After the snow of the past few weeks, the lawns in the South East of the UK are slowly becoming visible again now temperatures are a little higher and there is some evidence of the snow melting.  There are a lot of sportsfields and fairways that are still 100% covered in snow.

The lawn's surface and ground may still be a little frozen so not a lot you can do to a lawn currently until the frost comes out of the ground for good.

Knowledge and preparation are everything!  The best things you can do to a winter bound lawn is, only when the grass starts to naturally colour up with some warmer temperatures, is to make an application of an autumn and winter lawn fertiliser and some soluble iron.

Iron can be applied as a granule, or as a foliar spray.  Iron will produce a really rapid green up.  Only some Iron products have the added benefit of moss control and they are not to be confused. For chlorophyll synthesis – the level of iron available to the plant influences turf grass colour.  Discolouration may occur when there is a deficiency of this element.

It has been proven that available iron improves the autumn and winter colour of some turf grass species, and tends to reduce the effects of cold temperature.  In fact, many fertiliser mixtures now have a small amount of iron added for these reasons.  Iron helps reduce respiration processes and enhances root development when applied prior to periods of stress, particularly in the plants that have ample available nitrogen. 

The Soluble Iron available from The Lawn Shop will dissolve really easily in a little tepid water and not only kill and retard moss at the full rate, soluble iron applied at half the moss rate will provide a rapid green up of any lawn or turf area, giving a much needed boost to the visual of the area when there is little opportunity for growth.

 

Lawn worm casts are a bit of a pain  at this time of the year until spring time, especially after the snow melts and the frost comes out of the ground. 

The worms eat the soil and then discard it on the lawns surface leaving it there for the dog to pick up the small mound of soil on their paws or on your shoes when you walk over the lawn.

There are just five types of worms in the UK that throw up what turf professionals call a lawn worm cast.  The worms spend the drier months burrowing deeper in the soil, eating the organic matter in the soil, extracting it's goodness. 

A family of worms are responsible for turing over an incredible amount of soil per annum, a bit like pigs in a new grass field, providing vital aeration holes, beneficial for all the vegetation growing in the soil, like a lawn for example.

As the soil air to water ratio changes in the more traditional autumn months, you will notice an increase in worm cast activity.  The wetter the autumn or winter, the greater the worm activity will be. The root zone of the lawn will become spongy as the worms undermine the upper surface and mowing will become difficult, especially with a cylinder mower. The use of the lawn will diminish as a result of the difficult surface conditions.

It is not the activity of the worms naturally aerating the soil beneath the grass surface, but the detrimental effect of their casts that cause the problems. The soil making up the casts is very slimy as it consists of soil and the natural secretions from the worm’s digestive system. Left on the surface of the lawn, the casts will be smeared across the grass through the actions of mowing and walking on the lawn.

The end result is that worms are capable of pushing up an incredible volume of soil by way of their casts so it does not take long for the surface of the lawn to become really muddy and slippery. Over time the worm casts smear the grasses and you end up with no lawn, muddy platform shoes, muddy paw prints from the dog coming back into the kitchen and muddy children. 

An application of a non pesticide control product called CastClear will greatly prolong the use of the lawn in the autumn to spring months and protect the existing surface of the lawn so that you might end up with grass cover in the spring.  The overall micro levels of the lawn will instantly be improved.

It's available from The Lawn Company via their online Lawn Shop and at Garden Centre Stockists. 

If you are a Garden Centre or Garden Retail Outlet and want to stock CastClear or require a sample label, email The Lawn Company Team

 

A former serviceman has painstakingly turned a common and garden lawnmower into a striking red London bus.

Derek Jakeway spent four years constructing a lifelike replica of the iconic London red bus in his Norfolk home. 

Now the 77-year-old is trying to find a new home for his creation which seats four children or small adults plus the driver.

The London-born pensioner has always had a fierce passion for the capital’s transport and loves problem-solving.  Mr Jakeway, of Thorpe St Andrew, Norfolk, said: ‘I really enjoyed making the bus.  ‘What interests me is solving problems and designing structures and buses and trains have always been a life-long interest of mine.’

Perhaps Boris Johnson will be putting in an order for a few...

Read more on The Daily Mail

Our Managing Editor was out visiting a client's lawn this week and spotted his first Snowdrops of the year.  How great they looked in a frost bound garden! 

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) are perennial flowering plants native to large parts of Europe.  Found in many woodlands, churchyards, parks and gardens, snowdrops are some of the first bulbs of the year to bloom. 

This early flowering, which carpets the ground between January and April, is aided by hardened leaf tips that can push through frozen soil.  The downside to flowering in winter is that pollinating insects are scarce, so these little drops of snow spread mainly through bulb division.

