The Garden Specialist

14/10/2024

TIPS FOR YOUR LAWN TO STOP IT RESEMBLING A FIELD ?

If you want to keep your lawn looking great and not like a field, it still needs to be maintained in the autumn.
Lawns are one of the most important aspects of a good looking garden; it's the first thing someone sees, it's quite often a large part of the garden, and it's really easy to notice any issues.

If you're unsure what needs to be done, send me a message, but below are some basic points to consider:

• Keep it free of leaves - they block out the light to the grass and can even smother and kill it. They also encourage worms and fungi.
• Keep cutting it until approx. November - If temperatures are above 7'C , it will put on some growth. You should only remove 25-30% of growth with each cut, so take the top off to keep in these limits. Lifting the cut slightly will also be beneficial to the lawn and mean less needs to be taken off.
• Brush/rake off any worms casts and fungi before cutting - they won't get sucked up by the mower, they just get smeared, which can damage the grass as well as looking unsightly
• Fertiliser can be applied, but it must be low in nitrogen - high nitrogen will cause excess soft growth, and very little nitrogen is held in the soil for long; it quickly leaches and will be wasted.
• Only apply a moss killer if the lawn will allow you to work on it later in the month, i.e., doesn't become waterlogged otherwise you'll be left with black moss all winter. Also consider if the moss is that bad, will it need reseeding after it's removed ? Maybe leave this until spring as well as any lawn w**d killer application.

18/09/2024

12/09/2024

Always working - Botanising in the Costa Brava 😁

23/08/2024

Jake doing what he loves best

20/08/2024

Watch out for these little froggos!

It's been a good year for frogs, with lots of tiny frogs hiding out in cool longer grass.

We cut our lawns very regularly, but the warm (for grass) and wet summer has kept the lawns growing and created a perfect environment for these little amphibians.

So, just go a little slower when cutting your lawns and keep an eye open for these hopping out of the way

14/08/2024

Some of our gardens have much smaller budgets for their grounds maintenance, but we carefully manage them and always keep them looking at their best.

12/08/2024

Rebranding is in progress......

05/08/2024

Looking for a professional...... 35+ years experience and a degree in horticulture and applied plant science, qualifications in landscaping, pesticide application certification (PA1 + PA6) and an experienced team supporting me; we know what were talking about.

We undertake consultancy work through to job completion; singular projects in soft landscaping, garden restoration or regular grounds maintenance.
If it's horticultural, we can help or point you in the right direction.

05/08/2024

Sometimes there's the opportunity to create something a little different....

Rather than leaving a lawn uncut, to help create a wildlife area, the "No Mow May" method etc., we created a wildflower meadow where the lawn areas where sprayed off, cultivated/prepared and an EM4 wildflower and grass meadow mixture sown. A few cornfield wildflowers were included to add diversity and additional colour in the first few years.
It's only the first 6 months but already it's full of wildlife and flowers.
This will be treated the same as in a conservation area and left until late summer before cutting.

Such a better result than just leaving the lawn to become 'w**dy'.

It also surrounds an enclosed vegetable garden and orchard so any pollinators will hopefully pollinate in these as well.

Mixtures are from Emorsgate seeds

03/06/2023

Hedge trimming season has started