Throw your lawn a lifeline
If your lawn is looking a little poorly at the start of the traditional summer months, throw it a life-line and try and save it before it is too late....
The summer soils are warm and moist, ideal opportunity for getting some new grasses into the lawns. It is getting a little late to renovate and repair your lawn now but there is still time to get it sorted and put to bed of the winter months.
The correct process of renovating a lawn and order of performing the tasks is :-
Kill any weeds and moss and leave two weeks for the products to work or totally kill off the lawn with total weed killer
Mow the lawn really low with a rotary mower in a couple of directions to remove the volume of the grass and remove clippings, something like setting 3 or lower on a Hayter Mower and remove the clippings
Scarify in at least two directions to remove ay dead thatch from the lawn. You will not go ploughing with the scarifier, the blades will just be touching the soil surface at the base of the crown of the grass plant. If it wants to come out, you will get the debris out
Clear the scarification debris at the end of the second pass with a leaf blower or rake - the debris may be extensive. Try and get the lawn as 'clean' as possible
Mow the lawn again back on the 'normal' height setting so something like setting 4 on a Hayter Mower which will be higher than the intitial reduction of volume mowing session. This removes the straggly bits of grass and tidies it up a bit
Aerate to a depth with a solid tine to aid percolation of air in and out of the lawn. Tines should be at least 50mm deep minimum, and make two passes at right angles
Fertilise with a good autumn and winter lawn fertiliser at around 17 - 35 grams per square metre
Over seed with a desirable seed mixture, allow at least 17 grams per square metre or more if you have killed the lawn off with a total weed killer
Top dress (which is optional) with a soil based top dressing/loam material to fill in the micro levels and lute in. Allow around 1 cubic metre of loam material per 250 sqm of lawn as a guide
All the tasks can be completed on the same day or on consecutive days until complete. If you have a break, mow the lawn ahead of continuing with the next task
After Care of the Renovated Lawn:-
Arrange to mow 7 - 10 days after renovating then do not mow for at least 14 days
Continue to mow on a higher mower setting in different directions
Ensure you keep the leaves and autumn debris of the lawns
Keep mowing on a little off and often basis if the weather is not wet under foot or frosty. Grass will never stop growing but slow so if it remains mild over the traditional autumn, winter and spring months, keep mowing. Ensure the mower is sharp.
Over the winter, the grass will not stop growing, but slow. If the weather is mild and dry then get out of your nice warm armchair and get the mower out to take no more than 25% off the new lawn. Mow as frequently throughout the winter early spring as the weather permits. Do not let the new grasses get too long inbetween mowings as this will only allow the new grasses to grow thinly and not low and dense.
Should you require more information on this topic, post a comment
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