Lawn Treatments
Lawn Nutrients
The components for a healthy lawn rely on the essential minerals Potassium, Nitrogen and Phosphorus. During the year in spring and autumn for that lovely lush green colour you will need Nitrogen, Phosphorus will encourage the root structures strength and the potassium will enhance the plants resistance to disease. All the commercial products will vary with the percentages of these minerals and contents; it is a good idea to always buy an established name, as in all things buy cheap buy twice:-
Feeding the Lawn -
When it comes to feeding your lawn it is dependent on its current condition. Over feeding a lawn can create new problems. Therefore it should be undertaken with care, and not to excess. There are all sorts of different combinations which are dependent on your soil type as much as anything. These can be chemical or organic. You can let your lawn self fertilize if you like by allowing every other cut to lay, and return the nutrients to the soil.
If you choose to improve the overall appearance you can purchase commercially a variety of balanced feeds. Some prefer, as I do, to create our own mix which I brush in at the beginning of the summer season. My usual mix is a top dressing of 50% peat and 50% sharp sand, with nitrogen thrown in for good measure for colour enhancement.
You can have your lawn analysed commercially and determine what would improve its condition or alternatively you can purchase kits from the internet or garden centres where you can analyse your soil type and adjust accordingly.
Weed and Feed –
These are commercial products which initially take the whole problem of weeds, feeding and controlling moss and deal with it in one treatment. This may be entirely suitable for the first time lawn maintenance program but once a good quality lawn has been established you will need to move onto products which are more specific. I only say that as hopefully you will not always need a product which combines a weed and moss killer and lawn feed all in one product.
Lawn spot weed products are readily available on the internet and from garden centres these are great because as soon as one of the weeds rears its ugly head you can zap it. Alternatively if you don’t like constantly using products on your lawn you can use a fork and lift the offender out. one item which I use which saves my back is my speedy weeder it stabs the weed and then with a twist you wiggle it out and dispose of it without having to bend down. More environmentally friendly than chemicals but obviously the choice is there for you.
Overseeding –
This is one of your lawn care treatments which is done as a preparation for the following year and is undertaken in October. The soil will not be sodden hopefully and it will still be growing albeit slowly. The conditions will the good for the new seed to germinate; this can take up to 14 days you will need to water the lawn if you haven’t had any rain.
