at any one application.
What about the weeds that are appearing in my lawn?
This is absolutely the best time to treat nearly all lawn weeds. They’re in an active growing stage which allows the weedkillers to be carried to the roots where they will kill from the bottom up. This procedure is called “translocation” and if you under stand this you will be better able to manage your weed control strategy yourself. For example you must let the grass and weeds grow undisturbed for at least 10 days after application to allow the weedkiller to travel to the roots. Also don’t waste your time applying when the weeds are not actively growing (eg drought or cold conditions).
There is one weedkiller that I really recommend to the amateur lawn enthusiast. It is called Verdone Extra and it controls nearly all of the problem lawn weeds. It comes in a very handy spot treatment pack and is widely available in most garden centres. See an example of this product at this link: Verdone Extra
I always think that spot treating is better than overall treatments. You can always go back in 10 days, after a mow, and treat any weeds you have missed.
If you have a bigger weed problem than that then you can consider our 3 in 1 lawn feed product. It has two quality weedkillers blended into the prills and if used in at least 2 applications, it will control large populations of annual and fine weed types. You will need to help this product with Verdone Extra to take out problem weeds like dandelions or thistles.
Final renovations
For those of you who have been hiding from your lawn all winter, it is not too late to complete some last minute renovation work. Don’t scarify deeply any more but hollow coring and light top dressing will still be beneficial. Also lawn patching will be very effective and very fast. Grass seed will germinate in days at this time of the year (remember that there is a free pack of grass seed in every pack of topdressing that we supply). You can use an old greenkeepers trick of pre-mixing the seed with some damp topdressing or loam and storing for a week before patching work. Remember though, wherever you carry out patching work, you must stay off with the lawn mower for at least 2 weeks, and when you do start on those areas you will need to start high again, only working the height down slowly over the next 6 weeks.
Grooming
For those of you with the time and energy, this is also the time to use a light brush or scarification (spring type) attachment on you mower. If you can lightly comb out your grass, you make the grass plants stand up, giving more space for them to tiller into. It also raises any lateral or stolon growth ready for cutting. This trick is unbelievably effective in encouraging grass to thicken up. It can be done every fortnight, travelling in a different direction each time. DON’T do this heavily or too often, it can be detrimental to the growth. Some mowers have an extra part called “groomers” which will do this for you in one pass. Look at the Allett mower at this link for more information:
I hope this helps you.
We will talk about watering strategies next time.