Latest news with #lawncare
The Sun
9 hours ago
- General
- The Sun
Gardeners MUST carry out essential task if they want to get thick, bushy & super green lawns that last all summer
MANY people want thick, luscious lawns in their garden, but it can be tricky to achieve with hot weather and weeds springing up. One green-fingered whizz has shared an essential task you should do to get great results that last all summer. 4 4 A fellow gardener had made a plea for help after using Westland Triple Care on their grass, which they claim left it looking 'patchy.' Taking to the Facebook group Gardening on a Budget Official, they shared: 'What on earth! 'The grass was a little patchy and had some moss. 'I used this last week after spending two days using an aerator. 'The state of the grass now..... 'It wasn't like this before using this box of destruction! 'This is my first post on here and some help or advice would be appreciated. What should I do now.' Thankfully the gardening fan had some words of advice to save the day - and said that Westland Triple Care, which is £10 on Amazon, did actually work for her. They explained that it is aerating that 'does that' to lawns, but you need to 'water at least half an hour a day after using the seeds' to revive it. She explained the same thing had happened to her, and said: 'Mine was aerated. I was gutted, cried for a week. 'I waited till it was warmer as done in March, then I seeded, used two large boxes as did back and front. The four easy steps to get your tired lawn lush for summer & you don't need to worry about pigeons ruining it either 'I put the sprinkler on every morning at 7 o clock and every evening at 9 o clock. 'Once you get all the dead stuff up, sprinkle more, see and wait. 'Mine took 6 weeks of true dedication. 'I watered whether it rained or not as lawns are dry as a bone two inch down. 'All is not lost, good luck.' The upset gardener thanked her for her help and said he would 'water, water, water' his grass. The Westland Triple Care lawn feed is said to 'nourish your grass but also tackle weeds and moss head-on.' It is said to create 'a strong and healthy lawn', with greening visible within seven days - if used between the months of February and October.
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- Climate
- News.com.au
Why your lawn stops growing in winter
Oh, winter in Australia. The sun sets before 5pm, the mornings are foggy, and we cling to our extra-hot cappuccinos with one sugar just to make the commute to work bearable. We're such a summer-loving nation that as soon as the temperature hits single digits, half the country declares it too cold and jets off to Europe. But amid it all, there's one major perk to the winter in Australia. You don't need to mow your lawn. Yes, that's right. Most Australian lawns experience slower growth during winter due to lack of sunlight and cooler temperatures, meaning that you won't need to mow as frequently. In fact, a colleague whose lawn needs to be mowed every 7-10 days during the summer has gone seven weeks without mowing it. And it's barely grown. The most common Australian grasses are C4 grasses, otherwise known as warm-season grasses. This includes varieties such as couch grass, kikuyu, and buffalo grass, and they're often the choice for Aussie lawns due to their strong heat and drought tolerance. They are also self-repairing, making it a great choice for families with four-legged friends running around. They flourish best in summer, spring, and early autumn, where temps can range from 20 to 32 degrees Celsius. In winter, warm-season grasses tend to go dormant to conserve energy. During this time, they will experience very minimal levels of growth and will often tend to lose colour. But just because your grass is looking a little worse for wear doesn't mean it doesn't require any care. To care for your lawn during winter, it is recommended that weeds and debris are removed and a winter fertiliser or treatment is applied. This way, your lawn stays healthy and ready for growing come Spring. For those with cool-season lawns (C3), you will likely continue mowing as usual. These varieties don't share the same drought tolerance or durability as warm-season lawns and generally thrive in the cooler months. They grow best in temperatures between 10 and 25 degrees, so they tend to stay green and active throughout autumn and winter, especially in southern and elevated parts of Australia. In terms of maintenance, ensuring the grass is kept between 6-8 centimetres makes for better insulation. Bunnings Australia recommends not mowing your lawn when it's wet. It can spread disease through your grass, so be aware of any bacteria in your lawn. Wet grass can also get stuck on your lawnmower's undercarriage and cause issues for your machine.
