During our interview on Midlands 103, we held a little Q&A from callers in regards to menacing Moss Problems all the way to Traditional Lawnmowers vs Robotic Mowers. With our lawn care experts here, we put on our thinking caps and came up with solutions to those very problems. Here’s a little recap.
MOSS Problems – Causes
Shaded Areas = such as Large Trees and Plants hanging over the lawn that are blocking natural sunlight
Debris = Leaving Debris / Leaves on your grass for long periods of time
Compacted Soils or Heavy Wear Areas
Water Logged Lawns = Poor Drainage
Poor Cutting Practices = such as Cutting with Blunt Blades & not Cutting Regularly
Neglecting Lawn = such as not feeding lawn
MOSS Solutions
Allow Natural Light = by Cutting Back any Trees or Plants to allow natural light on your grass
Removing Leaves = Ensure & Blow all leaves from your lawn throughout Autumn through to Winter.
Aerating = Consider Aeration to relieve the compaction during early Spring till late Autumn – Hollow core / Verti drain
Drainage = Consider having drainage to let the surface water runaway
Regulate Cutting Directions, where possible
ALWAYS Cut Using Sharp Blades
Cutting a Third at a Time = You should Never cut away any more than one third of the grass leaf at any one time
Feeding Lawn = All Lawns need feeding each season
What Height Should I Cut my Lawn?
Start off in Spring cutting height 2-3”
As growth starts gradually reduce height down to 1.5”
Start to increase heights again in EARLY Autumn to 2-3”
Should you spread lime on grass before a feed?
I would say NO to lime on your lawn
Unless you have a lime deficiency
Easiest way to find his out to buy soil PH test kit
Overuse of lime encourages coarser grasses
You want fine texture leaf in your lawn
Stick to feeding the lawn without lime in most cases
How does a Soil PH test kit work?
Soil PH IS test kit measure between 1 to 14
Acid (Peat Soils)= 1
Alkaline (Lime Stone Soils)= 14
Neutral = 7
Traditional Mower Vs Automatic
Why you should not use Traditional Mowers?
Rotary Mower = You’re cutting with impact
Time Consuming
Weather Conditions = Mowing in bad weather conditions
Removal of clippings
If mulching leads to bad thatch problems
Thatch is a build-up of dead plant material
Fuel = Uses a lot of fuel
Pollution = Bad for the environment
Why you should use an Automower?
Automatic = Cuts the lawn for you
Sharp Cutting Every Time = Cuts with shear sharp blades all the time
360° Cutting = Cuts in 360 different dimensions
Little to No Clippings = Of which the plant can digest bacteria and microbes, keeping the leaf broken down.
Access food source for lawn
Weather Resistant = Don’t have to worry about weather conditions, Automowers mow every day
