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

Controlling Ants with Combat Max

We love our Readers, especially when they pass us useful tips of advice.  Here is one from one loyal reader about a new product to control Ants in your home and garden.

Advion ant bait is apparently exceptional for getting rid of ants in your house.

It's not available in the UK but a similar product is called combat Max. It's a bait that slowly posions the ants. So slow in fact that they carry it back to the best and die there. Ants eat their dead so the dead and infects the rest of the colony eventually wiping it out.

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, the nests tend to come back a couple of week short later so it does turn into quite an expensive way to treat them. But it is EFFECTIVE!

Pesticide Training Modules Available for Self-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?

This week, we have been training at a Local Authority, which was fun as it was a bit cold doing the practical for PA6A Knapsack!  We survived!  If you do not have time to take work time off for training, there is an alternative service we can provide for candidates needing their NPTC paperwork.  Read on:

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?

This week, we have been training at a Local Authority, which was fun as it was a bit cold doing the practical for PA6A Knapsack!  We survived!  If you do not have time to take work time off for training, there is an alternative service we can provide for candidates needing their NPTC paperwork.  Read on:

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?

This week, we have been training at a Local Authority, which was fun as it was a bit cold doing the practical for PA6A Knapsack!  We survived!  If you do not have time to take work time off for training, there is an alternative service we can provide for candidates needing their NPTC paperwork.  Read on:

Watering a newly turved lawn

Turf is a live product and will quickly curl up and go brown and die if it is not laid quickly following it's arrival on site and the watering process commences straight away, especially if no rain is forecast.

You do not have to drench it, adopt a little and often approach and take time to physically look at the turf and underneath it to see if your watering efforts are effective.

There is nothing like the eveness of natural rain compared to artificial watering and remember that a lot of the water volume you apply will naturally evaporate if the weather is hot and/or windy during the turfing process and afterwards. Once turf dries out, it is very difficult to get wet again and if you over water, the turf will literally rot.

Turf is a live product and will quickly curl up and go brown and die if it is not laid quickly following it's arrival on site and the watering process commences straight away, especially if no rain is forecast.

You do not have to drench it, adopt a little and often approach and take time to physically look at the turf and underneath it to see if your watering efforts are effective.

There is nothing like the eveness of natural rain compared to artificial watering and remember that a lot of the water volume you apply will naturally evaporate if the weather is hot and/or windy during the turfing process and afterwards. Once turf dries out, it is very difficult to get wet again and if you over water, the turf will literally rot.

Lawn Treatment Company Vs Do it Yourself

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.

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.

Nematodes - a simple and effective way to control multi garden pests

Forget about the once complicated and daunting world of pest control; the modern domestic gardener uses the sophisticated, yet simple, biological method of simply watering on nematodes.

Nematodes are micro-organisms which occur naturally in the soil where they hunt down and attack pests, with each nematode species having its own specific prey, meaning that they will harm their prey, and only their prey.  BASF has the largest specialist nematode production facility in the EU – and the only one in Britain - growing trillions of beneficial nematodes for use in their Nemasys range of pest controls.

Forget about the once complicated and daunting world of pest control; the modern domestic gardener uses the sophisticated, yet simple, biological method of simply watering on nematodes.

Nematodes are micro-organisms which occur naturally in the soil where they hunt down and attack pests, with each nematode species having its own specific prey, meaning that they will harm their prey, and only their prey.  BASF has the largest specialist nematode production facility in the EU – and the only one in Britain - growing trillions of beneficial nematodes for use in their Nemasys range of pest controls.

Forget about the once complicated and daunting world of pest control; the modern domestic gardener uses the sophisticated, yet simple, biological method of simply watering on nematodes.

Nematodes are micro-organisms which occur naturally in the soil where they hunt down and attack pests, with each nematode species having its own specific prey, meaning that they will harm their prey, and only their prey.  BASF has the largest specialist nematode production facility in the EU – and the only one in Britain - growing trillions of beneficial nematodes for use in their Nemasys range of pest controls.

