Do it Yourself Lawn Care Vs Lawn Treatment Companies

What the majority of lawn owners require is clear, concise and consistent advice.  We live in a service industry world and having your lawn treated is a bit like getting your laundry done. 

Increasingly, we note on our travels that lawn owners are trying one or more of the many lawn treatment companies for a couple of years and then seeking a change, more often than not reverting back towards looking after their lawns themselves now that the weeds and moss have gone and the grass quality and density is so much better than it was before the lawn treatment company were employed. They also get complete control over the annual lawn treatment programme and do away with missed visits, inflexible treatments and mechanical programmes and direct debits.

What the majority of lawn owners require is clear, concise and consistent advice.  We live in a service industry world and having your lawn treated is a bit like getting your laundry done. 

Increasingly, we note on our travels that lawn owners are trying one or more of the many lawn treatment companies for a couple of years and then seeking a change, more often than not reverting back towards looking after their lawns themselves now that the weeds and moss have gone and the grass quality and density is so much better than it was before the lawn treatment company were employed. They also get complete control over the annual lawn treatment programme and do away with missed visits, inflexible treatments and mechanical programmes and direct debits.

Lawn Treatment Companies can also give varying advice - why?  The Lawn Company's concept is helping you get your lawn back together again and helping you look after it yourself, with our ongoing input if required - simple.

So what do you need to manage your own lawn treatments?  Certainly, the greatest aspect is the knowledge of how to apply the lawn products, which products to apply when and also a couple of asset purchases such as a rotary fertiliser spreader and small sprayer or knapsack.  At some time, you can hire a scarifier and aerator, maybe every couple of years but you will need to make regular lawn treatment applications to keep your lawns in tip top condition.

If you have a small lawn, say less than 100 square metres then using a hand held fertiliser spreader will suffice.  If you have a small hand held sprayer then this might cope with the applications of moss control, selective weed killer and soluble fertilisers throughout the year.  If your lawn is greater than say 100 sqm then you will need to consider the purchase of a small rotary pedestrianised fertiliser spreader and a little sprayer of say 7.6 Litres minimum.  If your lawns are extensive and over 500 sqm then all you require is a slightly larger fertiliser spreader and sprayer and some professional assistance with the mechanical aspects of lawn care. 

The next key aspect is easy access to the treatment products.  Thankfully, the Team at The Lawn Shop are bridging the gap between what lawn owners can purchase from their local Garden Centre or DIY Outlet and what the Turf Professionals use.  They cannot sell without the correct paperwork, professional strength pesticides but they can help you locate the assets or tools for the task as well as a wide range of lawn treatment products such as selective herbicides, lawn fertilisers and moss control products.

The calibration of the fertiliser spreader and sprayer or knapsack is detailed on The Lawn Company lawn advice blog Grass Clippings and you will be left in no doubt on how to calibrate or use the equipment.  It's a bit like going back to school.

On Grass Clippings, the Team talk about which product to use when and how to apply it and all lawn treatment products are available from The Lawn Shop, with greater detail to be found in the product descriptions and on the label when the items arrive.  The advice on the lawn blog is extensive, covered in over 1095 technical page posts and most of all free and printable. 

We also note that lawn owners get in a bit of a muddle as to what to do with their lawn throughout the year and the frequency of the treatments.  You should fertilise every three months regardless of anything else and weed kill your lawn at least once, maybe twice or not at all if you do not have any weeds.  Mowing practices play an important role and incorrect or infrequent mowing can easily wreck a lawn.  Apart from aeration, most mechanical operations are made in the growing season, such as scarification, when the grass plants have the best opportunity to recover and regenerate.  Aeration can be performed nearly all year round, especially if the ground is firm in the autumn and winter and spring months, less so in the summer so as to preserve water loss from the lawn's surface.

At times of the year, you will need to react to lawn insect larvae such as Leatherjackets Chafer Beetles and Worm Casts, and also lawn diseases like Red Thread and Fusarium Disease.  Maybe an attack of Ants and foraging Birds, Badgers and Foxes, not forgetting Mr Mole too. 

The Team at The Lawn Company give you free access to the lawn advice and also the opportunity to choose which is best for you and your lawn.  Lawn Treatment Company or DIY - you choose.  Email The Team, we'd love to hear from you or post a comment below for a reply.

So what do you need to manage your own lawn treatments?  Certainly, the greatest aspect is the knowledge of how to apply the lawn products, which products to apply when and also a couple of asset purchases such as a rotary fertiliser spreader and small sprayer or knapsack.  At some time, you can hire a scarifier and aerator, maybe every couple of years but you will need to make regular lawn treatment applications to keep your lawns in tip top condition.

If you have a small lawn, say less than 100 square metres then using a hand held fertiliser spreader will suffice.  If you have a small hand held sprayer then this might cope with the applications of moss control, selective weed killer and soluble fertilisers throughout the year.  If your lawn is greater than say 100 sqm then you will need to consider the purchase of a small rotary pedestrianised fertiliser spreader and a little sprayer of say 7.6 Litres minimum.  If your lawns are extensive and over 500 sqm then all you require is a slightly larger fertiliser spreader and sprayer and some professional assistance with the mechanical aspects of lawn care. 

The next key aspect is easy access to the treatment products.  Thankfully, the Team at The Lawn Shop are bridging the gap between what lawn owners can purchase from their local Garden Centre or DIY Outlet and what the Turf Professionals use.  They cannot sell without the correct paperwork, professional strength pesticides but they can help you locate the assets or tools for the task as well as a wide range of lawn treatment products such as selective herbicides, lawn fertilisers and moss control products.

The calibration of the fertiliser spreader and sprayer or knapsack is detailed on The Lawn Company lawn advice blog Grass Clippings and you will be left in no doubt on how to calibrate or use the equipment.  It's a bit like going back to school.

On Grass Clippings, the Team talk about which product to use when and how to apply it and all lawn treatment products are available from The Lawn Shop, with greater detail to be found in the product descriptions and on the label when the items arrive.  The advice on the lawn blog is extensive, covered in over 1095 technical page posts and most of all free and printable. 

We also note that lawn owners get in a bit of a muddle as to what to do with their lawn throughout the year and the frequency of the treatments.  You should fertilise every three months regardless of anything else and weed kill your lawn at least once, maybe twice or not at all if you do not have any weeds.  Mowing practices play an important role and incorrect or infrequent mowing can easily wreck a lawn.  Apart from aeration, most mechanical operations are made in the growing season, such as scarification, when the grass plants have the best opportunity to recover and regenerate.  Aeration can be performed nearly all year round, especially if the ground is firm in the autumn and winter and spring months, less so in the summer so as to preserve water loss from the lawn's surface.

At times of the year, you will need to react to lawn insect larvae such as Leatherjackets Chafer Beetles and Worm Casts, and also lawn diseases like Red Thread and Fusarium Disease.  Maybe an attack of Ants and foraging Birds, Badgers and Foxes, not forgetting Mr Mole too. 

The Team at The Lawn Company give you free access to the lawn advice and also the opportunity to choose which is best for you and your lawn.  Lawn Treatment Company or DIY - you choose.  Email The Team, we'd love to hear from you or post a comment below for a reply.

Comments

[john]

Hey thanks so much for this very useful and informative article! I will defiantly be sharing this article to my Guildford lawn care clients debating whether using a professional company is something they need. I also love your analysis of having a lawn less than 100 square meters of what is suffice or not such as, a small handheld sprayer may be sufficient enough to limit weed and moss growth. Thanks again for taking the time to educate us all! :)

[Andy]

Would like to treat lawn myself rather than use Greenthumb who I have used for 15 years. They appear to be inflexible and scarify/aerate in winter which seems to be wrong time of year. I have evergreen hand spreader for fertiliser but no knapsack for weedkiller. They are also becoming increasingly expensive.

Reply: There are Knapsack Sprayers in www.TheLawnShop.co.uk