Caring for your Lawn
For gaining the perfect lawn there are many operations necessary. This article explores some of the techniques such as mowing, seeding, controlling thatch and aeration that will help you achieve a better lawn.
Mowing
Mowing is the most obvious job required in keeping any lawn or turfed area tidy, it is a job that should be carried out at regular intervals helping to maintain a near constant height for the grass and help maintain a healthy sward. The grass should not be left to grow overly high then cut as low as possible. Whilst this may mean fewer occasions cutting the grass, it will cause damage to the sward and also encourage moss and weeds to infest the lawn. Most lawns are suitable to be cut around 2/3 of an inch. Some ornamental or fine turf areas can be cut as low as 3/8 of an inch. Fine turf sports areas such as bowling greens and golf greens can be cut even lower!
When cutting the grass, a good guide is to cut it by about a third of the blade length. This way it will not shock the plant which could make it difficult for the plant to recover from mowing or leave the lawn open to moss and weed infestation.
Care should be taken to remove grass cuttings whenever possible. If grass cuttings are not collected it leads to thatch which requires further lawn treatment in the form of coring and scarifying.
Controlling Thatch
Thatch results from dead or decaying matter such as grass clippings lying at the foot of the blades of grass and can restrict the flow of water and oxygen to the roots of the grass plant. Thatch can also encourage moss and weed invasion, thus leading to thin grass cover and a lawn less resilient to wear and tear as well as the elements, such as browning in hot weather and deterioration under wear in wet weather.
One remedy for thatch removal is to scarify the turf. This involves a mechanised rake called a scarifier. As a regular maintenance procedure, scarification can aid healthy growth and keep surface disturbance to a minimum.
Scarifying should be carried out with at least two passes over the affected area in different directions but never at 90 degree angles to each other. You may also increase the depth of the scarifier blade for the second pass. Again, debris and grass cuttings should be collected off the surface to ensure the benefit of the scarification.
Once the scarifying has been completed it maybe required to seed the scarified area and water when possible if nature does not provide any natural irrigation.
Seeding
With regard to seeding, the correct seed needs to be chosen for the type of lawn. For example, if the lawn is shaded, choose a grass seed that is suitable for shaded areas. If the lawn has a high amount of traffic such as children or pets, a ryegrass seed is more suitable. For ornamental lawns a bentgrass seed can be used, but this type of lawn is less hardy and needs much more attention.
Aeration
Another procedure to aid plant growth and fight thatch is to aerate the turf. Aeration allows air and water to reach the root zone of the plant and encourage healthy sward growth. Aeration is also a method for relieving surface compaction on well trodden areas.
Aeration is carried out in a variety of ways. For a small lawn, a simple garden fork stamped into the ground and moved forwards and backwards will suffice. For larger areas, mechanised equipment can be used to cut down the labour element.
Aeration tends to be carried out in Spring in order to open the surface to warmer temperature and encourage plant growth, then again in the Autumn to relieve any compaction incurred during the Summer and allow the turf to open up ready for the winter rain.
Another method of aeration is to use ‘hollow tines’. These tine machines penetrate the earth in the same way as solid aerating tines but also remove the soil. By using hollow tines, a certain percentage of the soil can be removed and replaced with new top soil or sand to improve surface drainage.
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