Do you want your lawn to be the envy of everyone in the neighbourhood? Watering restrictions taking their toll on the lawn?
Not sure where to begin or what you need to do?
Read on .....
Maintaining your Lawn – six easy steps
The single best thing to do for your lawn is to ensure that your lawn mower blade or blades are sharp! Dull blades will rip and tear at the grass creating jagged edges that allow pests and disease to flourish. If in doubt try shaving with a dull razor and see how your face or legs feel - that is how your lawn feels ...ouch!
Aerate –Aerating your lawn is a great way to reduce thatch, loosen up compacted soils and make it easier for water and nutrients to reach the roots of your turf. Even with the best care available, lawns can thin out and lose color due to excessive moss or thatch buildup, hard or compacted soils, or periods of high temperature, high humidity, or drought. Aerifying and overseeding is recognized by turf experts such as golf course superintendents as the best treatment to control thatch, reduce compaction, fill-in bare spots and revitalize growth. Rent your Aerator from Acme Rental Centre!
Dethatch – Regular dethatching forces buds to grow near the base of the grass stems, preventing the grass plants from being dead underneath and only green on top. Thatching frees new grass shoots to grow in thick and lush.Rent your Dethatcher from Acme Rental Centre!
Seed - A great deal has been spent on research and development to produce new grass varieties that are more insect and disease resistant, drought tolerant, and adaptable to different environmental conditions. Follow the label directions for rate of coverage. Putting down too little seed increases the amount of time required to establish the lawn if at all. Too much seed causes the new plants to compete with each other and results in a thin lawn that is very slow to mature. Rent your Seed Spreader from Acme Rental Centre!
Fertilize – Fertilization contributes greatly to lawn color, density, uniformity, and growth. Properly fertilized grass can compete with weeds and is able recover from damage caused by environmental stresses faster than improperly fertilized lawns. Rent your Fertilizer Spreader from Acme Rental Centre!
Mow – don’t scalp your lawn. A healthy grass height is 1-2 inches. Anything less and your lawn is not promoting healthy root growth.See us at Acme Rental Centre to have your lawn mower tuned-up and sharpened!
Water – Given a choice, water early in the day when lawns are normally wet from dew. Avoid midday watering due to excessive evaporation, and at night due to potential increased chances of some diseases gaining a foothold. The exception to this guide is when you are in extremely hot weather and nighttime temperatures don't go below 68 degrees. Then it is better to water in the late afternoon or early evening, providing there is not a watering time restriction. Early or late in the day reduces the amount of evaporation that takes place during the very hot day, allowing more water to reach the root zone. Watering in direct sunlight is a waste of water and your time.
What is lawn aeration?
Lawn aeration is the process of creating air channels in your lawn so that air can freely pass into the soil and circulate around the grass roots. This aeration is achieved by removing small cylinder shaped cores about 0.5cm wide and 5-10cm deep (similar to the idea of coring an apple) , this is known as core aeration. Aerators can be rented for a little as two hours or the whole day depending on the size of your lawn.
Before you rent a power dethatcher, there are a few things you should do first. Before you begin, you should mow your lawn to about half of its normal mowing height. Second, if moss is present in the lawn, use a moss control product available at your local garden centre, wait approximately 2-3 days, the moss will turn black and will be removed during the dethatching. Third, you will need to rent a dethatcher from Acme Rental Centre. Much like aerators, power dethatchers resemble power lawn mowers in that they have engines that sit on top and wheels. However, instead of one horizontal blade to cut grass, dethatchers normally have numerous vertically aligned blades that can cut to the surface of, or even slightly into the soil. They are also VERY heavy and will usually require more than one person to transport. It is important to remember that if you are NOT experienced in dethatching, you may want to consider hiring somebody who is. The reason for this is that power dethatchers have numerous vertically aligned cutting blades that need to be calibrated to the correct height for each type of grass. When you rent a dethatcher you will need to set the depth. Usually you need to set it to cut up to 1/2 inch into the ground (soil) to remove the thatch and scratch and stir the surface of the soil. Remember to make a few passes with crossing patterns for better coverage.
Have you ever seen a lawn that looked like it had different colored stripes. This was probably caused by spreading seed and fertilizers the wrong way. To make sure that the color and growth of your plants are the same, seed and fertilizers must be spread evenly. The most popular types of spreaders are the drop spreader and the rotary spreader. Rent either type of spreader for $10 a day and take the guess work out of where the grass seed or fertilizer is landing!
Rotary tillers are popular with home gardeners who want vegetable gardens. The garden may be tilled a few times before planting each crop. Primary tillage loosens the soil and mixes in fertilizer and/or plant material, resulting in soil with a rough texture. Secondary tillage produces finer soil and sometimes shapes the rows. Weed plants (seeds, tubers, etc.) may be exhausted by repeated tilling. The weeds expend energy to reach the surface, and then get turned into the soil by tilling. The cycle is repeated until the weeds are dead. Rotary tillers may be rented from Acme Rental Centre for single-use applications, such as when planting grass or tilling the garden. Rental rates begin at just two hours with special discounts if you need the tiller for the entire day.
