Lawnmowers ...

[eggflan]

Anybody started cutting up your way yet ? There's a few out round here already and I've had 1 or 2 customers on the phone, but I wont be starting till about the end of the month.

Regards

Steve

Steve , as yet the sound of mowers is still a distant memory from last year :lol: Im keeping an eye on my own lawn and its showing signs of growing but its not ready for a cut yet , we are still getting cold nights and have had very little rain so its not started in earnest , i have a customer who calls me as soon as her lawn grows and that is a sign to me but she aint called yet .

I have done a lot of pruning already this year , it seems that a lot of customers put it off last year due to nobody having any money to spend and the wet summer :roll: :roll:

Im sure in about 6 weeks time you will be fed up of mowing and you will be praying for winter :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[dickm]

Well, our neighbour got his mower out today and cleaned it, but the grass is still cowering under the soil saying "tell me when the snow has gone" :?

 

[matt]

Am I allowed to ask about scarifiers/lawn rakes in this thread? A large section of our lawn has a lovely soft bed of moss but, as soon as the warm weather arrives, it goes brown and look quite bad. I have used an electric lawn rake in the past but not for a few years since. I seemed reasonably successful at the time - I had a huge mound of moss and a bald lawn. The grass recovered but the moss has crept back over time. I'm thinking I should get an electric scarifier and clear it out once a year?

 

[eggflan]

Am I allowed to ask about scarifiers/lawn rakes in this thread? A large section of our lawn has a lovely soft bed of moss but, as soon as the warm weather arrives, it goes brown and look quite bad. I have used an electric lawn rake in the past but not for a few years since. I seemed reasonably successful at the time - I had a huge mound of moss and a bald lawn. The grass recovered but the moss has crept back over time. I'm thinking I should get an electric scarifier and clear it out once a year?

If you fancy the chemical route then things are readily available that will kill off the moss but you will loose the grss along with it

Another method that takes longer (but with better results) is to airate the lawn with a fork , grass routes outgrow the moss on the surface and should take over but get the fork in a good few inches .

Definatly scarify the lawn and scrape out the dead grass as it is stopping the air and light getting to the ground .

Moss is a really bad problem in gardens that have tree cover shade as the moisture just sits at surface level longer without getting burned off by the sun so the mosses can grow without much problem hence why they do so well in woodland .

The way above is how i deal with moss and imo , im sure others will be along with other answers ..

Also a lot of lawn feeds have moss killer mixed in with them and you should be feeding in spring and autum to help it get through and then recover from winter :wink:

 

[Steve Jones]

Matt,

Personally I wont scarify a customers lawn unless they have it treated first because if you scarify an untreated lawn, as well as removing the living moss you are also spreading the spores ready for it to regenerate again.

I don't use feed and weed combined, the product I use is this for moss, they have a separate weed control and a separate lawn food product. I buy it in big bags enough to treat 400sq/m at a time, the weed control is also very good, I apply it with a Scotts evengreen drop spreader. Customers really like this product because it doesn't scorch the lawn and it makes it a really nice dark green for quite a few weeks after treatment. Unfortunately I don't have any before and after pics yet, this is something I'll be doing this year to add them to my website which is still under development.

I treated my own lawn yesterday with their lawn food just to give it a bit of a boost at the start of the season.

I've got no connection with Scott's, I'm just a happy, and have several happy customers.

Steve

Apologies to eggflan for taking his original thread off topic

 

[matt]

Many thanks. I will. Spend some time considering the options.

 

[stevebuk]

i never use anything with moss killer in it as the chances of getting it wrong are too great DAMHIKT :lol: ifyou leave the grass at about 25mm, aerate and scarify at least once a year you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[jlawrence]

When it comes to moss you need to look at the reasons why it's there in the first place. Moss tends to like compacted surfaces, lack of light (ie shade), wet.
If you can, remove the reason why you've got the moss. Otherwise it'll just keep coming back regardless of what you use to treat it.
Most moss treatments shouldn't harm the grass at all. All I ever apply for moss now is chelated Iron - it'll turn the moss black, then scarify it out. You will need to over seed after removing the moss - so you might want to wait until it's a bit warmer. As per normal the best moss killer has been withdrawn - Diclorophen is the best I've used.
It is important to aerate a surface to keep moss at bay.

 

[Paul Chapman]

I'm thinking I should get an electric scarifier and clear it out once a year?

I have a very poor quality lawn (well, two lawns and both quite large) mainly because there's lots of clay underneath, so drainage is very ineffective. I have lots of moss and find those electric lawn rakes very good in removing it and other stuff - it's amazing how much stuff they rake out. The only problem is that the collection box on them is always too small so you are forever emptying it and the spikes are not very durable so the machines don't last long.

I find that spiking with a fork is also effective.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[jlawrence]

stevebuk - if you follow the instructions on the product you'll be fine, but don't be tempted to apply a little extra.

Paul, you could add some sand to your fork holes to help aid drainage.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Paul, you could add some sand to your fork holes to help aid drainage.

Yes, good idea. I also tend to get plenty of weeds and when I cut them out I'm now filling the holes with a mixture of soil and sand. I really ought to dig the whole lot up and start again but there's just too much of it - it would cost me a fortune

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[stevebuk]

stevebuk - if you follow the instructions on the product you'll be fine, but don't be tempted to apply a little extra.

I know, unfortunately the wife didn't... :lol:

 

[ceparkinson9]

hayter lawn movers r not bad but to do a job properlu u need the right tools, like with cabinet making, i thing a john deere 6930 (160hp) with topper is the best idea lol ( just leaves a few tracks across ur lawn) haha

 

[dicktimber]

It's sad....
Woodworking and gardening....!!!!!!

Wait till someone askes about knitting a smoking jacket!