In this weeks blog we say, “Your lawn can be saved if you follow this Governor’s general Lawn Tips”. Yes, I know it’s a corny opening to the blog but its true.

By now you know all about dethatching with the mower, correct cutting heights, fertility for lawns, correct watering and a few other incidentals from our previous blogs leading up to Christmas.

A few other general rules about lawns that can help you get that enviable lawn for Christmas include the following;

• Never mow more than one third of the leaf off at each mowing
• Fertilise regularly with a High Nitrogen Lawn Food from August through until mid-March. Apply a Complete fertilizer (balanced NPK Ratio) leading into winter.
• Use an organic fertilizer such as Dynamic Lifter mini prills on sandy soil types. After the fertility component of the organic is gone you will still have some organic matter left that will help retain moisture and nutrients in the sandy soil profile.

• Use wetting agents throughout the summer to avoid dry patches. Don’t apply them on very hot days.
• Garden Forks make great decompacting tools. Use them regularly on hard areas that form on trafficked areas of the lawn.
• Be aware of Insect pests and their breeding cycle. There are ideal times to pray for them. The timing of the spray is critical for eradication. Contact us for more details about the likely pests in your area and their life cycles.
• You can’t burn the leaf with fresh water even in the midday sun unless it’s ponds and the water temperature rises to a level that cooks the lawn. Some recycled and bore waters with high chloride and salt levels can cause burning on hot days, so apply recycled water before sunrise and after sunset to avoid this problem.
• Check the PH of your lawn and adjust it to the correct level. 6.5 – 7.0 is ideal for a home lawn. We can do this for you for free if you bring in a soil sample. Two cups of soil from various parts of the lawn is sufficient for the test.
• Some essential Nutrients become locked up or unattainable to the grass plant at High and Low PH levels, so get the soil in balance.
• Sandy loam soils work best for lawns as they drain well and compact less than clays and organic mix soils.
• Make sure you read the label of any herbicide that you intend applying to make sure it is suitable for your grass type.

Another famous Australian once said, “Life was not meant to be easy”. We say, “Lawns were meant to be easy”.

The first person to contact us via our webpage and correctly tell us who the two famous Australians are that we have quoted will win a bag of Anco Lawn Food to help keep their lawn green. Go to ***link removed; the competition closed. Please see the winner below*** and give us your answers in the further information section.

Update Dec 6, 2012

Congratulations to Brian for correctly answering our blog question with: Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser!! Brian has won himself a supply of Anco Lawn Food. Here’s Brian on his terrific-looking Buffalo grass lawn. Keep up the great work!