You can control summer weeds as well as winter weeds with a pre-emergent herbicide such as Oxafert. The beauty of Oxafert is it stops weeds appearing, plus it contains a fertiliser component as well to give your lawn a lift.
Continue reading “Oxafert – Pre-Emergent Herbicide and Fertiliser”
Hot and dry weather can really take a toll on even the healthiest lawns and cause them to become thin and patchy. This usually happens over the summer months, as the weather is hot and dry and lawn owners are generally on holidays or too busy to keep up their regular lawn maintenance schedule. It only takes a couple of days of hot, dry weather to affect your lawn.
Usually what you will see is bare patches throughout the lawn or your lawn would’ve started to thin out and change colour. What follows this, is those bare patches bake in the sun and become rock hard making it difficult for water and nutrients to get into the soil. This is commonly known as dry patch and appears regularly in lawns throughout the summer. Thankfully it is treatable and is relatively easy to fix.
First things first, it is always recommended you aerate the affected area of your lawn. Aeration can be done with a garden fork, core aerator, or a motorised aerator depending on the size of the lawn. This is crucial as it will de-compact your soil and will help nutrients and water penetrate your lawn.
Next, apply a wetting agent like Lawn Soaker to the affected area. Lawn Soaker is available in an easy to use hose on bottle and will assist with water absorbing into your soil. This will also allow the soil to hold water in a usable manner for longer. Always remember to irrigate your lawn well after applying the wetting agent.
After this, it is time to stimulate your lawns growth to allow it to self-repair and cover back over. This is best done by applying an NPK fertiliser to the entire lawn and irrigating the lawn well afterwards. A fertiliser like our Lawn Solutions Premium Fertiliser, Pro Plus or Exceed Liquid Fertiliser are ideal options. Always remember to apply all products at label rates and follow all instructions.
There are steps you can take to reduce the suffering.
If you are unsure of any of the above please get in touch with your nearest Lawn Solutions Australia member.
Nutgrass is a Sedge weed that is incredibly difficult to eradicate and can remain inactive in soil for long periods of time. It can be as simple as a disruption of soil or the addition of nutrients or water to an area that causes a dormant nut within the soil to begin to grow.
If you find Nutgrass in your lawn, it is best you act quickly before it spreads and becomes almost impossible to remove. The best way to remove it is by digging it out with a small spade. You have to be extremely diligent with this to ensure there is no roots or bulbs left in the soil as Nutgrass will reappear if left behind.
If there is a large amount of Nutgrass in your lawn, you will need to treat it with a selective herbicide such as Lawn Solutions Sedge Control or Sedgehammer. Remember to always follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the pack. However you only need a very small quantity to treat the affected area. Be aware that repeated applications may also be required. If you don’t treat these weeds, they will continue to multiply and infest your whole lawn, so it’s definitely worth doing in order to save your lawn from continued infestation.
Lawn Solutions Australia carry a wide range of weed and pest control products for buffalo and other lawn varieties on the Lawn Store.
Lawn grubs are leaf eating caterpillars, the larvae of an adult moth. Lawn Grub is a collective term that describe Army Worms, Sod Web-worm and Cutworms. All of these lawn grubs cause similar issues on your otherwise healthy lawn.
The worms themselves can be green, brownish green or black in appearance and sometimes even have a striped appearance. They hatch after 5 to 7 days and that’s when the major damage to your lawn is done.
If you notice brown and straw like patches in your lawn or the leaves on your lawn’s grass runners are disappearing, then you may well have a lawn grub infestation. If the grass is loose and you can easily pull it away from the roots it’s invariably grub damage.
To get rid of lawn grubs and other lawn pests – such as beetles, slaters, mole crickets and earwigs – you need to use a broad spectrum insecticide such as Grub Guard. Grub Guard is the only product currently on the market that can be used as a preventative treatment against lawn grubs. Containing the active ingredient Esfenvelerate (a broad-spectrum insecticide toxic to most insects, but less toxic to birds, and of minimal toxicity to mammals) it’s safer to use than any other pest control product. In addition it also prevents some damage to your foliage as it can be applied when the moths appear, prior to the actual attack.
Do be warned though, eradicating lawn grubs does not mean that they will not return. If you still have healthy lush patches of lawn, you are still at risk from lawn grubs & need to keep your eye out for further attacks. To restore your lawn prior to winter, it is best to fertilise to promote new leaf growth.
Whipper snippers, or as some refer to them – weed whackers, weed eaters, line trimmers, brush cutters or trimmers – whatever you call them when they don’t start they can be one of the most frustrating garden tools in the shed.
More often than not the difficulty in starting whipper snipper comes down to an issue with the carburettor. However let’s have a look at some other reasons why it won’t turn over before you think about cleaning that carburettor.
If the central electrode is covered in dirt this can short out the spark so that it won’t jump to the outer electrode. This means you will struggle to start the whipper snipper. You can clean the dirt off with a tooth brush, or small wire brush.
Whipper snipper engines have a device called a magneto for creating a spark at the plug to ignite the fuel / air mixture in the cylinder. If you don’t get a spark at the plug and have tried a new plug and checked for loose wiring without success, this module may be at fault and need to be replaced.
Remove the air filter from the housing and check it for dirt. Wash it in soap and hot water, then allow to air-dry. If you’re just removing the air filter to clean it without doing any further maintenance or troubleshooting, it’s always a good idea to close the choke beforehand to prevent any dirt from getting into the carburettor.
If the material of bulb has deteriorated, it’s possible that it won’t seal properly against the body of the carburettor, resulting in an air leak. This will prevent the bulb sucking up fuel and cause issues in starting.
We have listed these reasons as common causes for reason why a whipper snipper won’t start, and they are easy to check. Small engines can be complex machines and it is recommended that if your whipper snipper doesn’t start after performing the above checks that you take them to a local repairer to have it serviced.
For more lawn care tips and advice, make sure you check out our other lawn care blogs here.