With all of the rain that we have had lately, plants in the borders and lawned areas are growing away fast! Trying to find some dry weather to cut them can be difficult but the wet weather does have an advantage. This is an ideal time to spruce up your lawn by applying a weed and feed treatment.
What you will need
Stainless steel lawn rake Lawn treatment Lawn treatment spreader Gloves String to divide the area up if spreading by hand Lawn sprinkler and hose to water in if the weather is dry Verdone lawn weed killer if an extra treatment is necessary
Steps to a perfect lawn
- Firstly you will need to cut the lawn on a medium blade setting and then leave it for two or three days. Make sure that the grass clippings are removed after mowing – these can be added to your compost heap as normal in layers, with other coarser material.
- Use a lawn rake to remove any ‘thatch’ from the lawn. Thatch is dead grass and moss that may have built up in a layer over the soil surface. This should be removed so that the treatment can be washed into the soil effectively. The raked out thatch can be added to your compost heap.
- Apply the treatment to a dry lawn on a dry day when rain is forecast and if no rain falls within twenty four hours of application, water your lawn well.
- Either use a lawn spreader, available to buy from your local garden center or divide the lawn into square metres with string and apply the treatment as evenly as possible by hand, wearing gloves.
- If possible, keep pets off the lawn for a couple of days until the treatment has been washed in well.
- Do not add grass clippings from the next three cuts to the compost heap. The treatment contains a selective weed killer and traces of this may be transferred to your compost heap and, unless the compost is very well rotted, there is a small chance it may affect other plants.
What you will see
Once the treatment has been applied and watered in well, the grass will turn dark green within a few days. There may be some temporary blackening of the grass but this is normal so don’t worry!
Any weeds will start to grow away vigorously then turn yellow and die. For lawns that are badly infested with weeds, a follow up treatment of a liquid lawn weed killer may be needed.
After about a week, any moss in the lawn will turn black as it dies. This will need to be removed by vigorously raking it out using a lawn rake and should not be composted.
What to do once the treatment has worked
- Cut your grass in the usual way but remember not to compost the clippings from the first three cuts.
- Treat areas that are still infested with weeds using a selective weed killer that will not kill the grass. Verdone is recommended for this.
- If there are patches of bare soil on the lawn once the weeds have died, these can be sown with grass seed mixed with topsoil or a loam based compost.
- Treat your lawn again in the autumn with a winter feed to strengthen the roots.
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