As lawn care experts, we have the knowledge to apply a range or techniques or treatments to turn patchy worn grass into a tennis lawn.
How to improve your lawn
As the grass cutting season starts in Spring, many people turn to the garden lawn which has been dormant all winter, to bring it back to life and turn it into a tennis lawn! How to improve your lawn? Here are Eco-Gardeners top-tips.
The winter can take its toll on your lawn, with frost and snow doing there best to harm your grass. However your grass is hardy and will usually come back strong in the spring, so how can I improve my lawn?
Many lawns suffer with moss, patches and inconsistent growth across the lawn. Here are some answers to the many questions we are asked at this time of year, how can I improve my lawn? We cannot promise to turn your grass into a lawn fit for Wimbledon, but we will try our best!
Water the lawn deeply
Lawns are thirsty, especially during prolonged dry spells. Watering your grass is vital, however it can be better to give it a really good soaking when you do water it. This is known was watering deeply and its recommend to do this 3 times per week, rather than a quick water everyday.
Watering deeply promotes the roots of the grass to grow deeper, making it stronger and more drought resistant. Watering daily will give your grass a shallow root system and less resistant. Install an outside tap and hose with a sprinkler can do the job. Make sure it waters all areas of the grass, and if not, manually soak the areas the sprinkler misses.
Rotate your trampoline
Trampolines feature in almost every garden in the UK with young children. However they are not great for your grass. They cast a shadow over a large patch of grass preventing sunlight and also block rain water.
Our best advice is to rotate the trampoline around your garden every few days. This means it does not damage one part of your lawn over time, but instead the grass gets time to recover. Just drag it to the four corners of your lawn every few days (especially on rainy days).
Scarify & Aerate
Overtime, your lawn gathers dirt, waste, thatch and dead growth which can impact the health of your lawn. In the same way a rug gathers dust, a lawn will have dead growth, moss and weeds. The lawn and its soil also becomes compacted over time which can prevent good growth. A good rake will do the job. Start on a small area and you should see moss and thatch coming up (just like the pictures below). For larger lawns, a scarifying machine will do the job over large areas.
Feed, Weed and Moss Killer
This is a great product and will feed your lawn. It will also kill weeds and also moss that hasn’t been removed by scarifying. The moss will turn black and die off, so the lawn may actually look worse, before it looks better. Expect some results in around 7 days, but check the packet as it can only be applied twice per season. Also grass shouldn’t be cut a few days before and a few days after applying. Follow the instructions carefully as its strong stuff, do not get in your eyes and quickly sweep off paths in case of staining.
Lawn Fertiliser
There are many types of lawn fertiliser, an example of one product is shown below. Sunshine and water alone will not get you a rich green lawn, so lawn food will give it some extra help. The one below can be applied using a simple watering can. For larger lawns, a hose pipe attachment can help spread the lawn food over a wider area.
Recycle Grass Cuttings
When we cut the lawn using a mower, most of us bag up the lawn cuttings into the green bin. But in fact, those cuttings can be a source of rich nutrients and food for your lawn. So long as they are small clippings, you can rake them across the lawn and they will break down back into the lawn. Professional lawn mowers have a ‘mulch’ facility automatically spreading the cuttings as a mulch on the lawn. Free lawn food!
Do not cut your grass too low
A common mistake is for people to cut their lawn very low. Its a common misconception because tennis lawns, bowling greens, and golf greens are also cut very low. However cutting a garden so low just encourages weed growth. Rule of thumb, never cut the grass by more than one third and avoid using the lowest cutting setting on the lawn mower.
Reseed at the correct time and not too much
Grass seed is common and you can buy it at most shops these days, including supermarkets. If you have soil patches on your lawn, simply rake up the soil (around 5 cm deep) and spread the grass seed. Do not use too much and spread the seeds out – otherwise they will compete for sun/water/nutrients and you will get poor growth. Following the instructions on the pack and be sure to water well.
Weed your lawn
Sounds obvious but try to avoid relying only on weed killer products. Much better to weed the lawn by hand. This will ensure you remove the weed and its roots, ensuring it doesn’t grow back. There are a wide range of weed removers, including those on poles to avoid back strain, or just get the professionals from Eco-Gardener to do the hard work for you!
About Us:
Eco-Gardener is an environmentally friendly gardening service. We provide all the normal garden services you would expect, but work sympathetically with your garden. We aim to recycle and reuse all garden material. We also sell a small range of garden products which are 100% recycled from local gardens including Eco-Mulch and Eco-Wood chippings. We off-set our vehicle carbon emissions and donate regularly to the Woodland Trust.
Contact us for a free no obligation quote.
We can do a range of jobs from taking down trees and hedges, pruning and cutting back, or regular garden maintenance. We can also do large one-off jobs such as a full garden clearance.
Experienced and professional yet small and local, your garden is in safe hands.