It is natural for some lawns, especially north facing lawns, lawns under trees and in the shade to thin out over the cold winter months.  You will see in the image that was taken in The Hague in The Netherlands that the grass cover has thinned where the Snowdrops are growing.

Once we get back to slightly warmer temperatures in a few weeks time and especially after an application of lawn fertiliser, the grasses that remain in the lawn will quickly put on a spurt of growth.  A bit of over seeding with new grass seed will also be required so as to eradicate any bare areas as you get into later spring time other moss and weeds will quickly fill the bare soil.

Thanks to the BBC Nature Web Site for the text

Lawn Fertiliser

Controlling Moss in Lawns

 

An Expert is defined as a person with a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain subject.

A Specialist is defined as a person who specializes in or devotes herself/himself to a particular area of activity or field of research, etc.

There are therefore Lawn Experts and Lawn Specialists who can both lay claim to knowing a thing about lawns. 

Some have many years of hands on practical, technical and commercial knowledge supported by formal Degrees and other qualifications in their chosen field - no pun intended and others less so.

If this is the case, why is the advice given by Lawn Experts and Lawn Specialists so varied on the subject of lawns and their care when after all turf culture is an actual science that encompasses a special mix of the formal science subjects of Botany, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, with a bit of Soil Science thrown in for good measure.

At Grass Clippings we can easily say that we are firstly Lawn Experts but also Lawn Sepcialists as we devote our time to providing via our main portal domain www.lawn.co.uk

Lawn Advice

Lawn Service 

Lawn Supply

Our lawn advice is totally free in the form of over 450 lawn related articles on this lawn advice blog, you do not need to ASK to access them.  Great reading for a cold frosty night from the warmth of your armchair.

Abilities

Skills

Knowledge

 

Many a lawn owner complain about worm casts in their lawn.  Until recently, they could not easily solve this problem as there was not a solution to it.

'CastClear' offers the solution to the age old problem.  It's a non pesticide, semi organic deterrent product and doesn't harm the worms either.  Applied once every 10 - 20 days, it will solve the problem of worm casts in lawns.

Worms are great for the soil, just not their soil casts that they throw up onto the surface of the lawn in the autumn to spring months when the soil water to soil air ratio changes when we get the autumn rains.

CastClear has been sold by The Lawn Company and their online Lawn Shop since mid 2010 with lots of litres sold during this time.  Now Garden Centres are stocking it making it so much easier for lawn owners to pick up a litre on their next visit the the Garden Centre.

If your local Garden Centre is not stocking it, you can easily order some online from The Lawn Shop in a minimum of 1 litre or even a box load! 

Ask for it by name - CastClear and if your local garden outlet is not stocking it, get them to contact The Lawn Company.

 

The Garden & Leisure Group was formed in 1997 by Kenn & Jackie Lloyd in conjunction with Truffaut, who are one of the largest garden centre chains in France. 

They are due to take receipt later this week of their first order for 17 outers of CastClear - the lawn worm cast deterrent into their seven busy garden centres.  CastClear is totally pesticide free and comes in a handy 1 litre bottle that will treat up to 500 square metres.  It will retail for £29.99 per litre so around 6 pence per single square metre to solve the problem of worm casts in lawns.  Money well spent in preserving your lawn surface and grass plants.

Shortly after winning the title of Garden Centre of the Year for Cadbury in 1993, Kenn & Jackie decided that their vision for 21st century garden centres should not be restricted to Cadbury and that there would be a number of other garden centres who could share their vision for quality, exceptional product range, expert advice and a passion for customer service.

The idea of Garden & Leisure was formed and to assist Kenn & Jackie in developing this idea, a financial partner was required. Kenn Lloyd had previously lived and worked in France and knew of Truffaut, itself a privately owned garden centre chain who shared many of the passions and ideas of Kenn & Jackie. With Truffaut's support Garden & Leisure became reality.

See more on their Group Web Site and view the locations of their seven Garden and Leisure Garden Centres or search for them below - pop along and buy a litre of CastClear.

Barnett Hill Garden and Leisure - Stourbridge, West Midlands DY9 0EE

Cadbury Garden and Leisure - Congresbury, Bristol BS49 5AA

Endsleigh Garden and Leisure - Ivybridge, Devon PL21 9JL

Gardenlands Garden and Leisure - Shipley, Wolverhampton WV6 7EJ

Huntingdon Garden and Leisure - Wyton, Huntingdon PE28 2AA

Melbicks Garden and Leisure - Coleshill, Birmingham B46 3HX

Percy Thrower's Garden and Leisure - Shrewsbury SY2 6QW

CastClear - ask for it by name and if your local garden centre is not stocking it, ask them to contact The Lawn Company

You can purchase it online today by visiting The Lawn Shop

 

Founded more than 40 years ago LBS Horticulture is a family run business and has been serving the horticultural trade industry ever since, supplying horticultural sundries including: tools, composts and fertilisers, weed and pest control, horticultural fabrics such as netting, polythene, ground cover etc, irrigation equipment and plant support; throughout the UK, from their head office based in the North West of England in Colne, Lancashire.