Forget about the once complicated and daunting world of pest control; the modern domestic gardener uses the sophisticated, yet simple, biological method of simply watering on nematodes.

Nematodes are micro-organisms which occur naturally in the soil where they hunt down and attack pests, with each nematode species having its own specific prey, meaning that they will harm their prey, and only their prey.  BASF has the largest specialist nematode production facility in the EU – and the only one in Britain - growing trillions of beneficial nematodes for use in their Nemasys range of pest controls.

Summer Lawn Weed Control

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

The weeds in the lawn are really going for it as there is plenty of moisture and few dry days to apply a selective weed killer.

The internal biological 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!

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

The weeds in the lawn are really going for it as there is plenty of moisture and few dry days to apply a selective weed killer.

The internal biological 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!

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

The weeds in the lawn are really going for it as there is plenty of moisture and few dry days to apply a selective weed killer.

The internal biological 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!

Indigo Garden Spray Dye is Amazon's Choice Product

When lawn owners 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. 

Indigo Garden Spray Dye is still an Amazon Choice Product.

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 lawn owners 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. 

Indigo Garden Spray Dye is still an Amazon Choice Product.

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 lawn owners 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. 

Indigo Garden Spray Dye is still an Amazon Choice Product.

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 lawn owners 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. 

Indigo Garden Spray Dye is still an Amazon Choice Product.

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.

Britain's Bumblebees were hit by weather extremes in 2018

Weather extremes in 2018 caused most of the UK's 24 bumblebee species to suffer a decline in population, according to a new report claims The Daily Mail.

Bumblebees saw a later than usual start to their season as the icy 'Beast from the East' hit in late February and early March.  This was followed by heatwave and drought in the summer that took away much of their food source.

A few rare warm-weather bumblebee species like the Shrill Carder bee thrived as they usually emerge later and dealt better with the hotter conditions. 

This is not good news for the Bees but perhaps Pesticides are not to blame.  They are just an easy target to attract blame and criticism.

Lawn Advice from The Lawn Shop

The weather has been a bit dry with only 13 days of rain in March and some ultra high temperatures last Easter Weekend peaking at 26.4 degrees centigrade and only 5 days of rain in the month to date giving us 14.6mm and today is the 25th of April.  Madness, and not really helpful to lawn owners and Gardeners.

You should be well into the swing of mowing your lawns now but we are not really confident that we have seen the spring rush of growth.  A lot of lawn owners are holding back applying lawn treatments like fertiliser and weed killer as the lawns are quite stressed.  You should avoid applying lawn products in times of drought and a drought is defined as 13 days of no rain and we are will into this time frame now.

Managing Editor is a RHS Lawn and Turf Speaker & Judge

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.'  

Mike has been included in the Royal Horticultural Society Speaker and Judge online listings to give talks about lawns or judge lawns and turf at gardening shows.

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.'  

Mike has been included in the Royal Horticultural Society Speaker and Judge online listings to give talks about lawns or judge lawns and turf at gardening shows.

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.'  

Mike has been included in the Royal Horticultural Society Speaker and Judge online listings to give talks about lawns or judge lawns and turf at gardening shows.

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.'  

Mike has been included in the Royal Horticultural Society Speaker and Judge online listings to give talks about lawns or judge lawns and turf at gardening shows.

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.'  

Mike has been included in the Royal Horticultural Society Speaker and Judge online listings to give talks about lawns or judge lawns and turf at gardening shows.

Spring your Lawn into Life

With the Country currently in the grips of Storm Gareth, the weather is hardly encouranging people to get outside to make a start on their gardens through fear of being hit by a stray branch debris or a roof tile. Hard hats at the ready!

Still, thinking back to last year and the 'Beast from the East', with a zero spring-time, this March has been a whole lot better so let's not complain about the weather quite yet.  The weather was so nice and sunny a few weeks back.

With the Country currently in the grips of Storm Gareth, the weather is hardly encouranging people to get outside to make a start on their gardens through fear of being hit by a stray branch debris or a roof tile. Hard hats at the ready!

