Tips And Advice

We work as hard as you do when it comes to creating a beautiful lawn, so here we empty out our knowledge to help you get the very best during the weeks when we are not there.  Below you will find plenty of lawn care tips, advice and helpful pointers.

Ongoing regular maintenance after we have treated your lawn is the most important thing you can do to ensure your lawn looks superb. Remember we are only here for a short while, once every 10 weeks. What you do in the meantime can transform a nice looking lawn into a superb lawn.

Our proprietary controlled feed and weed kill treatment will keep it in high spirits, but there is a lot that can be done to maintain it. Here are some tips you can use to get your lawn to a superb level.

From scratch, most lawns can be transformed from a weed-infested bare patch lawn to a thick luscious lawn in as little as just 10 weeks. We have rescued many lawns which were destined for a re-turf, and turned them into lawns to be proud of.

One golden rule is regular mowing. Really, it is! If a lawn is left to grow long, then the bottom grass doesn’t get enough sunlight and starts to go Brown/Yellow. This is your lawn trying to tell you something!
Most average lawns are at their happiest if they are cut around 3 times a fortnight. Once a week is still OK though and good enough for most lawns.

Noticing a Silvery shine or tinge to your grass? Take a closer look. Pull one of the grass blades for an inspection. Many blades will seem Yellow, sheared or ripped at the tip. This is caused when your mower blade is losing it’s sharp edge it needs. Many hardware or mower shops sharpen blades for less than £5 to £10 these days.
Instead of performing a clean cut, the blade bends and stretches the grass, splitting and stretching the end, causing a shiny or white tipped lawn.
Simply resharpen once a year to keep your blade in tip top condition. Don’t forget if you mow over a stone this can also chip your blade causing the above. Do not mow a wet lawn as the above stretching and stressing can occur too.

Try to get used to a lawn with a blade of grass around 1 inch to 1.5 inches (3 to 5 centimetres) in length. It is not absolutely essential to have it at an inch. Everyone has their own personal preference. However a strong healthy, thick and luscious lawn is achieved from having a blade of grass that extends about 1 inch above the soil.
The only exception is that if the lawn has a large amount of moss or thatch in it, then ensure that there is about 1 inch of grass above the level of moss.
Why do we say this? When the grass blade extends 1 inch, there is sufficient surface area which is exposed to sunlight. This allows the grass to go through a process called photosynthesis, whereby it creates a sugar which feeds itself. This keeps the grass strong, and more easily able to fend off lawn diseases and pests.

Leave the grass slightly longer during hot weather.

A lawn cut very short can attract lawn diseases and pests such as red thread, dry patch, leatherjackets and chafer grubs.
A lawn cut too long can weaken the grass, leaving it unhealthy and will suffer more from dry areas, Yellowing and Browning.

Offer it a drink! Your lawn is a living breathing plant. Just like your household windowsill plants like a drink of water, so does your lawn.
As soon as the symptoms of drought appear(which can even be during early spring on sandy lawns!), your lawn will be getting thirsty and need watering. The first signs will be when the lawn starts to go dull, leaves turning Yellow, then Brown and prolonged drought makes the grass crowns shrivel.
Remove those leaves as fast as you can. Leaves, which accumulate and build up will decay. The grass underneath cannot get to the sunlight and your lawn weakens. This has a roll on effect of encouraging further moss growth and infestations of diseases and grubs.

Points to remember:

We are feeding and weed killing your lawn, as well as providing advice to help you create a fantastic lawn. Sadly we are not here on a weekly basis to maintain and keep an eye on your lawn, therefore if you follow the advice given then you can turn an ordinary lawn into a beautiful thick lawn.

Even just an hour a week of attention can make a huge difference!

Most times we find out that customer unhappiness is because one or two of the tips provided are not being adhered to. Quite simple to remedy however!

Weeds will take up to six weeks to die. Not all weeds can be killed, but we can comfortably handle the vast majority of the unsightly ones out there. Some of the difficult weeds can take 2 applications.

Our fertilizers are proprietary in that they release a controlled mixture of nutrients over 10 weeks, so in fact if you were to break it down, you can have a beautiful lawn from as little as £1.40 per week!

Our professional weed killers will kill most weeds within 6 weeks of application. It is therefore very important that you do not cut your lawn 3 days before or 3 days after we have been. This allows the weeds to develop large leaves, and the bigger the leaf, the more of our weedkiller can be taken in(systemically) down to the root zone and killing the weed. Please also note that this leads on to the fact that we can only kill the weeds which are present at the time of application. If any new weeds develop during the following weeks our weedkiller will sadly not have an effect. You can either pull the weeds out yourself or wait until we come again, which is around every 10 weeks.

If you have any shady areas where sparse grass growth is noted, it is best to re-seed during April and do all you can to remove some of the shade.

Shade and damp are 2 of the few things we have to contend with as lawn care professionals. These two are responsible for moss build up, water logging, poor lawns and more. If you can remove these then things always drastically improve. Sometimes applying some sharp sand to your lawn can provide huge relief from moss. This can be raked over the lawn during Autumn or after a Hollow-Tine-Aeration lawn beneficial.

Common complaints and remedies:

My lawn looks patchy and Brown!
Solution: Make sure your mowing is regular, cutting to about 1 inch. Make sure nothing is left on the lawn for long periods of time(leaves, garden furniture, toys and balls can all prevent light from getting to your lawn. If you have a pet which likes to urinate on the lawn be sure to dilute the area with plenty of water immediately after the dog(or cat) has been. Install a sprinkler in any area where a dog or animal urinates and be prepared to use it.

