Caring for your lawn
At this point in the year it is worth turning some attention to the lawn.
After the long Winter and Spring we have had, some lawns are in very poor shape right now.
Moss is everywhere as it thrives in cold damp conditions, grass growth has been poor and weeds have flourished since the temperature warmed up slightly.
No one product will eliminate moss permanently from an Irish Garden due to our climate, but a combination of things can help to keep it under control and manageable.
Drainage will need to sorted if you are to have any success. If one part of the garden is lower and water can get away, then some drains will help to dry the soil. If the water cannot get away from the garden, then consider raising the lawn area somewhat if this is practical. Aerating the soil by making holes it with a lawn aerator and filling the holes with sharp sand will help to drain water from the surface of the lawn. There is also a different type of aerator called a Hollow Tyne Aerator that makes bigger holies in the lawn for better drainage.
Feeding the lawn in Spring / Summer and Autumn with a 3 in 1 Lawn Feed, Weed & Mosskiller granular product will encourage grass to grow dense and enable it to overcome the moss. It also discourages moss to return as the moss cannot tolerate the nutrients. No matter which way you treat the moss, you should always remove the blackened dead moss by Scarifying or raking the area.
If weeds are more of a problem in your lawn, then you can spot treat the weeds such as daisies and dandelions with a liquid Lawn Weedkiller , Spray larger areas with dilutable Lawn weedkiller or the 3 in 1 granule product above.
After treatment if there are large bare patches the you can reseed with some fresh seeds. If the affected area is shaded there is a special lawn seed shade that will thrive better there. Otherwise you should use a multipurpose lawn seed mixture such as Surestart Lawn Seed.
If the soil is really poor, with short poor grass growth , lots of weeds in the lawn and you don't like mowing it, you could consider changing it to a wildflower meadow.
Wildflowers need poor soil to grow, otherwise the grass is too vigorous and smothers them out. This is why a wildflower meadow does not work in a "good " well fed lawn.
There are lots of meadow mixtures available such as a Bee mixture, Butterfly Mixture, Mixtures for Wet Soil areas or shaded areas .
It might suit your garden to have some areas treated like this rather than the entire lawn. Wildflower areas are only cut once a year in September and no fertiliser is used at all but it MUST be poor soil or it will not be successful.