CNET
21 hours ago
- Climate
- CNET
This Is the Best Way to Keep Your Grass From Dying in the Summer Heat
Despite the soaring temperatures, mowing the lawn during summer is a necessity, and believe it or not, it's also something that can keep your grass looking sharp and green. If you want to keep your lawn in tip-top shape, there are serious mistakes to avoid, especially during hot weather. With a little strategy and a few easy adjustments, you can turn your lawn from a sorry brown to a glittering green -- and do it in less time. So grab your best mower and read these five essential tips. 1. Keep it long A short trim can cause damage to your lawn, especially during hotter months. Chris Wedel/CNET For some, a perfect lawn is always well-trimmed and consistently kept short. Unfortunately, while this may look nice, it can be a detriment to the overall life of your grass. During the hottest days of summer when your yard is competing with sweltering heat, blazing sun and less rain, it's best to keep the grass about 4 inches high after a cut. That may seem long but taller grass retains more water and has longer, healthier roots. 2. Wait until the grass is dry Mowing when there is still dew on the ground can damage your lawn. Russell Holly/CNET It may seem obvious during the summer when it reaches unbearable temps during the day to try and get started mowing early in the cool morning hours. But if there's still dew on the ground, you can lose time and damage your lawn. This is caused by the high likelihood that wet grass will clump up in the discharge chute (that flappy thing on the side), requiring you to stop and remove the clog. Plus, your mower tires won't get great traction either and could put tracks in your yard. Instead, wait until later in the morning when the dew dries, or mow the lawn late in the day before the evening dew. Also, time your sprinklers to start up in the late evening or at night so there isn't extra moisture on the grass when you mow. Here are some more watering tips for your lawn. 3. Go slower Keep your speeds low to make mowing go fast. Alina Bradford/CNET Short on time or just want to get the chore over faster? Then going fast makes the most sense, right? But while it's tempting to go fast while mowing, it can actually create more work for you. By not taking your time and letting the mower do its job properly, there's a good chance it will leave some areas uncut and give the lawn an uneven, sloppy look. This means you'll have to take more time to re-mow it to make the lawn look correct. Instead, take the path of the turtle -- slow and steady. A slower, mid-speed mowing session is faster and better for your lawn than zooming around the grass and ultimately needing to re-mow it later. Also, remember that the choke needs to be lower for slower speeds to run properly. 4. Be consistent My yard has never had such a professional look. Chris Wedel/CNET Mowing randomly across your lawn can take up more time and lead to an uneven cut. Follow a pattern instead, using this technique: Start on the edge of your lawn with the discharge chute pointing toward your lawn Mow around the perimeter of your lawn When you get to your starting point, make a U-turn so the discharge chute is facing the strip you just cut Keep mowing around the perimeter, making sure the discharge chute is pointed toward where you just mowed. In the end, your lawn will end up with a nice pattern and the discharge chute won't clog. How to Prep Your Lawn Mower for the Season How to Prep Your Lawn Mower for the Season Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 2:58 Loaded : 13.31% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 2:58 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. How to Prep Your Lawn Mower for the Season 5. Prep your mower for the next round Regular maintenance on your mower is important to ensure it is reliable and does a great job each and every time you take it out. Spending a little time after you finish mowing will keep your mower in tip-top shape and lasting longer. Start by turning the mower over and rinsing the blades and discharge chute with a garden hose before putting it away. This will prevent grass from building up, drying out and being much harder to remove. If the air filter on your push mower looks dirty, give it a good wash with some mild dish soap and rinse it with the garden hose. Set the filter aside to dry so you can put it on right before mowing next time. One of the best time savers is keeping your lawn mower blade sharp. A dull blade will require you to go over the same patch of lawn more than once to cut any raggedy bits left behind. A sharp blade allows you to zip around your lawn just once and still get great results. Most mower repair shops will sharpen the blades for a small fee, or you can do it yourself with these tips. FAQs to help you get the best-looking lawn What order should I mow my lawn? It's best to start mowing around the edges of your lawn, with the grass clippings going into your uncut grass. After cutting around the entire perimeter of your yard, turn back around and mow in the opposite direction, with the grass chute pointing toward the perimeter grass you already cut. Continue this mowing direction until complete. Want to make watering your lawn easier? Here's CNET's guide to making your own automated lawn watering system.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
What are chinch bugs and why are they devouring Calgary lawns?
