Episode: Ten
Air Date: 1st November 2008
Presenter: Neville Passmore
Story Title: Mitre 10 – Caring for established lawns

Are you looking for some expert advice on how to keep your lawn green and beautiful this coming summer. Neville heads down to his local Mitre 10 garden centre to pick up a Mitreplanner on how to ‘Care for Established Lawns’. Your local Mitre 10 store will not only supply you with all the products you need to keep your lawn thriving, but can also give you expert advice for your particular area.

Step 1: Regular Feeding

Featured Product – Yates - Dynamic Lifter Organic Lawn Food

• Organic fertiliser to gently feed all lawn types.
• Granulated Dynamic Lifter Organic plant food particles which release nutrients slowly.
• Added Blood and Bone, fishmeal and seaweed organically enrich and improve the soil.
• Organic particles are small enough to filter through to soil level.
• Improves the structure and moisture retention of the soil.
• Encourages earthworms and beneficial soil micro-organisms.
• Provides long lasting nutrients for sustained healthy lawn and soil.

Step 2: Aerating

• Aerating your lawn is simply opening up the soil to let the air in
• Be careful of irrigation pipes

Step 3: Watering

• Watering your lawn to a depth of 100m will keep a lawn that’s growing on clay soil going in the middle of summer for about a week
• If the soil is sandy, it the watering will last about half as long as it would with clay soils.

Step 4: Mowing

• In warm Spring weather, mowing becomes even more important
• Established lawns should be mown frequently and consistently
• Aim for your grass to be at a height of 2cm during Spring and Autumn, and 3cm during Summer.

Step 5: Weed Control

• Weeds are common around the end of winter as they have been under stress
• Two methods of control – hand weeding or selective sprays
• Sprays should damage the weeds, but not harm the lawn

Step 6: Pest Control

• Lawn pests are at their most active in late Spring
• African Black Beetles can be a real problem in the months of October and November in Southern Australia

Featured Product - Hortico Lawn Beetle & Slater Killer Granules

• Controls lawn beetles (including larvae), slaters, ants, earwigs, millipedes and mole crickets in lawns, turf and garden beds.
• Good control of insect pests.
• Pack covers 120 square metres.
• Easy to use shaker pack, no mixing or spraying required.
• Organophosphate which acts as a contact and stomach poison as granules are carried through the soil.
• Keep away from ponds and waterways

Step 7: Shade Management

• Overgrown trees can cause dead, shaded patches of lawn
• Prune back some of the branches to let the sun hit the lawn

Contact

For more information and for your Mitreplan visit www.mitre10.com.au or visit your local Mitre 10 Store.