The Lawn Care Guide - July

New lawn blues

A new lawn can often run into trouble early on for a number of reasons. There‘s nothing worse than seeing a load of weed appearing in your carefully nurtured grass you sowed back in April. Fear not, mowing takes care of much of the problem.

Chickweed, groundsel, couch grass, fat hen and bindweed die quickly when you’re mowing regularly. Those escaping the mower blades should be hand weeded if you can but if that’s impractical it’s a case of waiting until you can use a selective weed killer. Usually you need at least six months between sowing or laying turf before applying it but there is a product, Weedol Lawn Weedkilller, which might be used on strongly growing grass. Check the manufacturer’s instructions first.

Before sowing a new lawn the area needs regular hoeing or treating with a chemical weed killer. If you have large amounts of weed it may be the preparation was poor. The same applies if bare patches have appeared or there is yellowing or young grass is thin and sparse. Preparation is all important here so if you are starting now with a view to seeding in September/October make sure your ground is weed free before you sow. Poor weather conditions of course may be another reason the seed bed is yellowing. Both dryness and waterlogging can kill off grass seedlings.

Newly laid lawns need more watering during their first summer. If for some reason the lawn has standing water it will need spiking for drainage. Mature lawns can become compacted in the summer months and brown patches appear. Spiking will help here as well and then a really good soaking. In very dry weather raise the height of the cutting deck or use a mulching deck and let the clippings help protect the lawn and release nutrients back into the grass.