My pet keeps going to the toilet on my lawn!
There are things you may want to consider trying. Firstly, some pet owners say that adding Tomato Ketchup to your pets food is enough to prevent Yellow areas of grass.
Some owners also swear by some special stones you can purchase and put in your pets water bowl.

For every owner who tells us it does work though, there are unfortunately plenty more who say it does not work.

The best option is to prevent your pet from using your lawn in this manner, or try to train him or her to use just one “out of sight” area by fencing off the best areas. Alternatively a remedy is to dilute the area immediately after your pet has been to the toilet by applying copious amounts of water. Install a sprinkler in any area where a dog or animal urinates and be prepared to use it on a daily basis – small and often is the key here. Small and often watering is a better than “over-watering” infrequently.

My grass is dying before my eyes!
Call us in right away. Your lawn may be infested with leatherjackets (Crane-fly or daddy long legs) which are dark Brown or Black grubs. You may also have Chafer grubs which are white curled grubs.
Both of these grubs eat at your grass roots. If you notice lots of birds diving to your lawn, pulling pieces out then this is a strong indicator. You could dig down to the root zone with a trowel to see. We can help with a proprietary treatment.

I’ve got moss in my lawn and you said you would get rid of it!
Moss is a natural part of nature. Our job is to fight off moss, but there are several outside things which are sadly beyond our help and can only be rectified by you. The main thing to note is that you have to get rid of the CAUSE OF MOSS. Damp, shady conditions…

If these are in situ then you will always have moss issues every year.

Try adding some sharp or gardening sand to help soak away damp. Have your lawn scarified and hollow tine aerated once per year if needed to remove the build up of thatch in your lawn(which holds onto moisture, and to relieve compaction in your lawn allowing nutrients and water to flow down more easily.

When we scarify, we remove thatch (a yearly build up of dead grass, seeds from birds and the wind), and this takes away a fair bit of moss at the same time, and helps to fight the cause of moss.

I’ve got lots and lots of ants!
Use a spade, push the spade down into the ant hill and gently wiggle the spade back and forth until a slight opening appears in your lawn. Apply plenty of Ant powder(available at most supermarkets and garden centres) and then close the gap.

You could also pour boiling water but this sadly kills your lawn too.

My lawn has actually looked worse since you started coming!
Are you following all our tips? An untreated lawn will run itself fairly regularly each year and provide you with an average or poor and unsightly lawn.
When we treat lawns, all we are doing is we are making the soil more fertile. This causes your lawn to grow quicker, and you will have to care for your lawn more regularly than you might not have done before. A fertile lawn without regular maintenance will quickly grow long, weaken, go Brown and Yellow and look tired.
If you took vitamins only and do not drink water, what would happen? You would die. Your body and the grass needs water to survive. Water is the most basic need other than oxygen, or carbon dioxide in the case of plants. The other problem is if you add fertilizer to a plant, it needs water to transfer it to its cells. Without this delivery device, the fertilizer is useless and can actually harm the plant instead of helping it. A gentle sprinkle of water once per week during periods of drought for just 10 minutes is what we would consider a minor inconvenience to having a beautiful lush lawn (only if there is no rain). If you have got no outside watering system, a good walk up and down with a watering can will help with the transfer of nutrients.

Why are the additional treatments, including scarification and aeration an extra cost? I thought it was all in with the price!
Unfortunately we simply can not fertilize, weed kill, apply several additional treatments, aerate and scarify all for as little as £1.40 per week. As a business we have overheads to cover. We believe that you can not treat your lawn yourself any cheaper than what it costs for you to get the professionals in.

We can of course offer you an exclusive opportunity to have the “full works” for a simple monthly outlay. Ask about our hands-off, stress free direct debit option. Please talk to your expert about breaking down the costs into easily managed payments, giving you the chance to cover the cost of aeration, scarification and the proprietary feed and weed service on a monthly basis instead of “having to find large sums of money” especially as most of our lawn improver work(aeration and scarification) is undertook around the Christmas period!

Extra treatments are available!

For busy people we have a range of additional treatments we can offer you to assist with the maintenance of your lawn.

We really want your lawn to look SUPERB! We are fanatical about lawns.

Water Conserver.
This unique treatment can be applied to your lawn during late April/May when there is plenty of rain.
This means that lawns do not need watering as often as normal. It is also useful for lawns which suffer from drought. All you do is thoroughly wet your lawn before we apply the solution, and then apply water afterwards. The special solution holds the water to the root zone of your lawn!

Red Thread fungicide.
Red thread is a disease which affects a large number of lawns. It forms pink patches of grass, sometimes with Red, needle-like tips to the blades. It often occurs after excessive wet conditions or dew.
An application will protect the lawn for up to 6 weeks if wet conditions continue. A drier climate can mean that Red Thread stays away for up to 1 year, but the UK climate is not often that dry!
You can also help fight off Red Thread by ensuring your grass is mown to about 1 inch.
Other tips involve getting rid of the cause of damp or shade. Many homes have damp shady areas so it is difficult to totally eliminate these situations.

Worm castings.
(Treated in September when the worms come to the surface and push the soil mounds up). We can treat your lawn to help cut down on the number of worm castings. Remember it is only nature we are fighting against, and we do all we can to keep your lawn looking beautiful all year round.

For any further advice, or a friendly chat please give us a call any time. We are more than happy to chat and help you get your lawn on the right track. After all it’s what we love doing!