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

Curing 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 had two really dry summers with a lot of rain since mid September to date but these dry patches will return so be prepared!

You may notice a darkening halo on parts of the lawn, visible from the upstairs window. This is a good indicator that the soil underneath is starting to or has dried out.

Fixing Dry Patches in your Lawn

Let's face it - we have had two really dry summers in the past two years.

If you are wondering how to fix dry patches in your lawn to get rid of them, the answer lays with Lawn Quencher - Lawn Dry Patch Remedy.

Nothing will grow in the garden without water and in these dry, crusty lawn patches, the soil underneath the surface is as dry as it could ever be.

This clever 75 gram wetting agent tablet will:

Pesticides blamed for Bee and Insect Loss

Approximately half of all insects have been lost since 1970 due to the heavy use of pesticides, which could spell disaster for all life on Earth, a new report suggests. 

Yep, once again, Pesticides getting a slating in the Media once more.

Conservationists have called for action to be taken to halt the 'unnoticed insect apocalypse' in order to prevent a 'catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems'.

Leading ecologists at the University of Sussex, who carried out the report for the Wildlife Trusts, revealed that 40 per cent of the one million known insect species are now nearing extinction.

Garden Innovation from The Lawn Company Team

The Team at The Lawn Company who created, manufacture and distribute Indigo Garden Spray Dye are an innovative lot whom are capable of taking products that are widely used in the professional sports turf industry and scaling them down to benefit lawn owners and gardeners alike.

The scary thing about some of the much larger UK garden chemical companies is that thay may have an amenity (golf course) and consumer (homeowner) side to their business structure yet they suprisingly fail to bridge the gap.

Get Qualified to use Professional Pesticides

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.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy

It's not often that we write about a book here but the fact that artist Charlie Mackesy was featuring a Mole in his New York Times Bestseller was a good enough excuse to tell you about it:

The Sunday Times Bestseller and New York Times Bestseller. Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year.

The tenuous link here is that Moles love Earthworms and CastClear controls their sticky and muddy casts on your lawn.  Are we forgiven now?

Grass Poppy Pyramids alongside the M8 Motorway

These stunning pictures show three giant poppies which have been painted on pyramids along Scotland's busiest motorway.

The eye-catching flower tributes were created on the famous grass pyramids close to the M8 near Bathgate in West Lothian.

Poppyscotland, the charity supporting ex-servicemen and women, painted the beautiful tribute to raise awareness of the Royal British Legion's annual Poppy Appeal.

Don't stop mowing your lawn yet...

It is quite mild in the South East and the grass is still growing, albeit at a slightly slower rate than a month ago with cooler nights setting in.

Do not plan to stop mowing your lawn quite yet, maybe twice a month for November and once a month for December and January.

The turf grasses will not stop growing but it will be a little difficult for new grass seed to germinate out of the formal growing season.

Lawn Seed sown some eight weeks ago should be at around three to four leaves stages (number of leaves) now and these will continue to develop over the winter.

Tackle you Garden Weeds

A couple of friends recently came up with the same comment following their attempts at weed control in their gardens.  They had both applied a branded total weed killer on their gravel and pathways and remarked after a few days following application that "The weeds have not gone yet."

When I asked of them "When did you apply the control product?" they said only a few days ago to which I replied "You are expecting too much, please be patient."  Their observations on the speed of the mode of action of single active ingredient or a blend of active ingredients is rather common so a little bit of advice may be required in choice of product for the time of year follows.

A couple of friends recently came up with the same comment following their attempts at weed control in their gardens.  They had both applied a branded total weed killer on their gravel and pathways and remarked after a few days following application that "The weeds have not gone yet."

When I asked of them "When did you apply the control product?" they said only a few days ago to which I replied "You are expecting too much, please be patient."  Their observations on the speed of the mode of action of single active ingredient or a blend of active ingredients is rather common so a little bit of advice may be required in choice of product for the time of year follows.

How to count Earthworm Populations in your Lawn

No-tillers Farmers who are trying to get a better handle on counting Earthworm  populations might try a method used in France to find more individual species.  But the trusty spade is quicker and cheaper for most.

The undisputed indicator of healthy soil is the presence of Earthworms in the soil profile. There are various methods of sampling or extraction to estimate the level of worm communities and analyze the different species present.