Still, thinking back to last year and the 'Beast from the East', with a zero spring-time, this March has been a whole lot better so let's not complain about the weather quite yet.  The weather was so nice and sunny a few weeks back.

CastClear Amenity tackling earthworm casts in Sports Turf

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 have be used up by 31 August 2017 under the ruling.

Professional Sportsturf Managers really struggled last autumn and again this spring 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.

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 have be used up by 31 August 2017 under the ruling.

Professional Sportsturf Managers really struggled last autumn and again this spring 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.

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 have be used up by 31 August 2017 under the ruling.

Professional Sportsturf Managers really struggled last autumn and again this spring 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.

Nematodes are a simple and effective way to control multi garden pests

Forget about the once complicated and daunting world of pest control; the modern domestic gardener uses the sophisticated, yet simple, biological method of simply watering on nematodes.

Nematodes are micro-organisms which occur naturally in the soil where they hunt down and attack pests, with each nematode species having its own specific prey, meaning that they will harm their prey, and only their prey.  BASF has the largest specialist nematode production facility in the EU – and the only one in Britain - growing trillions of beneficial nematodes for use in their Nemasys range of pest controls.

Forget about the once complicated and daunting world of pest control; the modern domestic gardener uses the sophisticated, yet simple, biological method of simply watering on nematodes.

Nematodes are micro-organisms which occur naturally in the soil where they hunt down and attack pests, with each nematode species having its own specific prey, meaning that they will harm their prey, and only their prey.  BASF has the largest specialist nematode production facility in the EU – and the only one in Britain - growing trillions of beneficial nematodes for use in their Nemasys range of pest controls.

Forget about the once complicated and daunting world of pest control; the modern domestic gardener uses the sophisticated, yet simple, biological method of simply watering on nematodes.

Nematodes are micro-organisms which occur naturally in the soil where they hunt down and attack pests, with each nematode species having its own specific prey, meaning that they will harm their prey, and only their prey.  BASF has the largest specialist nematode production facility in the EU – and the only one in Britain - growing trillions of beneficial nematodes for use in their Nemasys range of pest controls.

Service your Lawn Mower now!

Spare a thought for your lawn mower.  It's been in the garage or shed getting cold and damp for the past couple of months yet yearing to get back out there soon and get to work.  But what happens if it fails to turn over and spark into life?  

The world famous lawn mower engine manufacturers Briggs & Stratton have some handy tips to help the lawn owner should problems arise. 

Always read the manufacturers manual / handbook before attempting anything and remove the spark plug lead from the spark plug.

Spare a thought for your lawn mower.  It's been in the garage or shed getting cold and damp for the past couple of months yet yearing to get back out there soon and get to work.  But what happens if it fails to turn over and spark into life?  

The world famous lawn mower engine manufacturers Briggs & Stratton have some handy tips to help the lawn owner should problems arise. 

Always read the manufacturers manual / handbook before attempting anything and remove the spark plug lead from the spark plug.

Spare a thought for your lawn mower.  It's been in the garage or shed getting cold and damp for the past couple of months yet yearing to get back out there soon and get to work.  But what happens if it fails to turn over and spark into life?  

The world famous lawn mower engine manufacturers Briggs & Stratton have some handy tips to help the lawn owner should problems arise. 

Always read the manufacturers manual / handbook before attempting anything and remove the spark plug lead from the spark plug.

Lawn Shop open this weekend

The weather is a bit up and down and not over favourable to head off out into the garden to see how it has survived the winter doldrums.

We have seen a few mowers being warmed up on our travels but these are in the minority.  The majority of lawns are still looking a bit tatty with winter debris over them but our Managing Editor has given his lawns a bit of a sprng time trim to tidy them up so there is hope for the rest of us now!

The weather is a bit up and down and not over favourable to head off out into the garden to see how it has survived the winter doldrums.

We have seen a few mowers being warmed up on our travels but these are in the minority.  The majority of lawns are still looking a bit tatty with winter debris over them but our Managing Editor has given his lawns a bit of a sprng time trim to tidy them up so there is hope for the rest of us now!