They are now Stockists of CastClear, the lawn worm cast deterrent, in a handy 1 Litre size that will treat up to 500 sqm metres.  Larger units of sale are available for Trade. 

CastClear is a NEW and unique combination of nutrient materials that have been clearly shown to reduce worm-cast levels on lawns large & small.  It can be used with absolute safety from first tiller formed on new seeds at low rates of application, and year round on established swards.  Close scientific evaluation has shown that this new product does not kill worms or reduce populations, but does deter worms from travelling through treated soils.

An application of CastClear will greatly prolong the use of the lawn in the autumn to spring months and protect the existing surface of the lawn so that you might end up with grass cover in the spring.  The overall micro levels of the lawn will instantly be improved.  CastClear - its a winner!

LBS Horticulture is firmly established as the UK's leading horticultural website supplying both trade and consumers alike. This has allowed them to achieve unrivalled buying power which in turn translates into great savings for their customers.

Request a LBS Horticulture Trade Catalogue

 

A COUPLE who cleared rubbish and weeds from outside their home have been asked for a fee from the council for doing it.

Samantha Hamilton, 31, and her partner Colin Freeman, 44, bought their new home in The Glade, Mytchett, in April last year.  

In the summer, they worked to cut away weeds and clear rubbish on land just beyond their home, near the junction with Mytchett Road.

But Surrey County Council has now told them they should either pay £78 for a licence to retrospectively get permission to do the work or return it to how they found it.  Miss Hamilton added: “This demonstrates that the Big Society policy that the government wishes us to adopt, and simply having pride in your home and neighbourhood, is an impossibility because of the nonsense rules and regulations set out by the local council.”

Miss Hamilton, who works at Gibraltar Barracks, said the rubbish they removed included a car suspension and the clear-up prompted compliments from passers-by and people using the adjacent bus stop.

“When trying to drive out of our road we could not even see what traffic was coming along the Mytchett Road, because the weeds were so thick and high they obscured the view,” she said.   “There were various blackberry bushes which were creeping their way across the pavement, and passengers waiting to catch the bus at the bus stop had to stand in the middle of the pavement otherwise be attacked by thorns.” 

In September, the county council wrote to the couple after being tipped off and told them not to do any more work on the land.  A few months later and after speaking to different people at the council, Miss Hamilton was told they would have to pay for the licence.

“If we don’t pay for doing all the work, then we are supposed to return it to its original state, so basically cover it in weeds and throw rubbish all over it,” she said.

“When we moved in, the land [in front of the house] was so overgrown with weeds that neighbours across the road were not even aware that there was a house there.   "We had so many compliments from local residents, people even stopped in their cars to say how much of an improvement we had made. Since September, we have only cleared away one beer can, which shows it is no longer seen as a rubbish tip.”

The county council said it got in touch after someone had "complained" about what they had done. The first letter told them not to do any more work on the land.   Over the next few months, Miss Hamilton spoke to the council’s legal and highways departments and was told about the licence she would have to pay for.

Miss Hamilton told the News & Mail that she was eventually told she would need two licences, one for the work and one for trimming the hedges that she wanted to cut to allow more light into the garden, costing a total of £156. The county council denies it asked for the second licence.

In a statement, the authority said: “We wrote to Miss Hamilton following a complaint from a local resident, asking her to stop cultivating the land.  “As the highway authority we have a duty to assert and protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoy the highway.

“Members of the public can apply for a licence to cultivate highways land, which is what we suggested to Miss Hamilton.    "There is a fee for the licence to be approved and for the land to be inspected to ensure the terms of the licence are met, and there are conditions indicating what can and cannot be done on the land.

“Regarding the hedge trimming, we have not asked Miss Hamilton to obtain a second licence for this or pay an additional fee, and will be trimming the trees ourselves before the nesting period in the spring.”

Miss Hamilton is reluctant to return the land to its original state and has left it as it was before the council got in touch.

Read more on Get Surrey

If you take pride in your local neighbourhood and need some help with controlling weeds, take a look at The Lawn Shop and also type keywords into this Blog.

We have been noticing on our search stats that a lot of the queries relate to the timing of the first grass cut of the season.