But what method is best? Two extraction methods — one chemical and one mechanical — are commonly used in the field. The chemical approach involves pouring a mustard solution onto the soil while the mechanical method involves simply using a good spade.

Solving Dry Patches in Lawns

A Lawn Quencher Wetting Agent Tablet is a fantastic remedy to solving dry patches on lawns.

We have had two consectutive dry summers and there are a lot of crusty lawn patches there and also drought damaged lawns too.

Some dead patches may be dog urine burns that have been left to fester. Ideal in this scenario, ahead of re seeding.

NOTHING will grow in these dry crusty areas until you can manage to get them wet again and this involves using a wetting agent tablet to break down the hard crust ahead of renovating the lawn.

November Lawn Care Tasks

It's firework season this coming weekend so that means that is may be windy and wet later!  Currently the forecast states dry for Saturday evening in the South East and wet for Sunday evening and wet and windy for Guy Fawkes night.

At this time of year, the lawn will be dew covered for most of the day on a dry, still day.  The grasses will have slowed down but growth will not stop.  We have not had a lot of frosts as yet which is always good and the lawn should be mown about twice monthly this month, less if we get nightime frosts.

If you get chance this coming weekend to get out into the garden and chase some leaves around, here is a list of lawn care tasks that you could do if ground conditions permit:

It's firework season this coming weekend so that means that is may be windy and wet later!  Currently the forecast states dry for Saturday evening in the South East and wet for Sunday evening and wet and windy for Guy Fawkes night.

At this time of year, the lawn will be dew covered for most of the day on a dry, still day.  The grasses will have slowed down but growth will not stop.  We have not had a lot of frosts as yet which is always good and the lawn should be mown about twice monthly this month, less if we get nightime frosts.

If you get chance this coming weekend to get out into the garden and chase some leaves around, here is a list of lawn care tasks that you could do if ground conditions permit:

Dyeing to see where you have treated with a garden sprayer

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

Happy Halloween from the Grass Clippings Team

Autumn is the traditional time when the majority of lawn owners get to grip with clearing the leaves that have fallen over their lawn.  Also at the end of this month, there is Halloween.  Autumn is also a key lawn renovation time.

­O­ne obvious question about Halloween is, "What does the word itself mean?" 

The name is actually a shortened version of "All Hallows' Even," the eve of All Hallows' Day. "Hallow" is an Old English word for "holy person," and All Hallows' Day is simply another name for All Saints' Day, the day Catholics commemorate all the saints. At some point, people began referring to All Hallows' Even as "Hallowe'en" and then simply "Halloween."

Autumn is the traditional time when the majority of lawn owners get to grip with clearing the leaves that have fallen over their lawn.  Also at the end of this month, there is Halloween.  Autumn is also a key lawn renovation time.

­O­ne obvious question about Halloween is, "What does the word itself mean?" 

The name is actually a shortened version of "All Hallows' Even," the eve of All Hallows' Day. "Hallow" is an Old English word for "holy person," and All Hallows' Day is simply another name for All Saints' Day, the day Catholics commemorate all the saints. At some point, people began referring to All Hallows' Even as "Hallowe'en" and then simply "Halloween."

Autumn is the traditional time when the majority of lawn owners get to grip with clearing the leaves that have fallen over their lawn.  Also at the end of this month, there is Halloween.  Autumn is also a key lawn renovation time.

­O­ne obvious question about Halloween is, "What does the word itself mean?" 

The name is actually a shortened version of "All Hallows' Even," the eve of All Hallows' Day. "Hallow" is an Old English word for "holy person," and All Hallows' Day is simply another name for All Saints' Day, the day Catholics commemorate all the saints. At some point, people began referring to All Hallows' Even as "Hallowe'en" and then simply "Halloween."

Top 10 Autumn Lawn Care Tips

Lawns often feature on the Royal Horticultural Society's Top 10 garden problems each year so why not have a top 10 lawn tips to help you through this autumn. The nights are closing in and ideal mowing days reducing dramatically. We have not had many frosts in the South East of England which is quite suprising for the end of October but you just know that winter is around the corner and we will soon be scraping the ice off the car windscreen in the morning and view frost on the lawn.