Grass Clippings - Lawn Advice From a Team of Lawn and Turf Experts

it's Lawn Mushroom Season

You may have lately noticed lots of mushrooms on your lawn and in your local woodland and parkland.  Sign of a healthy soil.  It is that time of year when soil conditions are ideal for theses fruiting bodies to appear in abundance.

Does your lawn have circles in it?  Sometimes, these may be a dark green circle or grass or sometimes with a dead bit of grass in the middle or simply a ring of mushrooms only.  They are all called Fairy Rings.

The fungi responsible for fairy rings in lawns is Marasmius oreades.  Marasmius oreades grows extensively throughout North America and Europe in the summer and fall, or year-round in warmer climates. It loves grassy areas such as lawns, meadows, and even dunes in coastal areas.

You may have lately noticed lots of mushrooms on your lawn and in your local woodland and parkland.  Sign of a healthy soil.  It is that time of year when soil conditions are ideal for theses fruiting bodies to appear in abundance.

Does your lawn have circles in it?  Sometimes, these may be a dark green circle or grass or sometimes with a dead bit of grass in the middle or simply a ring of mushrooms only.  They are all called Fairy Rings.

The fungi responsible for fairy rings in lawns is Marasmius oreades.  Marasmius oreades grows extensively throughout North America and Europe in the summer and fall, or year-round in warmer climates. It loves grassy areas such as lawns, meadows, and even dunes in coastal areas.

You may have lately noticed lots of mushrooms on your lawn and in your local woodland and parkland.  Sign of a healthy soil.  It is that time of year when soil conditions are ideal for theses fruiting bodies to appear in abundance.

Does your lawn have circles in it?  Sometimes, these may be a dark green circle or grass or sometimes with a dead bit of grass in the middle or simply a ring of mushrooms only.  They are all called Fairy Rings.

The fungi responsible for fairy rings in lawns is Marasmius oreades.  Marasmius oreades grows extensively throughout North America and Europe in the summer and fall, or year-round in warmer climates. It loves grassy areas such as lawns, meadows, and even dunes in coastal areas.

Pesticide Training via Home Study

Who better to train you in the safe use of pesticides than an organisation that is doing what you will be trained to do, each day of the year?

Weed Free are able to provide formal training and assessments for Food and Environment Protection Act Certificates of Competence in the Safe use of Pesticides. Each year, we train many Greenkeepers and Sports Turf Managers and Local Authority Staff.

We were asked multi-times to provide training one to one to small business owners and as a result came up with the the self study pesticide course concept to support our on site training for larger companies and organisations.

You can purchase self-learn NPTC / City & Guilds training modules and other publications here.

Who better to train you in the safe use of pesticides than an organisation that is doing what you will be trained to do, each day of the year?

Weed Free are able to provide formal training and assessments for Food and Environment Protection Act Certificates of Competence in the Safe use of Pesticides. Each year, we train many Greenkeepers and Sports Turf Managers and Local Authority Staff.

We were asked multi-times to provide training one to one to small business owners and as a result came up with the the self study pesticide course concept to support our on site training for larger companies and organisations.

You can purchase self-learn NPTC / City & Guilds training modules and other publications here.

Who better to train you in the safe use of pesticides than an organisation that is doing what you will be trained to do, each day of the year?

Weed Free are able to provide formal training and assessments for Food and Environment Protection Act Certificates of Competence in the Safe use of Pesticides. Each year, we train many Greenkeepers and Sports Turf Managers and Local Authority Staff.

We were asked multi-times to provide training one to one to small business owners and as a result came up with the the self study pesticide course concept to support our on site training for larger companies and organisations.

You can purchase self-learn NPTC / City & Guilds training modules and other publications here.

Who better to train you in the safe use of pesticides than an organisation that is doing what you will be trained to do, each day of the year?

Weed Free are able to provide formal training and assessments for Food and Environment Protection Act Certificates of Competence in the Safe use of Pesticides. Each year, we train many Greenkeepers and Sports Turf Managers and Local Authority Staff.

We were asked multi-times to provide training one to one to small business owners and as a result came up with the the self study pesticide course concept to support our on site training for larger companies and organisations.

You can purchase self-learn NPTC / City & Guilds training modules and other publications here.

Who better to train you in the safe use of pesticides than an organisation that is doing what you will be trained to do, each day of the year?

Weed Free are able to provide formal training and assessments for Food and Environment Protection Act Certificates of Competence in the Safe use of Pesticides. Each year, we train many Greenkeepers and Sports Turf Managers and Local Authority Staff.

We were asked multi-times to provide training one to one to small business owners and as a result came up with the the self study pesticide course concept to support our on site training for larger companies and organisations.

You can purchase self-learn NPTC / City & Guilds training modules and other publications here.

Exeter Council's alternatives to Glyphosate

Alternative methods of controlling weeds in Exeter city are to be trialled following concerns about glyphosate writes Pro Landscaper Magazine today.

 

A motion calling for a trial of alternative methods of weed suppression and management has been backed by the City Council.

 

The trials will be carried out over the next three years. The city council will assess the success or otherwise of the planned reduction strategy in glyphosate use with regular progress reports to the Scrutiny Committee.

 

The motion that received unanimous backing from the City Council said that there was “increasing evidence of the dangers to both human health and biodiversity of continuing use of glyphosate weed killer.”

Spray Dye for Lawns

We have it on good authority that it is going to stop raining now. 'Noah, built me an Ark!'

Time to get out in the garden and catch up on your lawn and garden weed control.

