March 2013 Meeting:
Whatever the size or state of your present lawn, or your hopes and expectations for a future lawn, Mr Mike Smith from Weston-Super-Mare, a recommended RHS speaker, came to the Yarty Gardening Club’s meeting in March with an enormous amount of information and encouragement about how to maintain and improve any type of lawn or grass area.
He went through a calendar year in lawn care giving ideas month by month on how to treat your grass, when to sow seed or lay turf, when and what to feed, how to repair bumps and hollows and patches, when to put on surface dressing. Scarifying moss before spraying it is a no-no, raking off leaves frequently to avoid fungal growth is a positive yes, and it is recommended not to walk on the lawn in the heart of the winter.
Useful tips included putting weed killer on in the morning to benefit from the sun then shining during the day (!) and even putting salt on thistles to kill them off. If you are starting a lawn from seed use the best seed available, and don’t buy meadow turf if you want an immaculate result.
Mr Smith concluded his presentation with an interesting slide show on various types of grass and the inevitable bugs and weeds, and did point out that bowling greens are usually mown several times each day and as home-owners we should not aspire to creating a bowling green in our back gardens. He then took questions from the floor and proved himself a mine of information on a subject that has been close to his heart for many years.
Whatever the size or state of your present lawn, or your hopes and expectations for a future lawn, Mr Mike Smith from Weston-Super-Mare, a recommended RHS speaker, came to the Yarty Gardening Club’s meeting in March with an enormous amount of information and encouragement about how to maintain and improve any type of lawn or grass area.
He went through a calendar year in lawn care giving ideas month by month on how to treat your grass, when to sow seed or lay turf, when and what to feed, how to repair bumps and hollows and patches, when to put on surface dressing. Scarifying moss before spraying it is a no-no, raking off leaves frequently to avoid fungal growth is a positive yes, and it is recommended not to walk on the lawn in the heart of the winter.
Useful tips included putting weed killer on in the morning to benefit from the sun then shining during the day (!) and even putting salt on thistles to kill them off. If you are starting a lawn from seed use the best seed available, and don’t buy meadow turf if you want an immaculate result.
Mr Smith concluded his presentation with an interesting slide show on various types of grass and the inevitable bugs and weeds, and did point out that bowling greens are usually mown several times each day and as home-owners we should not aspire to creating a bowling green in our back gardens. He then took questions from the floor and proved himself a mine of information on a subject that has been close to his heart for many years.
Rosemary Ward-Smith