I am not sure if the searcher is actually expecting to get a result with a specific date when the lawn comes to life. The answer to the question is - There is no set time or defining moment when you need to get onto your lawn.

No two lawns are the same and no two gardens, even if they are side by side, are the same so it follows that any advice given here may well be appropriate for one lawn owner and not for the next.

To circumnavigate the question slightly, it is probably best to give a little checklist of what to look for and how to gauge the timing.

Grass will grow all through the year and that includes the winter. The severity of the winter and the temperature will dictate the rate of growth and it naturally follows that temperatures of below freezing for a prolonged period will determine pretty much zero growth whilst temperatures in January of double digit numbers will see the leaf blade shrug off the winter blues and add a little growth.

You will really have to be the judge and jury. The general advice, and this is still determined and influenced by many factors, is if you decide to set your winter grass length at 25-40mm and the grass grows beyond the limits that you have set, then the grass can be cut.

Avoid cutting in the winter if the surface is either saturated or frozen but after a decent drying day it is safe to run the mower over the lawn.  Currently, the outside temperature today is a barmy warm 11 degrees centigrade so warm enough to promote turf grass growth.  Time to mow the lawn this weekend.

Never take more than 25% of the leaf blade off at any one time (good advice that is relevant at any time of the year) and if for any reason the grass gets away a bit then take two or more cuts, reducing the height each time, until you are back to the required length.

Certainly cutting the grass frequently will remove any dangers of shock later in the season. I have been witness to many a distressed lawn in the spring time when the owner has decided to take all 8 inches of growth off in one foul swoop.

The dangers of cutting so much off in one go are several. Firstly, a shocked grass plant will spend a period of convalescence and become insular as it recovers. In this time, moss, weeds and undesirable grass species may infiltrate and start to colonise leading to competition and eventual exclusion of the desired grass.

In turn, you will probably be faced with an expensive over seeding or turfing exercise to get your garden back on the right track.

The old saying, 'a stitch in time, saves nine' is probably a good one so little and often and before it becomes a problem are good rules.

Enjoy your lawn and have a good season and don't forget to drop by The Lawn Shop to buy lawn care products.

Stop Lawn Worm Casts

If the thought of mowing the lawn each week brings you out in a sweat, then why not consider getting yourself a Goat? 

You will not need to feed it but you may need to protect the other shrubs and plants in the garden, oh and the washing line too!

It will not be too selective at eating in lines, nor will it leave stripes in your lawn only a fair amount of 'natural fertiliser' but it will eat the weeds and moss and turf grass plants.

The other thing about being a Goat is your Birthday will be close to Christmas and New Year and a Christmas and Birthday present will always magically turn into just one present and a birthday cake can sometimes be non existent!  I am talking about those born under the star sign of Capricorn (December 22nd - January 20th) of which I am one.  There are many personal frustrations of being a Capricorn Goat and visiting a restaurant inbetween Christmas and New Year or after New Year.  The main Chefs are off and you get the part time Chef preparing your dinner for you and your guests and often have to pour your own wine because the Wine Waiters cannot be bothered!   Your friends are hard up for spare cash or on a diet because of their New Year resolutions, yet it's your Birthday and this these kind of problems do not exist in June!  To be honest, this year was the first year for ages that I received a Birthday Cake and how nice it was too.  I also had a fabulous and unexpected present and celebrated my Birthday with 82,000 people so I cannot complain, also wading through a case of Ale.

The sign Capricorn is one of the most stable and (mostly) serious of the zodiacal types. These independent, rocklike characters have many sterling qualities. They are normally confident, strong willed and calm. These hardworking, unemotional, shrewd, practical, responsible, persevering, and cautious to the extreme persons, are capable of persisting for as long as is necessary to accomplish a goal they have set for themselves. Capricorn are reliable workers in almost any profession they undertake. They are the major finishers of most projects started by the 'pioneering' signs; with firm stick-to-it-ness they quickly become the backbone of any company they work for.

Their intellects are sometimes very subtle. They think profoundly and deeply, throughly exploring all possibilities before deciding on a 'safe' alternative. They have good memories and an insatiable yet methodical desire for knowledge. They are rational, logical and clearheaded, have good concentration, delight in debate in which they can show off their cleverness by luring their adversaries into traps and confounding them with logic.

They are also great at eating grass.  Worth considering. 

**Happy Birthay to Fellow Capricorn Goats**

 

Spare a thought for your lawn this weekend if the weather is mild and blow away the Christmas and New Year holiday blues with some much needed fresh air in the garden!

Make sure that you have blown or raked up all of the leaves and debris and trimmed the edges. 

It is not too early in the year to mow your lawn so don’t think that you are getting off lightly and hide the mower in the garden shed until the spring time and head out to the shops or golf club!  The weather is really mild for the start of January and last year was the second warmest year on record - balmy weather. 

