Submitted by: Wayne Armstrong

Have you ever wandered outside to take a look at your lawn and found that to be honest, it could look better? I know I have. But there are things you can do to improve the look of your lawn. If you’re like me then the fact that it is green and neat and tidy simply isn’t enough. I want my lawn to consist of mostly grass, not weeds and moss. From a distance your lawn may look ok, but too many broad leaved weeds and moss simply doesn’t stand up to closer scrutiny.

One of the main things you need to do to combat moss is improve drainage and irrigation of your lawn. Check out your local garden supply store and get some ‘feed and weed wit moss killer’ product. Apply this to your lawn as per the instructions and after a couple of days you will find that your lawn has developed unsightly patches of black and brown. This is a good thing because it means that you have managed to kill the moss. The bad thing is that you now have some work to do, because to improve the chances of grass becoming dominant in your lawn you need to remove the dead moss. Use a rake of some description to remove it. This will give more chance for your grass to develop. This process of removing moss and other debris from the lawn is known as scarifying.

It is worth also occasionally aerating your lawn. The process of aeration involves making lots of holes all over the lawn to improve drainage. If the underlying soil of your lawn doesn’t drain that well then it may be beneficial to brush over a mixture of sand and soil to cover the hole. This will help prevent them getting clogged up later, putting you back to square one with regard to drainage.

On top of weeding, aerating and scarifying, there are other things you should be doing on a regular basis. All of us who take pride in the appearance of our lawns mow them regularly but you should ensure that you also catch or collect the clippings because if you don’t then the build up of dead grass clippings on the lawn will encourage the formation of moss.

Another problem that you may have with keeping your lawn looking healthy is related to the insect World. Some insects cause serious damage to lawns and they are more common than you might imagine. However, normally nature tends to find a way to balance the good and the bad and so if possible it is desirable to let her get on with it rather than interfering with insecticides etc as you may end up killing beneficial insects as well as the more destructive ones. However, if the problem is getting out of hand you may have to resort to this course of action. If you do, then my preference would be to use low toxicity products that aren’t going to cause problems for animals that may wander across your lawn or worse still children who want to play on it.

Finally, the one thing as well as sunshine that a lawn needs to grow is water. Even if it rains periodically where you live you still may not be getting enough water on your lawn and so you may have to invest in a hosepipe and sprinkler to get the job done. Make sure though that you tackle the moss, weed and aeration problem first as otherwise the water you add may simply run off the surface rather than soak down to the roots where it is needed. Occasionally adding some lawn feed to the water will also be beneficial and will substantially improve the colour of your lawn. Don’t overdo it though as too much of a good thing can also cause problems as with any plant.

Whatever products you decide to use on the lawn, always make sure you read and follow the instructions on the package.

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