lawn care
The month of September is a fine time to begin your lawn care maintenance. After cutting your lawn, scarify and remove moss and debris with a tine rake. Where the lawn is damaged or lacking in growth, hollow tine or use a garden fork to make holes to a depth of 3 to 4 inches, all over the lawn approximately 6 inches apart. Use a besom or stiff brush to tidy the area. Pre-germinate good quality lawn seed in a large bucket of compost or the contents of a grow bag, add a little moisture a leave to sprit. After approximately 3 to 4 days broadcast this mixture over the damaged area and tamp down with the back of a rake and water in. The new growth will burst into life very quickly. Your lawn will now be looking good again. This is also recommended for areas that have been damaged by our four legged friends.
If you grow fruit trees in your lawn, remember that nitrogen is the main food chemical stolen by the grass roots before it reaches the deeper depths of the lying tree roots; this is evident by the leaves being pale and sickly looking. Remedial action would be as follows: Use nitrogenous fertiliser in larger quantities to alleviate this problem, however, take advantage of the grass, this will help to protect the windfalls as they fall more softly.
This time of year is also a good time to re-turf or start a new lawn. Preparation is also paramount to the area to be turfed. The area should be level and of a fine tilth. To discourage worms from rendering it unsightly with worm casts, dig in wood ash before laying. When laying the turf always bond each row and tamp and firm the rows as you progress. Do not stand on the newly laid turf until the roots are well established approximately 5 to 6 weeks.
September is generally a warm and damp month and ideal for laying turf, but keep your eye on the weather forecast and water liberally whenever there is a dry spell.
This may seem an improbable feat of magic but try it anyway; most seeds will germinate more readily if they are watered initially with hand hot water from a watering can fitted with a fine rose. Use only tepid water from then on for the growth of your lawn is markedly improved than when using cold water. By following this simple guide your lawn will have a much better start before winter’s arrival.
Image credit Petar Tonchev on Unsplash