Your lawn has not stopped growing.  Growth has slowed but not stopped yet as frosts have been few, especially in the South East.  Every warm day we get will increase the natural metabolic rate of the lawn and make it grow some more.

If you have bare areas in your lawn, why not consider giving it a Winter Lawn Fertiliser to give it a little boost?  You do not have to overdo it with the nutrients, just a little tickle or maybe a little Soluble Iron to colour it up and retard any moss.

Worm casts can be a real problem too and now these can be controlled with a new product distributed via The Lawn Company and their Lawn Shop called CastClear to control lawn worm casts.  The worms are great for the lawn, but their casts make such a mess.  Worms naturally eat soil and extract the goodness from it before passing it out of their bodies onto the surface.  Excessive fallen leaves will encourage worms as will not collecting the grass clippings each time you mow.

Some Garden Centres are now stocking CastClear, the domestic approved lawn worm cast control product.  Ask at your local Garden Centre for a 1 Litre bottle of CastClear which will treat up to 500 sqm.  Failing this, you can buy in The Lawn Shop and a handy Garden Sprayer too to apply it.  One customer who recently purchased CastClear said 'The stuff really works a treat.'

The Team at The Lawn Shop have over 30 years practical, technical and commercial knowledge of lawns and their care so you can rely on their advice and products as their Team use the Lawn Shop products on Clients lawns.   Give them a try.

The  subject of lawns and their care puzzle many a lawn owner.  Many are simply scared of their lawn.

Lots of lawn owners perform the religious tasks of feeding their lawn in the spring time but not throughout the rest of the year. 

Some respect the mechanical operations such as mowing, scarification and aeration are important but many get these tasks in the incorrect order when performing a lawn renovation programme.  It is easy to grow grass, the hardest part is turning the grass into a lawn.

Factors affecting a lawn

1. Mowing height and frequency
2. Not feeding it often enough like every three months
3. Being scared of it
4. Light and shade lines
5. Topography such as a north facing lawn
6. Traffic from children, football goals and dogs and general wear
7. Owners being reactive with it when little and often is the key
8. More weeds and moss than turf grasses, all are indicators that your lawn is being neglected
9. Poor advice received
10. Rarely over seeding it - grasses do not last forever
11. Undiagnosed lawn weeds, lawn pests and lawn disease
12. New lawns need care too
13. Trying to grow grass in an area of the garden when it clearly refuses to grow

You have come to the right place to get help with your lawn.  There are over 450 technical posts on lawn related matters on this Grass Clippings Lawn Blog.  Best of all it's all free so you have nothing to lose and you will definitely learn something new, we guarantee.

Please use the search facilty at the  top right of the blog to type in the key words such a weeds, moss, worm casts, fertiliser, disease, treatment, renovation, aeration, scarfication, mowing, grass seed, turf - you get the idea and solve the lawn care puzzle.

Thanks for reading and tell your family, friends and colleagues seeking help with their lawns.  Welcome to real grass and real grass problems and also Grass Clippings Lawn Advice Blog if you are a first time reader.

Lawn Treatment

Lawn Care Product Supply

Weed Control

Worm Cast Control

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The nice people at The Lawn Company have for many years provided a lawn consultancy service to lawn owners with small, large and very large lawns. 

These lawn areas may also include croquet lawns, bowling greens and other professional turf areas such as tennis courts and football clubs.

Maintaining a sporting surface can be expensive so it is always cost effective to seek advice from an impartial profesional source to assist the professional and semi-professional grounds team so that any budget spent on creating the playing surface or lawn is well spent.

There is little need to have a shed full of expensive equipment or chemicals when a few select items of machinery and treatments will suffice.  What is often required is the flow chart of annual maintenance operations and lawn treatments in the correct order along with some fine tuning for a particular playing surface or local requirement.

The degree qualified Lawn Company Team have turned around the fortunes of many a croquet club having taken a pragmatic and practical approach to their needs and enabled them to add to the silverware in the trophy cabinet, much to the delight of the members and also the grounds staff.

If a lawn consultancy service is sought, it is important that the advice and recommendations are adopted from the top management tier and the grounds team are supported in allowing them to achieve the standard otherwise what is the point of paying for consultancy? 

You do not need to own a football club or croquet club to benefit from over 32 years of practical, technical and commercial turf culture advice.  Read more here

If you have a large area of turf that requires treatment, contact Weed Free

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The Grass Clippings Team would like to wish all our Readers a happy and healthy 2012.

With over 450 technical articles here on our Lawn Blog, you are never more than a simple search away from a useful and technically correct article about caring for your lawn.

