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New Lawn

Etablishment of a New Lawn

Preparing the ground

After removing the stones and other rubbish from the lawn area the ground can be prepared. The better prepared the seedbed is, the better the lawn will be. For lawns on heavy soil we recommend to add more sand. If the soil is light or sandy, work in a good amount of peat to give body to the soil and prevent the drying out and loss of nutrients. At this stage, any levelling should be done and care must be taken not to remove too much topsoil from any one area. Dig the soil and prepare the seedbed. Either roll or rake the ground, or tread it down and rake it until a firm seedbed is achieved. Finally a pre-seeding fertilizer should be raked into the soil.

 

 

Sowing

When to sow:
DLF-TRIFOLIUM lawn seed mixtures can be sown at any time from early spring to early Autumn. Provided however, that in periods of dry weather the seedbed is kept constantly moist with a fine spray, until the grass is well established (appx. 5 cm).

How to sow: 
3-4 kg of seed pr 100 m2 is recommended to get a good establishment. An easy way of sowing the seed is to divide the area into sections and then divide the seed into as many lots as there are sections. Sow half the seed for one section, from left to right of the section and then the other half across the first sowing. This will help to ensure an even spray of seed over the area.

 

Feeding your Lawn

Apply a pre-seeding fertiliser to the seedbed a few days before sowing the seed or at the day of sowing.

The lawn should then be fed at least once in early spring, again in mid-summer and once again in autumn. Fertiliser applied in early spring and mid-summer should have a good Nitrogen content to encourage growth and colour. Fertiliser applied in autumn should have a lower Nitrogen content but a higher phosphate and potash content to encourage root growth and resistance to frost, drought and disease.

 

 

Mowing your Lawn

Cut the grass for the first time when it has reached the height of 6-8 cm. Trim lightly and gradually lower the blades to an ideal cutting height of 3-3,5 cm. Mow regularly but try not to remove more than a third of the growth at any time. For the last few cuttings of the year the height of the blades should be raised gradually. In dry summer periods this can also be recommended. When mowing frequently, the cuttings can be left on the lawn. By lower frequency it is recommended that the cuttings are removed and used for compost or mulch.

 

Weeds

  • Annual Weeds - These are mainly apparent in newly sown lawns and usually disappear with mowing. 
  • Perennial Weeds - These appear in all lawns and will often not disappear when mowing but need to be treated with weedkiller. Established lawns can be treated with weedkiller anytime from May to September but not during periods of drought as the weedkiller will then not be effective and may scorch the lawn. 
  • Coarse Weed Grasses - These cannot be eradicated by selective weedkillers. The only effective way of getting rid of them is to cut out the roots with a sharp pointed knife. 
  • Moss - This is usually the biggest problem of all and can be caused by a number of factors. Lack of fertiliser, mowing to close, poor drainage, shade, dripping from trees, over-rolling, compaction, lime shortage, not enough topsoil. To get rid of moss, you must find out which of the above factors is causing the problem and then rectify the matter. A proprietary moss killer can also be used.

 

Watering

New and existing lawns can be helped in periods of drought by watering. Once the lawn is established, water should be applied abundantly with a sprinkler - enough to reach the roots - appx 30-40 mm at time. This will secure a deep going rootsystem.

 

Raking

Raking is hard work, but normally one good raking a year, in the spring, is all that is needed. Use the special type of spring rake for this purpose, not an ordinary garden rake.

The benefits of raking are: 

  • It removes any dead grass, which prevents drainage and holds up growth.
  • It lets air into the crown of the grass plants.
  • It sets up creeping weeds ready for mowing.
  • It encourages the formation of new shoots.

 

Spiking

Spiking can be done once a year but it too, is hard work and needs only to be done when renovating a neglected lawn or if the soil is badly drained or compacted. It is also desirable to spike the lawn prior to top dressing in the autumn. Spiking can be done with an ordinary garden fork, with a special hallow-tined machine or with a solid spoke machine.

The Benefits of Spiking are:

  • It lets air to the grass roots.
  • It improves soil drainage.
  • It stimulates the growth of new roots.
  • It makes the lawn more resistant to drought in the summer.

 

Rolling

Generally, rolling does more harm than good and, since most mowers have a roller on them, there is no need for further rolling. Only if the mower has no roller or is of the hover type, should a roller be considered. The roller should not weigh more than 100 kgs and should only be used in the spring when the surface is dry and the layer below is damp. Ensure worm casts, leaves, etc. are removed before rolling and do not use the roller as means of flattening out bumps.

 

Topdressing

For a first rate lawn, apply a top dressing on an annual basis in spring or autum in a 3-5 mm layer. The mixture is usually made up of peat, loam and sand. Minor hollows will be removed which have developed and an improved soil surface is gradually built up. The layer of topdressing stimulates the formation of new shoots and promotes the development of runners resulting in a denser growth of grass.

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