Lawn care has come a long way in the last 15 years and the options are almost endless. Which fertiliser? When to apply? What weedkiller can be used? When to scarify? The list goes on and on. It can be a bit of a minefield and if any aspect is carried out wrong then this can be disastrous for your lawn.
Which Fertiliser?
There are many DIY products available to buy from garden centres and DIY stores. But do you know anything about them, what they contain and how often you need to apply them or even when to apply? Probably not. Most ‘ready made’ products like these are quick release and will feed your lawn for no longer than 4 – 6 weeks after application before they run out of steam. And remember that grass is a plant and so needs constant feeding throughout the year to keep it in prime condition, not just a few weeks in Spring. Having to feed your lawn with DIY products 10 times per year is certainly going to be expensive. Most professional lawn care companies have years of experience of applying fertiliser and therefore know what is best for your lawn and when to apply it. We also use professional grade fertilisers that are far cheaper, more reliable and last longer than your off the shelf product and with a far better end product. We are also able to swap which fertilisers we apply very quickly dependant on weather, soil and lawn conditions. You tend to get a ‘one product fits all’ when going down the DIY route.
Weedkiller
Again, as with fertilisers, there are many options for weedkillers. Unfortunately DIY products are nowhere near as good as those available to professionals and are far more expensive. Many people purchase the wrong weedkiller for the job at hand and have little or no knowledge of how best to use them and so end up not only killing the weed but also the grass. As professionals with the correct certification we are able to buy and apply weedkillers legally and ensure they are applied correctly so as not to harm your lawn.
Mosskiller
Moss can be difficult to control. The best way to kill it is with iron sulphate. This can be applied as a powder or a liquid and best done by a professional to avoid scorching your lawn. The problem with moss is that it does not decompose like a weed and so will need scarifying out afterwards.
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/998891/burnt-grass-after-using-weed-and-moss-killer
Other Lawn Treatments
There are various other treatments carried out by professional lawn care businesses to ensure your lawn is growing to its optimum. These treatments can be not only expensive but also require considerable knowledge to be carried out correctly.
Scarification is the process of mechanically removing moss and thatch from your lawn. Electric DIY rakes are available but are really just a cleaning out, spring tined machine and aren’t really very good for the purpose of removing heavy moss and thatch. Machines can be hired but as they are regularly mistreated by users and hire companies don’t always like to spend to keep them well maintained then they are not always in the best condition to perform the job you need them to do.
Scarifying a lawn isn’t as easy as it might seem. When is best to scarify? You have to know what you are doing or you can seriously damage a lawn and end up spending more on employing a professional to put right your mistakes.
Lawns may also need over seeding after scarifying. More questions to ask. What seed to use? How much to apply?
Lawn aeration is another mechanical treatment. As with scarifiers you can hire the machines but they can be heavy and hard to transport. When to aerate? Hollow tine or solid tine?
There are many aspects of lawn care that go unused by the homeowner that professionals have at their disposal and are fully trained to implement. Lawn care isn’t just about applying a DIY Spring feed when the sun comes out that lasts only a few weeks, we need to give our lawns attention for 52 weeks of the year.
