News: May 17 : Newsletter

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May 17 : Newsletter

May 09, 2017

Can you believe it’s May already?! With one very dry and cold bank holiday weekend already behind us, we can see that soils have become incredibly dry and grass growth has slowed considerably. Generally speaking, we tend to say goodbye to the diurnal shift in temperature and colder nights around 1st May. We were promised much needed rain over the last week of April but as this is British weather we’re talking about, the forecasts turned out to be incorrect and as a result the soils remain very dry.
 
Unfortunately, deeper rooted perennial weeds are quite happy with the current conditions and have been really thriving! Now that the nights are starting to become slightly warmer, we can start to tackle these pesky garden demons (AKA the weeds!) If you are using granular herbicides, be very careful whilst the conditions are dry. Sadly we have already seen evidence of a few lawns that have been completely wrecked during April as a result of applying feed/weed before the conditions were suitable. These products need good growing conditions to be able to work effectively and can become very toxic in dry conditions. If you do feel the need to use them, we would recommend that you water the lawn (a lot!) both prior to application and then again afterwards.
 
There are many products available on the market that can be used to control weeds in lawns very easily but it’s advisable to contact professionals for advice on which product is right for you and the correct application process. It’s time to stay away from using iron sulphate to reduce levels of moss – it’s too late to be scarifying your lawn so it’s best to avoid turning the moss black as a result of using iron sulphate. There are other products available that can aid moss reduction but these are mostly geared towards professionals.
 
With growing conditions improving alongside the weather, your lawn will be in need of nutrition (if you haven’t already started feeding it!) Again, it is important to be very careful when applying any granular products in these conditions – remember to water both before and afterwards!
 
Cut height should remain fairly high at this stage, and we would recommend this to be between 25mm and 30mm. If the nights continue to get a little warmer and we get a nice sprinkling of rain, this can start to be lowered.
 
New Turf
 
Any lawn that has been laid over the last year or so will really be feeling the effects of the dry weather, more so than established lawns. This is due to the fact that the plants will have a very juvenile root system and therefore will not be able to access any water from deeper in the soil as the water table lowers. This may well be apparent as the lawns will be showing a yellowing effect, due both to lack of water and nutrition. In terms of a solution, we advise good nutrition applied with lots of water to start the rejuvenation process. You should entirely avoid carrying out scarification or any other rough cultural activities!

Pro Lawn Care – Richard Salmon based in St Neots and covering our customers North of Luton & Stevenage. 01480 812393 – [email protected]
 
Perfect Ground Solutions – Colin Peters based in Wareside (Herts) and covering our customer base south of Luton & Stevenage  01920 461958   / 07950 334112  – [email protected]

 And as a special bonus, both companies have agreed to offer new potential customers a free first fertiliser application (Within our area of business and up to a maximum of 300 metres squared)

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