How to remove crabgrass from your lawn
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We’ve all enjoyed our lawns during the summer months and now, as we enter September and the weather begins to get cooler, it’s time to slow down the traffic on our lawns and prepare them for the cold, dark winter months ahead. Carlos Real, lawn care expert and managing director of TotalLawn, has revealed the lawn care jobs you should be doing this month.
He said: “As the temperature starts to cool in September, it’s a prime time for disease to start to creep in. September is the time to reduce the foot traffic on our lawns and begin to put things into place to protect our lawn over the winter months.”
Key jobs include mowing, scarifying, aerating, and swapping out the feed.
Mow as you go
In September, depending on the weather, your grass will still grow at a steady rate, and for this you should continue to mow your lawn one or two times each week.
When the weather starts to get cooler, you’ll notice your lawn growth will begin to slow down, when this happens, you won’t need to mow your lawn as often.
September can be an unpredictable month when it comes to the weather and mowing your lawn, so it can be difficult to get into a routine. Keep a constant check on your lawn and only mow as needed to maintain the desired height.
Scarify your thatch
Throughout the summer it’s prime growing season and a substance known as ‘thatch’ starts to gather at the base of the plant just above the soil.
It’s created naturally by the death of old grass blades and roots, usually, fungi can consume it and make it go away.
However, on domestic lawns the fungi simply can’t keep up with the rate of thatch growth, therefore causing a build-up of it on your lawn. Too much thatch prevents water, oxygen and nutrients from getting into the soil.
The most effective method of reducing thatch is scarification. You can either get a manual or a motorised scarifier. The method of a scarifier is to basically use a ‘rake’ and pull up any thatch that has developed on your lawn.
Removing thatch once a year is usually sufficient for most lawns and should be done at the beginning of autumn in September.
Aeration
Alongside scarification, you should also be aerating your lawn. If you’ve had a lot of foot traffic on your lawn during the summer months you might find that your soil has become compacted.
When this happens, the oxygen won’t be able to reach the surface to the bacteria and fungi that rely on it to keep the lawn healthy. Just like scarifying, you have the option of both manual and powered aerators. The whole process involves ‘spiking’ your lawn and creating small holes which then enables the oxygen to get down below the surface.
It’s important you remember to give your lawn a good feed and watering after you’ve done these jobs because they can put your lawn under serious stress.
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Change up the feed
Feeding your lawn is a job all year round and you need to be changing the feed you use, as quickly as the seasons start to change.
Unlike the summer months where we’d advise you to use a high Nitrogen feed to help make your lawn look luscious and green, you should move to reducing this and begin feeding your lawn with a high Phosphorus and a high Potassium feed.
This will support healthy root growth, assist with the overall function of the plant and help prevent the growth of moss and weeds.
September is all about the summer recovery and preparing your lawn for a typical British winter – being prepared is the best way to protect your lawn from disease and other lawn issues that creep their way in through the summer months.
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