Lawn Mowing

Controlling Your Lawn Care Costs

Most home owners want a neat and well manicured lawn. However, achieving doesn’t come without costs in terms of equipment and materials used, and time. If you can control both, you’ll have more time and money to enjoy your lawn. In practical terms, would you rather be spending money on lawn care, or on a decent outdoor furniture setting that enables you to enjoy your garden?

You can control these costs, however, it may require extra outlays to begin with. They say you have to spend money to make money, when it comes to lawns, spending money will, over time, help to save you money and time. Consider these items as long term money and time savers.

Mulching lawn mower – most lawn mowers come with grass attached. This makes the collection of lawn clippings easy, however you still have to empty the catcher every couple of minutes, and you then need to dispose of the clippings. A lawn mower that has a mulcher attached will but the lawn clippings into finer lengths, then spray those clippings over your lawn. Lawn clippings make a great mulch, and the effect is the same as any mulch on a garden bed.

In ground watering system – and in-ground watering system, particularly those with timers, will save both time and money. You can set how long you want your lawn watered, this delivers an exact amount of water evenly over the whole lawn. The timer will switch the watering system off, so you don’t even need to be home while your lawn is being watered. These watering systems reduce the amount of water used if used wisely.

Lawn repair tool – the biggest enemy to any garden is a damaged lawn that has not been repaired. Damaged patches sometimes fill in by themselves. Others just get bigger and bigger until they reach the major renovation stage. A good lawn repair tool can make light work of repairs. This will encourage you to repair lawns as soon as a problem is discovered. This saves both time and money.

Those three devices, collectively, can save a lot of money each year. More importantly, they will save you hours of back breaking work on your lawn. If you look around and shop wisely, you can have all three of those tools for less than a $1000 – the lawn repair tool is less than a $100, so that’s a good place to start.

Grass Stitcher
USA bryan@imaginegrafix.com

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Quick And Easy Lawn Care Tips For This Weekend

The weekend’s almost here and while the weather is cooling nicely who wants to be stuck in the garden? I guess there are many avid gardeners who will be looking forward to the weekend. For most of us, spending the weekend relaxing with friends and family sounds a lot better. Your lawn still needs to be maintained, however, with summer drifting away, you don’t have to work so hard on your lawn. Here are a few quick and easy tasks for this weekend. Get them done, and you can take the rest of the weekend off.

Mowing – I know I said quick and easy, however, if your lawn is getting a little long, mow it sooner rather than later. The good news: Set your lawn mower on a high setting, and let the clippings lie where they land.
Check your soil – Get a soil pH kit from your local garden supplier. Take a sample from various places in your lawn and check the pH. It should be around 7. If your pH is not right, add that task to next weekend’s task list.
Check for weeds – Do a walk around your lawn. If you spot any weeds, pull them out by hand. While you’re at it, check your lawn for damage and thin patches.
Repair damage and thin patches – This is only going to be a quick job if you have the right lawn repair tool. If you don’t, either arrange to get one or put that job down for next weekend (don’t forget to arrange all the right tools to complete the job – or you can order a Grass Stitcher in, it will get the job done very quickly).
Check the moisture content – Stick your finger into your soil roughly an inch. If the soil is very dry, then you may need to give your lawn a decent drink. If the soil is still slightly damp, then it doesn’t need any water yet.

That’s it. If your lawn doesn’t need mowing, then you can complete those tasks in less than hour. That will leave you free for the rest of the weekend.

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How To Keep Your Lawn Disease Free

Lawns are a little like our bodies – look after your body well and it’ll resist diseases. Sure, a cough or flu may wander by, but we all know you can’t cure them, you just treat the symptoms and let your body do the rest. Your lawns are the same. A strong thick and healthy lawn will resist most diseases. If a disease does drop by, rather than panicking and throwing every known chemical at it, stop and just treat the symptoms initially. That may include reducing water, aerating the soil a little, or adding or reducing nutrients.

Most lawn diseases are really the fault of the gardener. We generally don’t like to think that our gardening habits are causing problems, but they invariably do. If disease does strike, look at your gardening habits and see if you are guilty of any of these:

Improper mowing techniques – mowing too short is the most frequent problem
Over watering
Under watering
Watering at the wrong time of the day
Damaging your lawn – leaving a child’s paddling pool on the lawn, kicking divots when playing
Changing your lawn’s environment – a lawn chair can reduce sunlight, as will a parked car, boat or trailer
Poor gardening methods – not removing leaf litter, leaving piles of grass clippings
Using too much pesticide
Using too much or the wrong fertilizer
Not using enough fertilizer

If you continue those practices, and a disease is present, that disease will most likely thrive and spread further. All of those practices place stress on your lawn, and this is what makes it susceptible to disease. Reduce the stress, and improve your lawns health, and it will fight off diseases.

Of course, like the human body, there are times when disease strikes and your lawn cannot win the fight on its own. That’s when you should consider using alternative including chemicals if required. However, that should be the last resort, not the first. Once your lawn has beaten off any disease, you can repair your damaged lawn, then build up its strength by using the right gardening techniques instead.

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Lawn Care Tip – Don’t Neglect The Basics Because Summer’s Almost Done

Summer may be almost over, but that doesn’t mean you start to neglect the basics when it comes to your lawn care routines. In fact, this is the one time of the year when you should be very particular about how you treat your lawn. Slip up now and you may have to wait for spring before you restore your lawn, and that opens the door to weeds and other pests.

