The Green, Green Grass of ...

Marigold Botanicus of House & Garden Church Corner writes about LAWNS

This has been written under the following headings:

Preparation
Mowing
Maintenance

Preparation:

Much has been written about lawns but the one essential and inescapable fact that determines the success or failure of any LAWN is the time and effort taken prior to sowing the grass seed. Any shortcuts taken here will result in more work later on.

These essential steps can be summarised as follows:

• The soil needs to be nutrient rich and provide good drainage – if you have a heavy soil add some coarse sand but mix it in thoroughly.
  
  
• Prepare the soil well in advance – the absolute ideal – although not essential - is to plant potatoes in the spring which will break the soil up and after harvesting you can then start preparing the soil for an April sowing. You need to use a rotary hoe unless you prefer to dig it all up by hand but it needs to be done at least three times to remove all clods, stones and weeds.  At the same time you will be attempting to “level” the surface each time you go over it using a metal rake.
  
  
• Once you are sure the soil is ready and nice and level, you should then roll it to consolidate it bearing in mind you ultimately require about 10cm of good topsoil as a seed base – this needs to be lightly rolled also.
  
  
• Several days before sowing add superphostate at the rate of 7 grams per square metre and Sulphate of Ammonia at the rate of 14 grams per square metre. Mix evenly into the soil with a steel rake.
  
  
• Select a grass seed mixture that is appropriate to your area – needs differ depending on the climate and the location as well as the intended use. Most reputable Garden Centres will advise you. (the staff at House & Garden are particularly knowledgeable)
  
  
• When sowing the seed you will need 25 to 30 grams per square metre. Sow evenly going both ways across the area to be planted. Work in metre wide bands and divide the lawn seed in two parts using one part lengthwise and the other part widthwise. Rake over the surface GENTLY.
  
  
• Water very lightly and keep moist during the germination period and beyond using a fine mist spray – do not allow pools of water to form – the secret is to water gently and frequently.
  
  
• April is the ideal month to sow but of course you can sow in Spring and Summer but the former tends to attract weeds as well and the latter can be too hot.

Mowing:

Mowing the New Lawn – Do not mow the new lawn until it is at least 10cm high and then ensure that your mower blades are sharp and set the mower high enough so that the first cut leaves the lawn at least 5cm high. Gradually lower the mower with subsequent cuts until you achieve a cut that leaves the lawn 2.5cm high. This is the ideal height and the lawn should never be cut lower. The lawn needs blades of grass to feed and cutting it shorter will “burn” your lawn.

Remember a healthy thick lawn will not let weeds in.

Do not leave lawn clippings on the lawn – it encourages weeds and impedes aeration.

Maintenance:

Spring thing – every Spring give the lawn a hard raking over with a steel rake particularly in areas where there is moss. If the moss is bad you will need to spray then leave for around two weeks before raking. You can use a product like Yates Surrender or a less expensive alternative is Sulphate of Iron which can be either spread or sprayed (it will stain your path so make sure you only spread or spray on to the grass)

Spring is also the time to feed the lawn with a good fertiliser such as Yates Thrive or Lush Lawn Lifter – you can give it another go around Christmas but that should do it. However there is another product called Scotts Lawn Builder which has slow release fertiliser in it so you only need to apply it Spring AND you do not need to water it in as it will not burn your lawn.

For your first mowing in Spring make sure you set the blades a little higher than normal so as not to damage the new growth. Refer to the section on mowing.

Autumn Thing – what you need to look out for here are the dreaded grass grubs which will eat the roots of your grass leaving tell tale brown patches. I suggest you keep a close eye on the lawn and the very instant you see anything resembling a brown patch then treat the lawn immediately with a soil insect killer – this is usually in a pellet form which you sprinkle on the lawn and water in – it works very quickly. Please don’t treating the lawn just in case because you really want to minimise the use of chemicals in your garden.

Maintaining an existing lawn – take note of the following and this should ensure your lawn is always looking good.

• Water in the morning rather than the evening – through less frequent soakings are better than frequent short watering
  
  
• Top dress as required using a sand and fine soil mixture. Scatter lawn seed over bare patches. And treat these areas as if they are new lawn. The best time to do this is in Autumn but it can also be done in Spring.

Marigold Botanicus – House & Garden Church Corner – September 2008
marigold@housegarden.co.nz