Seasonal Tips for April and May - Lawns

The lawn is in full growth now and every time you cut it your remove essential nutrients from the plants. Treat your lawn to a new lawn care regime and start to use the new, innovative Aftercut Lawn Feed and Conditioner. It’s extremely easy to use; you simply apply it after mowing once every 3-4 weeks from February until October. It will rejuvenate a tired lawn in a matter of days.

As the weather warms up the grass will start to grow much even more rapidly. Start to cut it more regularly to keep it neat and tidy, but don’t be tempted to cut it very short as this will stress the grass plants and allow moss and weeds to invade. Be gentle with the first few cuts of the season and simply trim off the top third of growth, with the mower blades adjusted to their highest setting. Allow the lawn to recover for a few days and then cut again with the blades on a lower setting. At this time of year the lawn may only need cutting about once or twice a fortnight, but as the weather warms up and the grass starts growing more strongly you may find you are mowing once or twice a week by the end of the month. On fine lawns keep the grass to a length of about 2cm by mowing when it gets to 3cm or more. Utility lawns can be cut about once a week to a height of about 2-3cm.
When you have cut the lawn apply the Liquid Aftercut Lawn Feed and Conditioner to the lawn as a tonic. This will boost the lawn and green up the grass quickly. It’s a lawn feed and conditioner that contains a blend of nutrients to support and sustain your lawn during the season. Apply after mowing every 3-4 weeks until October.
Make a check on the condition of the lawn, in particular for weeds and moss that may have invaded the lawn. It’s very important to keep these problems in check or they will take over the lawn completely. Weeds and moss actually compete with the grass for all the available nutrients and moisture. When these resources are in short supply it makes sense to ensure that it is your lawn that is getting them and not invading weeds and moss.
If moss is taking over the whole lawn then although killing it will make the lawn look better, you really need to deal with the underlying causes. A poorly fed lawn is unable to compete with moss for food and water, low nutrient levels in turn, encourage the growth of moss, so the problem is then compounded. If the lawn is poorly drained and compacted then this also encourages moss to grow and if it’s in shade too this creates the perfect conditions for moss to thrive. So if the lawn is shady then try to alleviate this by pruning overhanging trees. Treat the moss with Lawn Sand that’s specially formulated to control moss and help maintain a healthy green lawn. Each granule contains two products that work together to condition your lawn, a nitrogen fertiliser that feeds the grass, encouraging growth and giving a deeper, greener colour and a healthier lawn. The second ingredient, ferrous sulphate kills moss causing it to blacken and die. Or if it is weedy too use Lawn Feed, Weed & Moss Killer, over-sow any bare patches or thin areas in shady spots with Shade Tolerant Lawn Seed. This is a special mixture that contains grass species adapted to grow in shady, difficult spots and is ideal for under trees.
Lawn Sand and Lawn Feed, Weed & Moss Killer will turn any moss in the lawn black after about 2-3 weeks. Rake out the dead moss and use the Lawn Repair Kit to treat the bare patches.
Compacted lawns can be aerated in spring if the soil is moist. You’ll know if your lawn is compacted because it will be rock hard, slow to drain after rainfall and may also have to bear heavy foot traffic. Paths across the lawn are often quick to compact. Opening up the structure of the soil improves the drainage around the grass roots and encourages healthy growth. Ideally you should remove plugs of soil using a hollow tine aerator and fill these with Lawn & Turf Dressing. You can also use a normal garden fork and push the tines into the soil to a depth of 7-10cm if possible and then brush Lawn Dressing into the holes. Lawn & Turf Dressing contains a mixture of 50% sand, 25% peat, 25% soil and fertiliser, which together add exactly the right ingredients to the soil for premium grass growth.
Occasional weeds can be dug out with a hand tool, but be sure to get out all of the root system. If there are lots of weeds and moss too then save time and effort and use the triple action Lawn Feed, Weed & Moss Killer. The added weed killer quickly deals with a variety of common and persistent lawn weeds, encouraging them into fast and uncontrolled growth until they literally burn themselves out and die.
It also contains fertiliser to boost the grass and help it to compete with weeds and moss and since moss thrives in low nutrient levels, by feeding the lawn you actually help to deter further moss invasion. Apply using the revolutionary hand-held lawn spreader. It’s refillable and guarantees to cut treatment time by more than half, delivering lawn treatment granules evenly to avoid underfeeding and scorching.
Gently scarify the lawn with a wire rake; this will remove any debris that has built up around the grass roots. Top-dress the lawn with Lawn & Turf Dressing brushing it in with a stiff broom. This will improve the drainage and add a balanced fertiliser around the roots of your grass.
If the lawn is thinning, or there are many bare patches then over sow the whole lawn with an appropriate lawn seed mixture to suit your lawn and the existing conditions.
As the weather begins to warm up and the conditions are conducive to sowing seeds outside, it’s a good time to sow a new lawn from seed and to repair bare patches in the lawn.
The secret of a successful new lawn from seed is in the quality of the seed that you choose to use and the condition of the soil that you sow into. To get the very best results you need to prepare the site properly. Choose a suitable area and dig it over carefully. Remove any debris, stones and all the perennial weeds. Take time to dig out the weed roots as these will sprout into a new crop of weed plants if you leave them behind. If the soil is poor then improve it by adding Premium Garden Soil. Sandy soil will need a little extra help to retain soil moisture, so dig in organic Farmyard Manure, which will also improve the soil fertility. Rake over the area, breaking up big clumps of soil. Then level as thoroughly as possible. You can check the level by trailing a flat edged plank or ladder over the whole surface area to create a smooth sowing surface, and reveal lumps and bumps in the surface. Firm the soil down by walking over it with close steps, this will reveal any hollows that will need to be filled. Add more Premium Garden Soil until the ground is completely level. Rake the soil surface to create a fine seedbed. Ideally allow this to rest for at least a week. Any weed seedlings that have germinated can be eliminated by using a suitable weed killer or by hoeing off with a hoe. Mark out the area into square metres using canes, this will make sowing the seed much easier. The Westland Lawn Seed range has an inbuilt applicator in every box so it is easy to sow the seed. Simply open the box, empty the bag of seed into the empty box and tear off the strip down the side of the box to reveal the sowing holes. You need to sow 35g per square metre. Take half this amount and scatter it over one metre square in one direction, then scatter the remaining half at right angles, this will ensure good coverage. Once you have applied seed to a one-metre section, you can see the density of the seed and copy this using the applicator box for each subsequent metre.
Keep the developing lawn well watered. Allow the grass to grow unchecked until it reaches 1-2 inches high. If it is a small area it can then be lightly trimmed with grass shears. Larger areas should be gently cut with a rotary mower, set on its highest cutting height.
Recut the lawn edges with a half moon edging iron.
When the grass is healthy, free from weeds and moss, and growing vigorously apply Lawn Feed to support this growth. Strong healthy grass will be better able to compete with weeds and moss.

Other useful tips for April and May: