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

CastClear Amenity set to tackle sportsturf earthworm casts

CastClear Amenity is the specialist larger unit of sale of the ever popular Garden Retail product CastClear for the specialist Amenity Horticulture and Sports Turf sectors now that the pesticide Carbendazim has had it's registration revoked by the EU and UK Parliaments with available stocks to be used up by 31 August 2017 under the ruling.

Professional Sportsturf Managers are therefore really going to struggle this autumn to find a long established, proven and reliable solution to control earthworm casts on sports turf and CastClear is well placed to help their needs in controlling earthworm casts on their playing surfaces.

Managing Editor of The Lawn Company - A RHS Lawn and Turf Expert Speaker

Our Managing Editor, Mike Seaton, is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Groundsmanship and has had an extensive career in the turf and lawn industry.

'Being a lawn specialist is a bit like being a Doctor at a party. The lawn is after all the carpet of the room outside and the lawn is often the largest part of the garden and the most neglected by many.' 

Our Managing Editor, Mike Seaton, is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Groundsmanship and has had an extensive career in the turf and lawn industry.

'Being a lawn specialist is a bit like being a Doctor at a party. The lawn is after all the carpet of the room outside and the lawn is often the largest part of the garden and the most neglected by many.' 

Our Managing Editor, Mike Seaton, is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Groundsmanship and has had an extensive career in the turf and lawn industry.

'Being a lawn specialist is a bit like being a Doctor at a party. The lawn is after all the carpet of the room outside and the lawn is often the largest part of the garden and the most neglected by many.' 

Our Managing Editor, Mike Seaton, is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Groundsmanship and has had an extensive career in the turf and lawn industry.

'Being a lawn specialist is a bit like being a Doctor at a party. The lawn is after all the carpet of the room outside and the lawn is often the largest part of the garden and the most neglected by many.' 

Killing Weeds in your Lawn

Have you ever wondered why selective herbicides kill weeds and not the lawn grasses?

The internal biologial make up of weeds and grasses is different. The weeds, like trees and shrubs have Cambium Cells. These cells provide support in the main trunk and branches of the tree or weed. The selective weed killer is a growth hormone that mimics the actual growth hormone 'Gibberelline' - the plant hormone responsible for secondary thickening. The selective turf herbicide is absorbed by the weeds and after a while, the weeds go into super growth, with their stems twisting and distorting. The weeds actually outgrow themselves and when their overall structure has literally had it, they die. Grasses do not have Cambium Cells so although they might absorb some of the chemical, it has no affect - if applied correctly in the first place!

Summer Weed Control Tasks

Your lawn or turf may be looking a little brown after the 15 days or so warm dry weather but the weeds are thriving.  If you end up with a bit of spare time, tackle your weed control requirements and tidy your site up on non crop areas.

Glyphosate in it's many commercial trade names and formulations is the ideal pesticide active ingredient to apply now and kill the vegetation right down to the roots.  Glyphosate is applied as a blanket or spot spray to non crop areas like building lines, fence lines, car parks and gravel areas as well as garden centre planteria.  It stops the plant from producing their green pigment called Chlorophyll and the grasses for example will turn a pinky red colour before the plant dies.  Woody weeds can take a little bit longer time wise to die fully.

Your lawn or turf may be looking a little brown after the 15 days or so warm dry weather but the weeds are thriving.  If you end up with a bit of spare time, tackle your weed control requirements and tidy your site up on non crop areas.

Glyphosate in it's many commercial trade names and formulations is the ideal pesticide active ingredient to apply now and kill the vegetation right down to the roots.  Glyphosate is applied as a blanket or spot spray to non crop areas like building lines, fence lines, car parks and gravel areas as well as garden centre planteria.  It stops the plant from producing their green pigment called Chlorophyll and the grasses for example will turn a pinky red colour before the plant dies.  Woody weeds can take a little bit longer time wise to die fully.

Tips on Top Dressing a Lawn

Top dressing a lawn is the term used to describe the careful application of a loam, sand or clay material to the surface of a lawn to restore the micro levels. The term is often confused with a fertiliser application as a 'dressing'. Top dressing is typically applied in the autumn after scarification and aeration and over seeding when around 8mm or 1/4 of an inch of material is applied and worked into the lawns' surface.

The choice of material depends upon your desired effect adn the soil type to start. A tennis court of cricket square would receive a clay based top dressing such as Mendip Loam or Surrey Loam, traditional clay loams that suit the needs of the sport and playing surface.

 

Top dressing a lawn is the term used to describe the careful application of a loam, sand or clay material to the surface of a lawn to restore the micro levels. The term is often confused with a fertiliser application as a 'dressing'. Top dressing is typically applied in the autumn after scarification and aeration and over seeding when around 8mm or 1/4 of an inch of material is applied and worked into the lawns' surface.

The choice of material depends upon your desired effect adn the soil type to start. A tennis court of cricket square would receive a clay based top dressing such as Mendip Loam or Surrey Loam, traditional clay loams that suit the needs of the sport and playing surface.

Top dressing a lawn is the term used to describe the careful application of a loam, sand or clay material to the surface of a lawn to restore the micro levels. The term is often confused with a fertiliser application as a 'dressing'. Top dressing is typically applied in the autumn after scarification and aeration and over seeding when around 8mm or 1/4 of an inch of material is applied and worked into the lawns' surface.

The choice of material depends upon your desired effect adn the soil type to start. A tennis court of cricket square would receive a clay based top dressing such as Mendip Loam or Surrey Loam, traditional clay loams that suit the needs of the sport and playing surface.

 

Pesticide Training in your own time

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.

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.

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.

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

Survive an attack of Red Thread Disease

Red Thread Disease in you lawn's season is now upon us. Warm and wet environmental conditions are ideal for an outbreak of this unsightly lawn disease and once this mini heat wave subsudes, you will see the disease on your lawn if it is under nourished.

It is fairly easy to prevent an outbreak of this lawn disease.  The majority of lawns were fertilised in the spring months and now the benefit of that feed is wearing off.  Add into the equation that some of the nutrients in the turf grass plants end up in the mower box as grass clippings and you can soon build up a picture as to why the grass may become weak and susceptible to an attack of Red Thread Disease. The presence of the Red Thread pathogen is unfortunately within some grass species and purchasing good quality certified grass seed is important as these are usually the top ten cultivars for a specie where everyone in the supply chain has tried hard to improve the rating for 'freedom of Red Thread'.

Red Thread Disease in you lawn's season is now upon us. Warm and wet environmental conditions are ideal for an outbreak of this unsightly lawn disease and once this mini heat wave subsudes, you will see the disease on your lawn if it is under nourished.

It is fairly easy to prevent an outbreak of this lawn disease.  The majority of lawns were fertilised in the spring months and now the benefit of that feed is wearing off.  Add into the equation that some of the nutrients in the turf grass plants end up in the mower box as grass clippings and you can soon build up a picture as to why the grass may become weak and susceptible to an attack of Red Thread Disease. The presence of the Red Thread pathogen is unfortunately within some grass species and purchasing good quality certified grass seed is important as these are usually the top ten cultivars for a specie where everyone in the supply chain has tried hard to improve the rating for 'freedom of Red Thread'.

The Lawn Shop is here to help you your lawn

The hard working Team at The Lawn Shop have a variety of lawn care products to help your lawn cope with the warm weather and keep it tip top for the rest of the summer. 

You should have fertiised your lawn twice by now so if you have not, think about making a fertiliser application once this hot and dry spell subsides as there is little point applying lawn fertilizer when it is this hot otherwise you may scorch the lawn. 

The hard working Team at The Lawn Shop have a variety of lawn care products to help your lawn cope with the warm weather and keep it tip top for the rest of the summer. 

The hard working Team at The Lawn Shop have a variety of lawn care products to help your lawn cope with the warm weather and keep it tip top for the rest of the summer. 

How and when to water your lawn

When and how much water should you give your  lawn during the prevailing hot weather when the thermometer is tipping 30 degrees centigrade.

We are receiving a lot of calls about the very same subject, mostly about newly renovated lawns with seed or turf.  One big question is how long to water your lawn for.

Should you water your lawns or not when it is this hot?  Turf grasses are tough old things and so long as you  have healthy and desirable turf grasses in your lawns then they should  be capable of coping with the extremes of drought.

When and how much water should you give your  lawn during the prevailing hot weather when the thermometer is tipping 30 degrees centigrade.

We are receiving a lot of calls about the very same subject, mostly about newly renovated lawns with seed or turf.  One big question is how long to water your lawn for.

Should you water your lawns or not when it is this hot?  Turf grasses are tough old things and so long as you  have healthy and desirable turf grasses in your lawns then they should  be capable of coping with the extremes of drought.

When and how much water should you give your  lawn during the prevailing hot weather when the thermometer is tipping 30 degrees centigrade.

We are receiving a lot of calls about the very same subject, mostly about newly renovated lawns with seed or turf.  One big question is how long to water your lawn for.

Should you water your lawns or not when it is this hot?  Turf grasses are tough old things and so long as you  have healthy and desirable turf grasses in your lawns then they should  be capable of coping with the extremes of drought.

Solving Lawn Dry Patches

Dry Patch is a little known problem of turf in amateur lawn circles but one that has an incredible impact in ensuring consistent colour, growth, nutrient status, run of the ball and most of all visual impact and continuity of grass cover.

We have seen a lot of lawn and turf areas turning brown or mottled following a couple of dry weeks back end of May, but this problem has nothing to do with lack of rain or potential drought. 

The rain today, as this is typed, will really help but more work is required to alleviate the problem going forward.

Dry Patch is a little known problem of turf in amateur lawn circles but one that has an incredible impact in ensuring consistent colour, growth, nutrient status, run of the ball and most of all visual impact and continuity of grass cover.

We have seen a lot of lawn and turf areas turning brown or mottled following a couple of dry weeks back end of May, but this problem has nothing to do with lack of rain or potential drought. 

The rain today, as this is typed, will really help but more work is required to alleviate the problem going forward.

Indigo Garden Spray Dye solves garden treatment problems

When Gardeners make liquid or chemical applications to their lawn, they are faced with a big dilemma - how can they mark where they have sprayed already?

Professional Turf Managers have been using Spray Pattern Indicator Dyes for decades but these have never been widely available before to the amateur lawn owner. 

Turf Managers also use what is called a foam bout marker on their large sprayers which leaves a trace blob of foam down the travelled run of the fairway so that the operator can match up with the last pass on the return run.  The foam soon disappears after an hour via sunlight.

When Gardeners make liquid or chemical applications to their lawn, they are faced with a big dilemma - how can they mark where they have sprayed already?

Professional Turf Managers have been using Spray Pattern Indicator Dyes for decades but these have never been widely available before to the amateur lawn owner. 

Turf Managers also use what is called a foam bout marker on their large sprayers which leaves a trace blob of foam down the travelled run of the fairway so that the operator can match up with the last pass on the return run.  The foam soon disappears after an hour via sunlight.

When Gardeners make liquid or chemical applications to their lawn, they are faced with a big dilemma - how can they mark where they have sprayed already?

Professional Turf Managers have been using Spray Pattern Indicator Dyes for decades but these have never been widely available before to the amateur lawn owner. 

Turf Managers also use what is called a foam bout marker on their large sprayers which leaves a trace blob of foam down the travelled run of the fairway so that the operator can match up with the last pass on the return run.  The foam soon disappears after an hour via sunlight.

When Gardeners make liquid or chemical applications to their lawn, they are faced with a big dilemma - how can they mark where they have sprayed already?

Professional Turf Managers have been using Spray Pattern Indicator Dyes for decades but these have never been widely available before to the amateur lawn owner. 

Turf Managers also use what is called a foam bout marker on their large sprayers which leaves a trace blob of foam down the travelled run of the fairway so that the operator can match up with the last pass on the return run.  The foam soon disappears after an hour via sunlight.