1. Watering

Start watering the turf as soon as you have laid it. This is very important. Never let the turf dry out in the first 2-3 weeks or until the roots have gone well down into the soil. When you water, make sure that the underside of the turf and the first 50mm of topsoil is damp. The best way to check this is to lift the corner of several turfs to see if the soil is damp underneath. Try to water little and often, rather than flooding the lawn, so that the soil does not become soggy. If you over-water, you may find it difficult to mow without leaving footprints in the turf. Another problem with over watering is that it encourages the development of lawn diseases. Don’t water too late in the evening because the grass stays wet overnight, and this too can lead to disease. Even after the critical first few weeks are over, you may have to check that the soil has not dried up. If there are any signs of the turf drying out – Water it Immediately.

2. Mowing

Start mowing when the roots have anchored the turf to the soil. This is generally after 1-2 weeks in the summer, and 2-3 weeks at other times. Do not cut the grass too short. It is very important to reduce the height of the grass slowly over the first few weeks. If you mow it short straight away, it will shock the grass and may cause permanent damage. Set the mower at its highest setting for the first cut, and then gradually reduce the height over the next few weeks. The general rule is never to cut more than one third of the leaf at any one time. Never mow lower than 15mm.  Generally speaking, the more you mow your lawn, the better it will be.  In the Spring when the grass is growing most strongly, you should be mowing your lawn at least once a week. If you mow it only once every two or three weeks the lawn will begin to look sparse and the colour will become uneven. Frequent, regular mowing stimulates the production of shoots (called tillers) at the base of the plant, and helps to produce a dense, high quality lawn.

3. Feeding

If you don’t feed your lawn it will slowly get weaker, allowing moss, weed grasses and broad-leaved weeds to invade. The grass plant is no different from any other plant in needing three basic elements to thrive: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (known as N P and K). These elements are present in lawn food. When you see a figure like 27:5:5 on a fertiliser pack, it refers to the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium in the feed. In this case, you are getting 27% nitrogen, 5% phosphorous, and 5% potassium. This is called the fertiliser analysis. Feed your lawn each Spring with lawn feed rich in nitrogen at the recommended rate. The latest technology in fertilisers means that one application will last nine months (slow release fertiliser). An application of lawn feed in September is a good idea to help the lawn through the winter. Choose a pre-winter feed with extra potassium to help protect your lawn against disease.

4. Weed Control

Grasshopper Landscape Maintenance Turf arrives completely free of weeds. A dense, healthy lawn will make it difficult for weeds to encroach, so regular maintenance will go a long way to keeping it weed free. Hand weeding will deal with small numbers of weeds, and ensure that the numbers do not build up. If a herbicide becomes necessary, use a proprietary weed killer at the recommended rate.

5. Moss Control

The best defence against moss is to keep your lawn strong and healthy. Weak grass growth can be caused by a number of factors: waterlogging, shade, mowing too short, too little fertiliser, drought. Try to correct the cause of the problem. However, moss will tend to creep into even the best lawns, and so to keep it at bay, apply a moss killer once a year. Remember that once moss is well established in a lawn it is much more difficult to eradicate. Preventative applications of moss killer every spring or autumn from the start is a better strategy.

6. Disease Control

Diseases will rarely trouble a well-maintained lawn. Only use fungicides as a last resort. However, one disease that appears to be more prevalent now is Fusarium patch. This is probably due to milder winters. The disease occurs during periods of still, misty weather when the temperature is between 0 and 10 degrees C. You can identify it by the cotton wool-like growth in the centre of the patch. The disease spreads through the water film on the grass leaf. One of the best ways of discouraging the disease is to use a slow release fertiliser in the early autumn to ensure that the grass is not too lush going into the winter. Another way of reducing the chance of getting Fusarium is to brush the lawns in the morning to remove the dew. This is known as switching, and is a daily job for golf greenkeepers up and down the country during the autumn and winter months.

7. Pest Control

Milder winters are bad news for lawn owners. Take leatherjackets for example. We have seen a dramatic rise in numbers of this pest over the last few years, and we think it is due to more of them surviving the winter. The best time to control them is when they are small i.e. late August / early September. We recommend using Leatherjacket Killer, containing nematodes. Nematodes are a very effective biological control when used at the correct time. They are less effective when used in the spring when the leatherjackets are much bigger and tougher.  Late summer is also the best time to use Chafer Grub Killer for chafer grubs.

8. Aeration

Grass roots need air in order to support healthy growth. In a well-structured soil, there are lots of natural air pockets. During wet weather the soil becomes soft, and if the lawn is used heavily the soil structure is damaged, the air pockets are destroyed, and grass growth suffers. Aeration is a means of getting air back into the soil by punching holes into the lawn to a depth of about 100mm. All lawns benefit from aeration at some stage, with heavily used lawns needing treatment more often. It is possible to aerate small areas with a garden fork, but it is very hard work! You may be able to hire a mechanical aerator, but it is quite expensive each time you hire it. A third option is to buy a roller spiker, which makes the job very easy, and means you can go out and aerate your lawn any time you want.  For badly compacted areas of the lawn you may have to use a lawn corer, which takes plugs of soil out of the lawn. This allows more air into the soil.

9. Scarification

Some species of grass produce more horizontal growth than others, and this can build up to a point where it needs to be removed to allow healthy growth. Scarifying is really a pruning process, and is done using vertical blades that cut into the top of the turf mat.
The frequency of scarifying necessary depends upon the type of turf, and the maintenance regime. For example, a turf containing ryegrass needs very little, if any, scarifying because of the tufted growth characteristic of the ryegrass. A turf containing no ryegrass is likely to need scarifying at least very two years because of the lateral growth of bents, fescues, and smooth stalked meadow grass. In addition, if the turf is regularly fertilised and watered, the growth rate will increase, resulting in a faster build-up of the turf mat. In this situation, lawns will benefit from scarifying every year, preferably during the early autumn.

If you have any questions regarding your lawn, get in touch with us. We at Grasshoppers Landscape Maintenance would be happy to provide you with a suitable programme for your Lawn, or advice on any of the above individual step by step process.

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