DeThatching your lawn

Keep your lawn healthy and clean by dethatching. You cut into the turf and soil, so you remove moss and gets the bottom again enough air, light and nutrients.

Why should you be dethatching your lawn?

Keep your lawn clean and healthy. After the mowing remain lying grass clippings, which form a dense layer of felt in the long run. dethatch therefore at least once a year. dethatching manually is hard work, and therefore only suitable for a small lawn. Rent or buy a larger lawn electric machine. A moss rake or machine has sharp blades that cut through the turf and soil. By dethatching you get a nice, green and firm turf.

Reasons for dethatching:

• You remove moss and matted grass.
• Open your grass roots, so that the soil is accessible to oxygen, nutrients and water.
• You prevent the growth of fungi and mold.
• You promote root growth.
• dethatch in straight lines. Do the same in the opposite direction. Repeat several times if you have severe moss.

When to dethatch?

The best time to dethatch is in March / April and September / October. By cutting the rubbish that comes out of the grass, your lawn looks just not as pretty. That’s over quickly by the growth boost it gives. The lawn is grass roots and the weather provides enough light, air and nutrients.

 

Lawn Problems

Address bald spots

If you have bare spots in your lawn. That’s because you; mow too short, or have pests or fungi. Solve it by sowing large areas with special grass seed mixtures. These seeds are environmentally friendly or organic layer that allows for rapid germination.

Give your lawn watering

Give your lawn lots of water in dry periods. Do it early morning or evening, so that the grass is not burned. A newly installed lawn needs more water.

For more tips on watering your lawn, check out this post.

Spraying

Spray your lawn with water and fertilizers in dry periods to avoid them browning out. It is better to do this at the start of a week by using a spray hose (at least half an hour), then every day a little bit to keep up on it.. A newly installed lawn needs in the first year more fertilizer than an existing lawn.

When is the best time to spray, morning or evening?

The best time to spray your lawn is either in the early morning or evening. This will prevent the water from evaporating and burning the grass in the sun. In the evening, the grass is cooled down by the earth, by which the temperature difference with the water is not too large. Even better, in the summer, is to give early morning, as well as evening, water. Then the grass has plenty of water for the long, hot summer day.

Weeds, pests and diseases

Weeds choke the grass out, so it does not grow well and dies. Formation of weeds in the lawn is unavoidable. Weed seeds are carried by the wind and land in your garden. The stronger the grass, the less likely it is that weeds will grow. Most weeds disappear by regular mowing if you have a strong lawn. Root weeds, such as clover, you must remove it manually or with a strong emergent weed killer (pre or post). Some weeds, such as dandelion have a taproot that you should use a selective weed killer for.

Learn more about lawn diseases in our handy lawn diseases identification guide

 

Lawn Moss

Moss in the lawn is the most common complaint. Moss grows mainly in moist, shaded areas where the soil quickly sour. Is your lawn in good condition, then the grass displaces moss. Because moss grows at a lower temperature than grass grows, there is in early spring more potential for moss to grow and damage your lawn.

Removing moss

Removing moss is not easy. Kill the moss with a (chemical) mosdodendmiddel. That kill the moss, but not the traces left behind, and the moss will therefore come back. The only lasting solution is a healthy lawn that moss has no chance to take root. You use good fertilizer, enough light and air into the soil and good water management. Aeration is important.

Want to know more about dealing with lawn problems? Check out this post.