RS Gardening Services | Lawn care tips

Using the IPC methodIndentification

1. walk over the ground first ­ make mental notes on what seems to be problem Whether its mossy ­ bad drainage

patchy ­ Have you got pets is their a fox problem or it could be too stoney

2. what colour is it ;­ Red tip often sign of red thread on fine turf

yellow often means malnourished ­ what was the weather like ­ was there a drought did you have heavy down pours

is the grass in shade are there trees or overhanging shrubs near by if so then you got a problem with roots or too much shade Could also be that the couch grass is too long and needs to cut short

Prevention 1. Moss tends to caused by bad drainage ­ either after heavy uses of the ground

especially clay which can compact and impede drainage 2. unfortunately there is no real way to prevent your pets from doin what comes

naturally to them ­ so either if have a garden big enough to have a play area in which your dogs can play which you can fence off. or just live it with ­ same thing with foxes i’m afraid

3. red thread is a fungus that affects fine turf ­ it can be prevented by using a switch broom first thing in the morning to knock of the dew from the leaves as that creates a perfect environment for it ­ then spray it with a fungicide specifically for lawns­ when feeding the lawns do not use a high nitrogen feed as this will make the leaves sappy and weak to fight it off

4. yellow leaves during drought conditions ­ should be watered early in the morning and last thing in the evening to avoid water evaporation avoid feeding it again as you probably not doing it any favours ­ grass will grow back as soon as the climate changes

5. yellow leaves in spring ­ these are the long stalks of grasses that have grown because the grass wasn’t cut low enough the year before ­ in that case strim the the grass back to ground zero and feed it with fertilizer and water it in

Control Moss can be treated by -

1. improving drainage in autumn ­ by spiking the lawn with a aerator ­ this leaves small deep holes in the ground and relieves compaction and allow excess water and air to mingle between the roots

2. after that back fill the holes with good topsoil mix depending on your soil type ie for clay you need more sharp sand ratio to peat and loam and high ratio of peat and loam to sand for loose soils

3. these are then rubbed in using the stiff broom or loot ,into the holes ­ to prevent them from ceiling up

4. always work backwards 5. leave till the spring and try and avoid walking on wet grass if you can put down

temporary pathing 6. by now the grass should be just breaking through the topsoil

another cause of moss over hanging branches of shrubs cut these back or cut around the shrub

in spring you can start your feed and weed regime most feeds contain a moss killer ­

1. remove the moss with a rake a method known as scarifying ­ always do this when the moss is dead and not green otherwise you are just spreading the spores

2. you might find that you are left with bare patches ­ these you can fill in by reseeding