The weather in the UK is still rather mild and the grass is still growing which is not bad for the 3rd of January!  Don't be shy to run the mower over the lawns if ground conditions permit over the next week and trimming the lawn will really lift the garden. 

Don't let anyone talk you into having your lawn scarified yet, we will tell you when the weather and grass growth is suitable for this important mechanical task but a spot of aeration is really great for the lawn at this time of year, especially as the frost is not in the ground.

So whilst you watch the top of the shed blowing away, think about how you can plan and schedule the improvement of your lawns this spring time and take a while to read up on how you can do it by exploring our Grass Clippings Lawn Blog.

If your lawns are being plagued by worm casts - help is at hand from The Lawn Shop who can sell you a worm cast control product to eradicate the worm casts in your lawns.

There is a standing 'joke' in the professional turf industry that starts when the United Kingdom received it's first snowfall.  To be honest, it gets the on line message boards red hot.

The joke is at the expense of one of the large lawn treatment companies who insist that the winter through to the spring time is the best time to scarify your lawn. 

 

 The fact that they are technically scarifying lawns OUT of the normal growing season makes it harder for the rest of us who are completing this vital mechanical task IN the growing season in tune with the many technical publications and trade articles that have been written about the subject.  It is causing a lot of confusion for lawn owners who are relying on this poor advice.

Read our tips on what you should be doing to your lawn at this time of year. 

The advice is - when your lawn is covered in snow and/or frost - keep off it!!  The reason why the lawn is scarified only in the growing season, so that is when you are actively mowing the lawn is so that the grass plants have an opportunity to naturally re generate and recover and new lawn seed if sown, will germinate.

So when should you scarify your lawn? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parts of the United Kingdom have had snow fall already with more promised for the rest of us.

When the frost and snow is on the lawn, it is obvious that mowing your lawn is the last thing on your mind.  In the milder South East of England, the grass is still growing, slow but still growing.

There is still time to give your lawn it's last mow of the year.  Mowing the lawn will really lift the appearance of the complete garden ahead of the holiday season.  Once mown, get your mower into the lawn mower service centre ready for spring time.

If the weather remains mild over the Christmas and New Year holiday, and ground conditions permit, don't be shy to mow the lawn.  It will be better than going to the Christmas retail sales. 

You will not get much off the lawn when you mow it in December, probably only 15 - 25 percent compared to mowing in September but your lawn will love you for it!

If you are plagued by worm casts in the lawn, help is at hand in a worm cast control called CastClear.

Read our Handy Tips for Preparing your Lawn for Winter

Gales, Snow, Frost, Cold, Christmas... familiar words at the moment. 

Winter officially starts on December 22nd this year and surprisingly, it is quite mild in the South East and the grass is still growing, albeit at a slower rate than a month ago. 

The turf grasses will not stop growing but it will be a little difficult for new grass seed to germinate out of the formal growing season. 

Lawn Seed sown some eight weeks ago should be at around three to four leaves stages (number of leaves) now and these will continue to develop over the winter.

Here are a few handy jobs that can still be completed on the lawn should you need an excuse to get out of Christmas shopping.....

1. Clear up any leaves and twigs from the lawn and border edges and hidden hollows
2. Trim the edges of the lawn alongside the plant border ready for next spring
3. Trim alongside pathways and patios
4. Perform an audit of any shrub overhang or make a note for the early Spring
5. Control Worm Casts on the lawn with CastClear Worm Cast Suppressant
6. Keep an eye out for Fusarium Disease and treat, especially on new lawns
7. Re turf any areas of the lawn - it is not too late to lay new turf so long as conditions allow you to
8. Raise the height of the lawn mower and mow the lawn taking off no more than 25% of growth - this task will really lift the garden for the Christmas Holidays
9. Send the lawn mower in for a service once 8. domplete
10. Apply an Autumn and Winter Lawn Fertiliser
11. Aerate the lawn
12. Apply a winter tonic of Soluble Iron (also know as Ferrous Sulphate) to retard any moss and to provide vital winter colour Remember to keep off a snow laden or frosty lawn

Use this blog Keyword Search facility on the home page to find out more about some of the topics mentioned above and why not take a look around The Lawn Shop - shopping for lawn care products from the comfort of your nice warm chair by the fire or office!

 

 

Fusarium Disease on turf usually appears as small orange/brown circular spots of approx 50mm in diameter, which under favourable conditions may join together with other affected areas and completely cover a lawn. 

Under humid, still conditions, you will notice a white, grey cotton wool like mycelium forming as a small mound on the surface of the lawn.  You will note an orange brown tinge to the circumference of the affected areas with mushy matted grass within.  Early diagnosis is important, especially over the winter and spring months.

