It?s time to grab the tools from the shed and turn your garden into a spring haven: next week is National Gardening Week. This means people up and down the country will be spending time in their garden and giving it some TLC.
This year, the focus of gardening week is about helping new gardeners. There are a number of activities and events throughout the UK and the aim is to get people outside and tending to their gardens.
If your garden has been a bit neglected over the winter months, gardening week is the ideal time to spruce it up and give it some improvements for the spring and summer months. One of the best places to start before planting vegetables, flowers or adding unique bird feeders is to sort out your lawn.
Essential Lawn Care
For many people, the lawn is a large part of their outdoor space. Keeping your lawn under control can make a big difference to the appearance of your garden. Like any other plant, a lawn needs to be looked after in order to grow and be healthy. Here are some essential tasks to carry out on your lawn this gardening week:
- Mow the Lawn: The best place to start if you haven?t tamed your lawn for a while is to get the lawn mower out and give the grass a good cut. The blade of a lawnmower should be sharpened about once a year in order to give a smooth cut. For the best results, avoid cutting the grass when it?s wet and only cut a small amount, approximately one quarter or a third, during the initial mowing.
- Deal with Moss: An unhealthy lawn can cause moss to grow. There are a number of reasons for moss to appear, such as wet weather, shaded areas, worn areas (from children or animals) and sparse grass growing. There are a number of ways to deal with moss depending on the time of year. In April, one of the best things to do is to apply a moss treatment and wait a couple of weeks before removing it. Moss can easily spread which is why you can?t simply dig it up. Once you remove the moss, you?ll need to sow new seed to thicken the grass or else the moss will return. If you have a large amount of moss, you may need to consider lawn scarification.
- Water Your Lawn: We?re often not short of rain in the UK but lawns do require water to survive, thrive and look luscious in your garden. How often you water your lawn should depend on the type of soil. If you?re unsure of the soil, look at the colour of your lawn. If the colour has a blush tint, goes flat when you step on it and doesn?t spring back up afterwards, this usually means it requires water. The best time to water your lawn is in the morning. The evening temperature is too cool and this can lead to diseases in your lawn.
- Feed your Lawn: After giving your lawn a nice drink of water, you should feed it too. Lawn fertilisers should be applied after watering or after it has rained. When selecting a lawn fertiliser look for a one with a reasonable Nitrogen content, around 25% for spring application. If your lawn has weeds, apply a separate liquid weed control product.
Keeping Your Lawn Healthy all Year Round
Although gardening week is the opportune time to give your lawn and garden some TLC, you should try and take good care of your garden all year round. At different points in the year, your garden will require different care and assistance, as well as different products. Keeping a healthy garden year-round can help to prevent moss problems and will give your lawn that fresh, lush green look.
Author Bio:
Terence Nicholson is the owner of Lawnscience. Lawnscience is a professional lawn care business, serving areas all over the UK. Terence loves his work and teaching others about the essentials of lawn care, which is why he started his lawn care franchise. ?
