Preparing your Lawn for Spring

You may be one of those not fortunate to have a wonderful lawn yet and what you are looking at in your back garden is nothing like a thriving, luscious, cool green lawn. Bare spots, weeds, moss, it all looks rather in need of care. To make things worse, your next door neighbour has a sweeping expanse of fine green perfection. But don't despair, like most gardening, lawn care doesn't need to be hard or complicated ' nor is it particularly time consuming or expensive. Spring is the ideal time to get to work on your beleaguered lawn to prepare it for the summer ahead.

If you have moss in your lawn then it needs to be remidied first. Fortunately, control is quite simple - just apply an EverGreen lawn care product that contains a mosskiller. EverGreen Complete is an example of one of those products as it has a unique 4in1 formulation that will treat moss, control weeds, provide nutrients for the grass and improve water absorption ' all with just one treatment.

Having zapped the moss, it's time to give the entire lawn a gentle raking to get rid of debris. Be careful to not rake your lawn until after you've killed the moss, or you'll just spread spores all over the place. It's also important to consider how much wear and tear you're your lawn will undergo. If children are going to spend all summer using the lawn as a playground, then growing fine grass suitable for a bowling green is not sensible, unless of course you appreciate looking at a big patch of brown dirt. It's important that the grass mix is suitable for purpose. If you are unsure about what to choose, we'd suggest using EverGreen Multi-Purpose Grass Seed which contains a quality mix of seed suitable for most hard-wearing lawns.

Now let's fix those bare patches. Either cut out the bare patch, rake the soil and patch with a piece of turf, or, sow new grass seed. EverGreen Lawn Repair Kit is excellent for repairing patches, it has both lawn seed and nutrients.

Next, let's tackle the issue of tackle thatch. Excessive thatch (the layer of dead stems and roots) is a frequent problem for established lawns. A thick layer of thatch can stop water and nutrients from getting to the soil. Raking with a wire garden rake, and mowing often should be enough for thatch control. Making sure the lawn has enough air is also important to improve drainage and help the grass grow healthily. To aerate, simply push the fork into the soil about 10cm deep at spacings of 15centimeters. This will let water and air to reach roots and make sure the lawn can drain easily.

Once done it will be time to dust off the faithful mower and give the lawn a good cut. Set the blades high initially for a grass length of about 3cm (1.5"). If you mow any shorter at this time of year will open the door to weeds like daisies and dandelions. From now on, your lawn will need regular mowing - for a utility lawn once every week is about right, just don't cut it too short.

The methods of garden lawn care are not mysterious. Follow this basic advice and you'll be well on the way to achieving the perfect lawn.