Looking after a lawn at any time of the year is fairly straightforward if you remember six basic principles – mow high, mow dry, mow often, water occasionally, fertilize properly, and repair immediately. If you get those principles right, you will have a thick and healthy lawn that rarely has weed, insect or disease problems. When those problems do surface, point six (repair immediately) is a quick and easy task. Those six principles can be broken into three key areas:

Mowing - your lawn may be slowing its growth down, however, you do still need to mow, and it’s still important to mow properly. Mowing high will prevent any weeds from attacking, mowing dry will ensure you don’t damage your grasses, while mowing frequently means you are only taking the top off. Many gardeners go from mowing weekly to mowing every two or three weeks, and then find the going tough because the lawn is longer. Stick to a weekly routine for as long as possible.

Food and Water – your lawn may still need watering, although as the weather cools you can cut back on how much water you are giving your lawn. Most grasses prefer occasional deep irrigation and will survive a week or two with no water at all. Likewise, a slow release fertilizer on a regular basis is the best approach.

Repair – if you repair any problems immediately, they will not have a chance of escalating into bigger problems. If you repair using a lawn repair tool, the existing grass will help to protect the damaged area while it is regenerating – that’s the smart way to repair your lawn.

Follow those basics throughout the year and your lawn will stay in great shape. Of course, for those who have lawns that either hibernate, or are snow covered in winter, you can sit back and relax for a while. Winter isn’t here yet – so don’t neglect those basics.

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Why The Grass Appears Greener On The Other Side Of The Fence

We gardeners can be a jealous lot. We look over the fence at our neighbor’s lawns and they often look greener and nicer than our lawn. We also like to brag, and there are many gardeners who look over the fence and feel their own lawn is much nicer and better kept than the one next door. Which one are you?

If your neighbor’s lawn looks greener and brighter, you are probably wondering why. There are many reasons, although the main ones include the preparation of the soil when that lawn was first grown and the type of grass grown. Some grasses grow much better in some regions than others, and often, it requires a good mix of grass types to grow the best lawn. There are also simpler reasons such as sunshine – speaking of fences, does your fence put your lawn in the shade in the afternoon while your neighbor’s lawn receives the full sun?

Weed control, watering, mowing and fertilizing are other areas that should be considered along with annual chores such as overseeding, de-thatching and aerating. These all come together to help produce good quality lawns. If you’re over zealous in any of these areas, or negligent, then your lawn is not going to look as good as your neighbor’s.

Put in place a good routine of watering and mowing, mulching your lawn regularly, and controlling weeds at every opportunity and you will be on the road to a good lawn. Repair damaged lawns as soon as you notice problems, and aerate at least annually and your lawn will show its appreciation. There are many reasons why a neighbor’s lawn may look better than yours, and we can only surmise without seeing both lawns. However, there is one suggestion that is always worth trying – simply ask your neighbor how they have been able to achieve such a great lawn. They’ll appreciate the compliment right away, and if they are in the bragging group of gardeners, they’ll be only to pleased to tell you.

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Avoiding Common Lawn Mowing Mistakes

While weeds, disease, and insects can cause a lot of damage to lawns, the most common cause of lawn problems is the mowing habits of gardeners. If you don’t mow your lawn correctly, you will leave it susceptible to problems like weeds and disease and you may even be inviting insects in. There are times when lawns are taken for granted and gardeners forget that lawns are just fields of grass, and that grass is a living plant. Like all plants, treat them poorly and they will suffer, either not thriving and sometimes even dying off.

So what are the most common lawn mowing mistakes made by gardeners? Consider some of these habits and compare them to yours. Are you guilty of mistreating your lawn?

Mowing too short. Different grasses require different heights. In general, especially in a mixed grass lawn, maintaining a height of around two inches is recommended. While many will recommend this in summer, longer grass will also protect the plant’s roots from frost and cold weather in winter, so it’s a good all year habit to get into.

Mowing with blunt blades. Blunt lawn mower blades thresh the grass rather than cutting it. The best mowers are the reel mowers as they use a scissor action to cut the grass. If the tips of the grass in your lawn are a little jagged and yellow, then your lawn mower blades need sharpening. Be sure your blades are balanced because an unbalanced mower will also cause problems.

Mowing wet grass. There are several problems associated with mowing wet lawns. Wet grass clippings will stick to the blades, making them unbalanced – it will also prevent the blades from cleanly cutting your lawn. Wet lawn clippings will clump, causing the lawn under each clump to yellow and perhaps even die. If you must mow when wet, stop and clean the blades regularly and collect the clippings rather than leaving them on the lawn.

Mowing in the same direction. While not as damaging as the previous point, always mowing in the same direction can ‘teach’ your lawn to grow in that direction. A simple north-south, east-west, south-north, and west-east mowing routine will have your lawn standing upright and looking good.

Simple lawn mowing techniques that will improve your lawn’s ability to fight off weeds, disease, and insects. You will reduce the amount of time you spend on lawn repairs, leaving you free to work on other areas of your garden – or free to just sit back and enjoy a wonderful lawn.

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Archives

Controlling Your Lawn Care Costs

Quick And Easy Lawn Care Tips For This Weekend

How To Keep Your Lawn Disease Free

Lawn Care Tip – Don’t Neglect The Basics Because Summer’s Almost Done

Why The Grass Appears Greener On The Other Side Of The Fence

Avoiding Common Lawn Mowing Mistakes

Grass Stitcher Testimonials and Reviews