New lawns are very susceptable to Fusarium Disease and this disease will easily wipe out a newly turved area.  It is not the fault of the turf supplier or landscaper who laid the new lawn.  More a case of 'Welcome to real grass and real grass problems.'  Education and diagnosis is the key.

Read more about Fusarium Disease

Treat with Bayer Lawn Disease Control Treatment

Lawn Care Products from The Lawn Shop

December is a hard month for lawns and turf especially after a prolonged period of snow and frost.  It is always nice to see a green lawn over the winter but trying to achieve that result without the use of lawn fertiliser is a little hard to do.  

Help is at hand in the shape of Sulphate of Iron, Iron Sulphate as it is also called, an active ingredient of Lawn Sand.  Iron Sulphate will provide some much needed colour to your turf in the almost dormant grass growing months and the effect of application will provide a much need boost to 'lift' the lawn and it's colour when help is needed most.

Watching the highlights of the premiership football games over the weekend, it was very evident to see the canny football stadium Groundsmen who had quickly managed to make an application of soluble iron to their pitch ahead of the Sky cameras rolling in.  The pitches looked fantastic.  It is all cosmetic effect with some hidden benefits for the turf to make the pitch look great under the massive floodlights and camera.  

You can do the same for your lawn - big and small and help retard a little moss growth in the process, as sulphate of iron will retard moss activity in the lawn.  You could make an application of and autumn and winter lawn fertiliser, one that has a little iron or Fe in it – 2 or 3 percent will do the trick.  

Iron can be applied as a granule, or as a foliar spray.  Iron will produce a really rapid green up.  Only some Iron products have the added benefit of moss control and they are not to be confused. For chlorophyll synthesis – the level of iron available to the plant influences turf grass colour.  Discolouration may occur when there is a deficiency of this element.

It has been proven that available iron improves the autumn and winter colour of some turf grass species, and tends to reduce the effects of cold temperature.  In fact, many fertilizer mixtures now have a small amount of iron added for these reasons.

Iron helps reduce respiration processes and enhances root development when applied prior to periods of stress, particularly in the plants that have ample available nitrogen. 

Turf grasses are considered to be tolerant of low iron availability.  Iron is the micronutrient that is most commonly deficient in turf.  This deficiency is usually the result of insolubility rather than an absence of the element in the soil. The solubility of iron decreases as soil pH increases

Soils that may have accumulated amounts of phosphorus, such as sand constructions, tend to produce turf grasses that show iron deficiency symptoms.  Add liquid seaweed and iron to eradicate.

Soil that are alkaline, high in organic matter or thatch content and/or waterlogged may have an iron deficiency.

Buy Soluble Iron

Solve Worm Casts

Autumn & Winter Fertiliser

 

 

 

Slime Moulds are not commonly seen on lawns and when they do, they can provide some stunning examples as the picture shows. 

This picture was taken in Avebury in Wiltshire on one of the many historic stone circles that are located in the area a few weeks ago.

All grass species can be affected by the disease and occurrence.  Symptons of the disease are only seen when the coloured spores which can vary from grey to white or yellow to purple appear on the turf grass blades. 

The conditions favouring the outbreak of the disease are warm, damp weather in the autumn and it rarely appears during cold or dry conditions.  It is commonly seen on turf grasses lacking in nutrients.

The spore masses, when young are sticky to the touch, but when dry, can be easily rubbed or wiped off.

To control Slime Mould, make an application of Soluble Iron to limit the spread of the disease and there are no pesticide controls known to control it.  Making an application of lawn fertiliser to the turf area will toughen it up too ward of future attacks.

If you have a turf disease problem and you cannot find the answer on this lawn blog by typing in a keyword, wht not contact The Turf Grass Disease Centre based in Bramley in Surrey.

Related Topics

Fairy Rings

Red Thread Disease

Fusarium Disease

 

 

Nursery Rhymes never age.  Some are as old as Old Wive's Tales that survive the generations.  Lawn care is a science that follows the principles of The Science and Practice of Turf Culture and one great learning text book was Turf Culture by Frank Hope, sadly out of publication.

This was the main publication that up and coming turf managers referred to.  Sadly, some lawn experts appear to have been reading the book back to front and trying to change the principles of turf culture throughout the seasons so do not believe all that you hear or are told about when to perform aspects of turf culture.

One funny nursery rhyme about lawns is one about eating worms.  Worms are infact the richest form of protein known to man and in some third world countries, worms are grown and harvested and ground for flour to make staple foods.  For lawn owners in the UK, the worms do a great job... if only they could be stopped from depositing their worm casts on the surface of the lawn!

