Lawncare

Grass/Lawn/Turf

What is the secret to a beautiful-looking, lush, green lawn?– preparation and maintenance... Act now for a perfect lawn.

It's time to start taking care of your lawncare tasks for the Spring months and enjoy a healthy and beautifully lush green garden.

Mowing:

March - is the time of the year to start mowing your lawn to get and keep it in good condition. When cutting the grass make sure that you take off little and often. Be sure to set the blades on your lawn mower high so not to remove too much grass for the first few cuts. By doing this your grass will stay greener and healthier. During the spring months be sure to collect all the grass cuttings/clippings to allow for water, air and any fertilisers to get to the roots of the grass.

Clippings – In the Springtime it is best to remove the clippings of cut grass to allow the water to evaporate and also to help avoid weeds and moss from establishing.

April - Continue cutting grass through April with the blade at the highest setting on your lawn mower. Try not to let your grass grow long and then cut it short as this will turn your grass yellow and weaken the grass. If you have been mowing your lawn since March, and the end of April is approaching, you can now start lowering the blades on your lawn mower.

• Weeds –
• Common weeds to look for are plantain, mother of thousands, dandelions and self-heal. If your yard/garden does not have many weeds, purchase a spot–treatment weed killer so that you have minimal damage to your grass.

• Moss - in grass is caused by several things. Weak grass, grass cut to low, compacted soil and poor drainage are a few of the causes of moss growth. April is the month to treat any moss in your lawn.  There are moss killing products on the market to help get rid of moss but the moss will come back as this does not cure the cause of the moss problem.

• Weed and Moss Solution - In order to stop weeds and moss from coming back again and again you need to tackle these problem areas. Use a garden fork to prod all over the garden throughout the year or once a year or rent/hire a machine to spike all over the lawn and then you must rake out the clumps of dead moss and grass that has been loosened. Your grass will become healthier and it will then be much harder for weeds and moss to become establised in these areas of lawn.

• Fertilise/Feed Lawn – If your lawn is established you can start applying a fertilizer. Applying lawn fertiliser can be a pain staking job if your yard/garden is large. Make sure you wear gloves to protect your hands from the fertilizer and that you measure out the fertilizer according to the measuring instructions given. One way to fertilize is to mark out a small area with string and sticks and use the correct measured amount of fertilizer for that area. Another method is to use a fertilizer spreader to cover larger areas. There are several on the market or you may prefer to rent/hire one to do the job.

May – Start mowing your lawn once a week now that we are in the month of May. With each mow you will want to lower the blades on your lawn mower a bit, but not all the way down to the lowest setting as this will cause your grass to turn yellow and cause bare patches, which in turn will allow weeds and moss to establish.

• Fertilize/Feed Lawn –If you haven’t feed/fertilized your lawn up till now, you will want to do so this month. Your garden/lawn should now be established and ready for a feed.

• Tip – Try not to over fertilize your garden/lawn as this is not good for the environment, not to mention that it is also wasteful. Adding extra fertilizer does not speed up the process of a healthy looking lawn as the grass will only take up the amount needed and the rest ends up in our water table, into streams and rivers and contributes to our pollution.