• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Lawn Crew

Surrey lawn care services

  • Home
  • About us
  • Our services
    • Fertilisation
    • Aeration
    • Scarification
    • Moss management
    • Weed management
    • Overseeding
    • Topdressing
    • Wildflower creation
  • Testimonials
  • Advice
  • Contact us
  • 01932 918 868

Lawn aftercare

Whilst caring for our clients’ lawns over the years throughout Surrey we see a vast improvement in lawn health and appearance in those lawns that are mowed and watered using these key principles as a guide:

This section covers

  • Mowing
  • Watering
  • How to mow double width stripes

Mowing

Cutting height

Our general recommendation is to keep your lawn at a height of 25 mm – 40 mm (about 1 inch to 1.5 inches). Of course every lawn is different and should be treated as such, however, this is a good benchmark for a domestic utility lawn. If areas of your lawn are in constant shade or little light it’s better to raise the height to allow more grass blade on show for photosynthesis. A lawn that is cut too short will become thin and invite opportunity for weeds and moss to take a foothold, a lawn that is cut too long will become leggy, look untidy, and encourage moss and disease.

How to set the right height on your rotary mower

Aside from checking the owner’s manual, the most effective way to check the height settings on your mower is to place your mower on a flat hard surface, such as a patio, with your mower off and spark plug or battery removed place a stick inside the housing, try and find the lowest point of the mower blade and place the stick on the hard surface below the blade. Mark on the stick where the mower blade reaches and measure the distance using a ruler or tape measure.

The lowest setting on the mower isn’t necessarily the correct one – each mower is different and it’s important to know what height you’re cutting at. It’s best to start high and work your way down if you’re unsure.

1/3 Rule

Little and often is the best approach when cutting a lawn. A lawn that is regularly cut little and often will be in far better condition than a lawn that is cut infrequently and with more than 1/3 removed each time.

To prevent stress it is really important that only 1/3 of the lawn height is cut each time. If due to conditions or time constraints the lawn gets long I advise slowly reducing the height of the cut over a week or two. Removing more than 1/3 of the blade length will thin out the sward leaving it vulnerable to moss, weeds, and in some instances, weaken the lawn against disease.

Increasingly we’re seeing clients with robotic mowers. The robotic mower is out cutting the lawn 3-5 days a week come rain and shine, the results are impressive. Not only is the lawn being cut little and often but the grass clippings get mulched back into the lawn – free food and no waste!

Alternate direction

The domestic lawn typically has a mixture of grass types and cultivars. Some grasses including the bents and fescues create stolons and runners – these can cause quite an issue if a lawn is always cut in the same direction.

You might have noticed your lawn looking thin and ‘leggy’ and can’t understand why. This is quite common, we see this in lawns where the direction of the cut isn’t alternated. Overtime, instead of growing vertically, the lawn starts to grow horizontally in the direction it’s being pushed down by the mower – know as ‘graining’.

Horizontal growth causes an issue where the grass plant gets long and the lawn becomes thin – no matter how low you try and cut the lawn it won’t take enough of the height off.

By alternating direction 45 or 90 degrees on each cut e.g. from north/south to east/west or diagonally each time will keep the grass growing vertically encouraging it to tiller and thicken.

Sharp blades

Dull blades will tear the grass plant making your lawn susceptible to disease and dulling the colour. I regularly get asked to diagnose issues with prospective clients’ lawns where a lawn with a better colour is desired. It immediately becomes obvious that the mower being used to cut the lawn has dull blades. Sharpening or replacing the mower blades will instantly bring vigour back to the lawn.

I would recommend changing or sharpening your blades at least once every 6 months. It’s useful to have at least one spare mower blade in case you catch a root or buried object in the lawn, or if you don’t sharpen your own blades.

Watering

When watering an established lawn always water infrequently and deeply.

There’s no set rules on when to water as each lawn (and area of lawn) is different, water when your lawn tells you:

If:

  • Grass blades look flat
  • Footprints stay in lawn
  • Looking grey-blue

Your lawn needs a good soak!

The amount of water needed to be applied in each area of lawn every watering depends on your soil type;

  • Clay lawns – at least 1/2 inch (12.5 mm)
  • Sandy lawns – at least 1 inch (25 mm)

How to measure the time required to apply 1/2 inch of water when using sprinklers

Simply, place a tuna can roughly 1 meter away from the sprinkler and time how long it takes to fill up to 1/2 inch.

Or if you want to get more precise…
  • Use flat bottom and straight sided containers, such as tuna cans
  • Spread the tuna cans or containers in 4 or 5 random spots at least 1 meter away from the sprinkler.
  • Water the lawn for 6 minutes
    • Measure the depth, in millimetres, of water in each container
    • Add together the depths in millimetres from each container, this is the total depth
    • Divide the total depth by the number of containers
    • Multiply the resulting number by 10
    • This gives the number of millimetres of water applied in an hour by your sprinkler(s)

Repeat this method to check your sprinklers’ mm/per hour output annually

Example

  • Water the lawn area for 6 minutes
  • (Container 1) 2 mm + (Container 2) 3 mm + (Container 3) 2 mm + (Container 4) 3 mm + (Container 5) 2 mm = total of 12 mm
  • 12 mm (total depth collected in 6 minutes)  / 5 (number of containers) = 2.4
  • 2.4 x 10 = 24 mm of water output in an hour

For this example the lawn will need to be watered for 30 mins in each area to apply nearly 1/2 inch (12.5 mm) of water.

