I recorded the temperature at over 17c in this garden in West Sussex, this new customer keeps some areas as natural meadow but we are asked to prepare and improve the lawn for a celebration towards the end of April. From this angle all looks ship shape but close up there is heavy moss, thactch and weed clumps. Usually, with the extent of moss and thatch I would reccomend scarification but as we need the lawn to look better for April, we don't want to risk the weather intervening and slowing recovery so we have agreed a plan to make the lawn look better for the planned get together and complete the heavier work later in the year. I started with a moss control and "Headland Quick Start" spring feed and am back this week to complete a weed control. Further visits will follow over coming weeks and we may perk the lawn up just before with a seaweed spray if its needed. Flexible Lawncare planning is what being an Independent non franchise company allows us to do. Once we have reduced the moss and thatch levels we may look to move this plan to our "ultimate moss" programme to stop future build up of the problem moss and thatch. After spending a few hours putting down the moss control we headed off to treat some customers who prefer an organic feed programme. I am busy with spring treatments at the moment and, for the most part, the weather is being very kind but........ Spending so much time by the coast means the sun can quickly disapear and this week we had sea mists rolling in so one minute its in the high teens and five minutes later I'm reaching for the fleece and flask of coffee (black no suger in case you are wondering), Its also the time of year when the phone and email enquiries flow in, the one's I realy like are when someone has seen our work and/or had us reccomended to them and asks us to make their lawn look like their neighbours, there's an example below, the lush green one, we take care of and just over the fence is the chalenge we got to start work on this week, we will soon have it in tip top condition. As soil temperatures are rising, we have recorded double figures in some lawns, so pests and diseases can cause some problems, please keep an eye out for any unexpected changes to the lawn, it might be nothing but best to check it out to avoid problems further down the line. Its a few weeks before nemotodes are available to protect from and /or treat leatherjackets and chafer grubs but orders can be placed now for early delivery, always follow the instructions for use to the letter to get good results. I was reminded of the damage these pests can do when I visted a customer in Chichester whose lawn was destroyed last year by leatherjackets, we were able to deal with the pests but it was too late in the year to consider rennovation. This week we prepared the ground, overseeded and put down a thin layer of top soil / top dressing to protect the seed and encourage germination. Seed needs to be in contact with the ground/soil and have moisture or it will not germinate. I will be back once the plant starts to grow to give it a nutritional boost to help it establish, this process is much more cost effective than re turfing. Annoyingly I discovered vine weevil grubs in some of my fruit tree pots this weekend so I have been busily dealing with these critters and will be applying nemotodes when they are available. I only found them by accident, they had been munching on roots but above the surface all was fine, just goes to show we all need to be on our guard as nature has a way of throwing challanges at us.
As always get in touch if you need advice of help with your lawn. Take care Annie x
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AuthorHi I'm Annie and I love lawns and gardens. I own and run Lawnrite providing lawn care advice and treatments across East Hampshire and West Sussex CategoriesArchives
March 2020
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