Here are the words to this funny song about eating worms -

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me,
Guess I'll go eat worms,
Long, thin, slimy ones; Short, fat, juicy ones,
Itsy, bitsy, fuzzy wuzzy worms.

Down goes the first one, down goes the second one,
Oh how they wiggle and squirm. 
Up comes the first one, up comes the second one,
Oh how they wiggle and squirm.

If your lawn has a worm cast problem caused by one or more of the five types of casting earthworms found in UK lawn soils who eat the soil and then place their worm cast on the surface of the lawn in the autumn to spring months causing problems for lawn owners, then there is help at hand in a solution called CastClear - the solution to worm casts in lawns.  It is non-pesticide and safe for turf grasses, children and pets and it deters the worms from coming to the surface.  It does not harm the worms, as it is a nutrient based, unique blend of worm deterrent and soil penetrants containing organic sulphur and amino nitrogen.

Control Lawn Worm Casts

Buy CastClear - Worm Cast Deterrent

 

 

 

JNW is not difficult to control so long as there is a programme of pesticide applications instead of a reactive weed killer application as more than one application may be required to eradicate it before the site gets a clean bill of health.  It is evident during our client site visits that Surveyors are not 100% aware of what the guidelines are when viewing JNW on a site, hence the RICS consultation paper and hopefully also better education of Surveyors on the subject of JNW and its eradication.  All weeds can destroy the fabric of a building if left untreated.

Japanese Knotweed is an invasive plant feared for its damaging effects when found on or near a property but these fears are often based on misunderstanding. The plant became more of a problem when some lenders reviewed their policies and a number of loans on Japanese Knotweed affected properties were declined. This changed the status of Knotweed from a ‘difficult to solve’ problem to one that could result in property sales falling through.

In fact, although the plant can be difficult to control, with correct treatment, it needn’t be a life sentence for a property.  Since the mid 1970s challenges posed by building movement and asbestos have presented assessment problems that were largely resolved and assimilated into the lending process. There is no reason why the assessment of Japanese Knotweed cannot follow a similar route and RICS is consulting on this in order to develop best practice guidelines.

Philip Santo from the RICS said "When assessing market value, valuers must take account of a variety of factors and the presence and effects of Japanese Knotweed is just one of the many considerations that may affect value. While this invasive, non-native plant can be difficult to control it should be recognised that timely and persistent treatment programmes can minimise its impact."“A standard risk assessment framework is being proposed to help valuers to provide more informed advice to their clients and to enable lenders to adopt more consistent and balanced policies. As the treatment industry develops and matures it is hoped that Japanese Knotweed will soon become just one more consideration in the complex valuation process. The RICS consultation aims to canvass opinion in order to help make this happen.”

On a recent trip to the USA travelling to Atlanta, Georgia to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends, there were lots of opportunities to take a good look around at the landscapes and inparticular the lawns and grass. 

The USA turf grasses are just so different to ours in the UK mainly because of the environment they have to grow in and many of the turf grass species naturally turn brown in the autumn and winter when the temperature drops.

Most Americans will be familiar with the names of Bermuda Grass, Tall Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass, Fescue, Italian Ryegrass, Bentgrass and Perennial Ryegrass to name a few. 

Because America is a very large country, turf grasses grow better in some climates than others across the many states.

Bermudagrass is widely used for all kinds of turf in warm humid and warm semi-arid regions. It thrives best where the average daily temperature is above 25 degrees Celsius and stops growing under 16 degrees, turning brown at temperatures below 10 degrees.  Bermudagrass does not tolerate shade, poor drainage, or high soil acidity. It is a very drought resistant grass but for normal growth it needs water and can't be grown in arid regions without irrigation. 

Tall Fescues are a species for warmer and drier climates. This species has very good heat tolerance and requires less nitrogen and irrigation than perennial ryegrass, but is slower to establish.  The variety's broad leaves keep a green color very well under dry conditions

Find out more about The World of Coca Cola which is based in Atlanta.  It is really worth a visit but sadly, the Polar Bear was on lunch when we sought a photo opportunity so we took one of the lawns instead!

Learn more about American Turf Grasses

In these dark evenings, why not take the lawn indoors with you? 

Green-fingered city dwellers can now enjoy the feeling of grass under their feet even in a high rise flat - with the creation of a living rug.

Lovers of the great outdoors can cultivate a green space in their living room that will provide them with their own freshly cut lawn - as long as they remember to water it.

But the garden rug isn't for those who are short of funds.  The living carpet, created by designer Pia Wustenberg, will set gardeners back up to £1,000 a time.

If you are concerned about your green carpet outside, especially worm casts in your lawn, why not pick up a control product from The Lawn Shop called CastClear.

Read more on the Daily Mail website