How much easier it would be to make garden chemical treatments if you can see where you have an have not sprayed by colouring the spray solution with a spray indicator dye called Indigo Garden Spray Dye.

Your treatment experience will be a bit like painting by numbers when your were five in play group.

Autumn Leaves a plenty!

After a drier summer than last year - 30mm less rain to the end of August than in 2018, and now a soggy three weeks to date, the temperatures have dipped to slightly above their seasonal norm this week and turf grasses are really enjoying all the recent rainfall as are the Earthworms!

Now is the time to start working on your lawn before too many leaves fall on it and the frosts appear.  Your thoughts should be warming towards fertilising your lawn and it is not too late to apply a summer fertiliser at the full rate or apply it at half the summer rate.  The clever technology of The Lawn Shop Granular Lawn Fertilisers means that the nutrients will stop releasing once it gets cooler yet when the soil warms up in the spring, it will stop releasing again - clever!

Microplastics in the soil cause Earthworms to lose weight

Microplastics in the soil point to another potential ecosystem collapse.  When these particles are eaten by Earthworms, the results are not good reports a research team from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England.

New research from the University states that microplastics in soil are causing earthworms to lose weight.

Soil affected by microplastics produces less crop yield due to less productive earthworms and lower pH levels.

If this trend continues, our entire agricultural system could be compromised.

The Lawn Shop is open this weekend for Lawn Treatment Products

Spare a thought for your lawn this weekend if the weather remains dry!

I has had a turbulent week of rain but this will help it recover from the general lack of rain in the summer months so time to give a fertilise and see what you have got left to play with before the end of the Autumn.

The Team at The Lawn Shop have a wide range of lawn care treatments available to spread or spray and their online Lawn Shop is open all weekend for your convenience.

Visit The Lawn Shop

Solving Localized Dry Patches in Lawns

It is very common for lawns to suffer from localised dry patches and drought has nothing to do with this natural occurring turf / lawn problem.

Rainfall or irrigation will not solve these dry, crusty and hydrophobic areas. Nothing will grow in these affected areas as there is no available soil moisture.

The past two dry summer have not helped at all either.

A little Dye goes a long way!

A little bit of Indigo Garden Spray Dye goes a long way, you have been warned!

Make sure that you are wearing non absorbant gloves when handling any garden chemical treatment product and Indigo Garden Spray Dye.

Do not spill any Indigo Garden Spray Dye™ granules onto stonework or brickwork or timber.

In use, do not directly spray unintentionally onto hard landscaped areas if you can at all help it.

The Benefits of Using CastClear - The Solution to Lawn Worm Casts

It is the not the Earthworms that are a problem, just their muddy soil casts on the surface of the lawn.

CastClear will help to deter and suppress them so that they remain deeper in the soil profile.

There are plenty of worm casts appearing on lawns after the rainfall of the past week.  Time to get some CastClear and preserve the surface of your lawn NOW!

Deters lawn soil casts on for up to 20 days

Lawn Quencher™ Tablets - The Solution to Lawn Hydration

Your lawn may look a little soggy currently with the recent heavy rainfall but spare a thought of the localised dry patches on the surface.  Dry crusty patches where the grass is simply not growing.

It is very common for lawns to suffer from localised dry patches and drought has nothing to do with this natural occurring turf / lawn problem.  Rainfall or irrigation will not solve these dry, crusty and hydrophobic areas. Nothing will grow in these affected areas as there is no available soil moisture.

Opening a Can of Worm Casts

With 41.5mm of rain in the past 5 days, in the South East, your lawns will be screaming 'oh yes!'

The Earthworms will also be having a bit of a party by throwing their muddy soil casts onto the surface of your lawns.

CastClear is a NEW organic and unique combination of nutrient materials that have been clearly shown to reduce lawn soil-cast levels on lawns large and small.

It's the Solution to lawn soil cast problems and has been selling in Garden Centres since the Autumn of 2011 with over 15,000 Litres sold to date.

Indigo Garden Dye makes spraying a lawn so easy!

Indigo Garden Spray Dye™ is a brand NEW product for Garden Retail and Gardeners.

How many times have you battled with trying to guess 3D Man Watering Canwhere you have or have not treated using a garden sprayer on your driveway or lawn?

Indigo Garden Spray Dye™ is a clever food dye that is mixed into a garden sprayer containing your chosen treatment spray solution.

When you start spraying your lawn or driveway etc, Indigo will literally provide a temporary visible spray pattern to show where you have or have not treated / sprayed.

Worm Casting on Lawns - The Solution

If you have had some recent rainfall where you live, you will soon be noticing tiny soil casts generated by Earthworms on the surface of your lawns.

The Earthworms will be quite active now that we are into Autumn in Counties of the United Kingdom where gardens have received lots of regular rain. It the South East, we all pray for rain still!

CastClear - The Solution to Lawn Worm Casts will deter the worms from entering the root zone to set their casts. It will not harm the earthworms but deter their activity.

Solving a Fairy Ring in a Lawn

If you have a Fairy Ring(s) on your lawn, the way to solve it / them is to apply a wetting agent such as Lawn Quencher - Lawn Dry Patch Remedy to the complete circle, inside and out and about a metre diameter away from the outer edge to get the area wet again and sufficiently wet to then support new grass seed.

The little natural micro organisms and bacteria in your soil that usually munch away at the thatch and fibre of the lawn produce a waxy waste substance that will coat the soil particles of the soil to make them hydrophobic and repel water. This is why the grass dies.