Soak the lawn infrequently

It is better to allow your lawn to dry out and show signs of dormancy than to over water a lawn. Avoid watering your lawn lightly every day or two as this will lead to the spread of moss and weed grasses, as well as the production of a shallow rooting system. Watering must never be used to merely dampen the surface of an established lawn – this will do more harm than good in the long term!

Let the lawn dry out to some extent between watering so as to let the air in and to stimulate deep root development. However, do consider soaking some areas near fences, drives, window reflections etc by hand during dry hot weather every few days, these spots will dry out faster.

How often to water your lawn

How often depends on a number of factors including the soil composition, root system, grass type, amount of shade, weather conditions, to name a few, but as a simple guide when the weather is dry you can follow this watering guide:

  • Once every 10 days in cooler, dry weather
  • Every 5 days under ordinary dry conditions
  • Every 2-3 days in hot weather or with sandy soil

When to water your lawn

  • Ideally water in the very early hours of the morning or late in the evening, this will allow time for the water soak into the profile
  • Don’t water an established lawn in the heat of the day, a lot of water will be lost to evaporation
    • Watering during the heat of the day will not scorch an established lawn only waste water

Signs your lawn needs to be watered

  • Footprints stay in the grass
  • Grass starts to look blue
    • Then grey
    • Then finally brown

Note: if your lawn goes brown and the water is running off it might take a while for it to green up again. Use a fine spray to slowly rewet the soil, gently pricking the soil with a fork we help. Be careful, to minimise root damage don’t wiggle the fork back and forth.

QUESTIONS?
mark@lawncrew.co.uk | 01932 918 868 | Contact us

Footer

Our services

  • Fertilisation
  • Moss control
  • Weed management
  • Overseeding
  • Wildflower meadow creation
  • Scarification
  • Aeration
  • Topdressing
  • Surrey Lawn Care Areas
  • Giving back

Our contact details

Lawn Crew Limited,
8 Rosemount Avenue, West Byfleet, Surrey, KT14 6BD

Send us a message
Lawn mowing advice

lawncrewltd

Lawn Crew
5 week checkup after some autumn lawn care tlc for 5 week checkup after some autumn lawn care tlc for a client in Chobham. Regular cutting now as required will encourge tillering/thickening. Good  pre-winter progress!
Lewis core collecting after some hollow tine aerat Lewis core collecting after some hollow tine aeration. #surreylawncareservices
We're seeing some beautiful autumn colours this ye We're seeing some beautiful autumn colours this year at our client's lawns across Surrey.
Monday morning commute. #swanningaround Monday morning commute. #swanningaround
All in a day's work. #surreylawncare #turfing All in a day's work. #surreylawncare #turfing
Stripes and more stripes. #lawncaresurrey Stripes and more stripes. #lawncaresurrey
Starting to see some red thread, weather condition Starting to see some red thread, weather conditions are perfect at the moment. Looks worse than it is, very rarely causes long term damage.
Phew. It's getting toasty. For those who are wate Phew. It's getting toasty.

For those who are watering their lawns do it long and infrequently; give the roots a good soak! 
Apply minimum 1/2 inch water for clay lawns and 1 inch of water for sand lawns.

Use a tuna can to measure how long this means for your sprinkler(s). Some more tips on watering here:

https://lawncrew.co.uk/advice/#watering
New residents in the bug hotel. #solitarybees New residents in the bug hotel. #solitarybees
Finally it's starting to feel like spring! Finally it's starting to feel like spring!
We're very excited to have joined @1percentftp 😁

A fantastic organisation where their members commit to donate 1% of annual sales to environmental causes.
Brrrr. Winter is here but we're still keeping the Brrrr. Winter is here but we're still keeping the lawns nice and healthy with some moss control and aeration.
🍁🍂 🍁🍂
3 week progress check. Just had its first cut and 3 week progress check. Just had its first cut and a bit more seed applied. Progressing nicely.
We've been busy bees renovating before it gets too We've been busy bees renovating before it gets too cold. Looking forward to seeing the results for this lawn in a few months. #surreylawncareservices
A burnt out lawn with over 2 inches of thatch. So A burnt out lawn with over 2 inches of thatch.

Sometimes it's better to start again when scarification doesn't cut it.

Removing the old lawn using a turf cutter creates the perfect thatch free surface to create a new lawn from seed, and no need to use herbicide!

Watch this space for progress pictures.
She's an odd one, but we love her. #LCdog She's an odd one, but we love her. #LCdog
Collaborating with Jason Hunter from The Groundsma Collaborating with Jason Hunter from The Groundsman Surrey - @siphoxolo1

We were approached to create a lawn from seed suitable for the client's children to play football throughout the year. 20 tonnes of sand was applied to the inherited claggy soil. 
Results looking great with a double bay cut.
Beautiful day for topdressing yesterday in the Sur Beautiful day for topdressing yesterday in the Surrey sun.
"We are really happy & wanted to share with you & "We are really happy & wanted to share with you & your team the results of all your hard work, thank you !!" ..... We're seeing (and hearing about) great results from our spring work, it was a tricky spring but lawns are starting to kick on now.
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2021 · Lawn Crew Limited