They're small and hard to spot, but the damage chinch bugs are doing to Calgary lawns is unmistakable. James Szojka owns the lawn company Yard Dawgs, and says the 2024 water restrictions placed on Calgarians didn't help matters. 'We are seeing more this year than all the other years combined,' he said. 'I think the damage, especially in the southeast communities of Mahogany, Auburn Bay, McKenzie Towne, all these areas in particular – because chinch bugs migrate from the south – do get hit first and they get hit the hardest.' The bugs target individual blades of grass and suck the nutrients out of them, leaving them brown. Over time, a lawn will have a series of brown spots, and if left unchecked, they'll devour the entire lawn. 'They inject a toxin, and it will cause damages up to the point where someone has to completely replace their lawn,' he said. 'This is perfect environment for the bugs to really start to get very active and start to damage, because they love hot and dry, they do not like cold and wet.' Szojka says chinch bugs migrate to other lawns by flying or walking and won't discriminate. It's something causing concern for Calgary homeowner Tamara Schuetzle. She says her lawn is green and lush right now, and she's working hard to keep it that way. 'By removing the thatch, aerating so it's not compacted, and then of course nutrients,' she said. 'Calgary has a lot of clay, so I kind of use a combination of things that breaks up the clay so that the grass can have a better root system.' She's watering frequently to make her lawn less appealing to chinch bugs, which have devastated her neighbour's yard. 'The problem is, yes my lawn looks green now,' she said. 'But if everybody doesn't take care and do their part, they're just going to keep coming back, so it needs to be like a community thing where we do it together.' University of Calgary insect physiologist Jackie Lebenzon studies insects, how they work and how they respond to changes in different types of environments. She says Calgary's northern climate restricts the species that can live here, but chinch bugs have grown hardy and can survive winters easily. 'They're totally built to last.' she said. 'They do go away, they go dormant and they disappear (for close to six months of the year), so I guess there's two things they could do: run away, a lot of them migrate south just like a lot of us wish we could do, and then a lot of them just hunker down and stay here and enter a hibernation like state.' Lebenzon says Calgarians have a love-hate relationship with bugs, but there's likely more people that hate them in their yards, especially wasps, ants and aphids. 'Last year, people were like, 'There's so many wasps everywhere,' she said. 'I think it's because we had a really wet spring, which means there's lots of aphids 00 and wasps like to eat the aphid dew, which is basically like aphid poop – and so because of that, their population can maybe grow a little bit larger than what you might have seen the year before." Lebenzon says insects are an important part of our ecosystem. 'Insects make up three-quarters of all animals that live on land,' she said. 'They pollinate about three quarters of all the food that we eat, like all the types of plants and so you know like it or not, they're very important.'
CTV News
2 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
What are cinch bugs and why are they devouring Calgary lawns?
They're small and hard to spot, but the damage chinch bugs are doing to Calgary lawns is unmistakable. James Szojka owns the lawn company Yard Dawgs, and says the 2024 water restrictions placed on Calgarians didn't help matters. 'We are seeing more this year than all the other years combined,' he said. 'I think the damage, especially in the southeast communities of Mahogany, Auburn Bay, McKenzie Towne, all these areas in particular – because chinch bugs migrate from the south – do get hit first and they get hit the hardest.' The bugs target individual blades of grass and suck the nutrients out of them, leaving them brown. Over time, a lawn will have a series of brown spots, and if left unchecked, they'll devour the entire lawn. 'They inject a toxin, and it will cause damages up to the point where someone has to completely replace their lawn,' he said. 'This is perfect environment for the bugs to really start to get very active and start to damage, because they love hot and dry, they do not like cold and wet.' Szojka says chinch bugs migrate to other lawns by flying or walking and won't discriminate. It's something causing concern for Calgary homeowner Tamara Schuetzle. She says her lawn is green and lush right now, and she's working hard to keep it that way. 'By removing the thatch, aerating so it's not compacted, and then of course nutrients,' she said. 'Calgary has a lot of clay, so I kind of use a combination of things that breaks up the clay so that the grass can have a better root system.' She's watering frequently to make her lawn less appealing to chinch bugs, which have devastated her neighbour's yard. 'The problem is, yes my lawn looks green now,' she said. 'But if everybody doesn't take care and do their part, they're just going to keep coming back, so it needs to be like a community thing where we do it together.' University of Calgary insect physiologist Jackie Lebenzon studies insects, how they work and how they respond to changes in different types of environments. She says Calgary's northern climate restricts the species that can live here, but chinch bugs have grown hardy and can survive winters easily. 'They're totally built to last.' she said. 'They do go away, they go dormant and they disappear (for close to six months of the year), so I guess there's two things they could do: run away, a lot of them migrate south just like a lot of us wish we could do, and then a lot of them just hunker down and stay here and enter a hibernation like state.' Lebenzon says Calgarians have a love-hate relationship with bugs, but there's likely more people that hate them in their yards, especially wasps, ants and aphids. 'Last year, people were like, 'There's so many wasps everywhere,' she said. 'I think it's because we had a really wet spring, which means there's lots of aphids 00 and wasps like to eat the aphid dew, which is basically like aphid poop – and so because of that, their population can maybe grow a little bit larger than what you might have seen the year before." Lebenzon says insects are an important part of our ecosystem. 'Insects make up three-quarters of all animals that live on land,' she said. 'They pollinate about three quarters of all the food that we eat, like all the types of plants and so you know like it or not, they're very important.'
