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#1
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Mission Impossible - treating lawns! {Long}
Hi,
I have waited many long years for the required conditions to treat a lawn: dry lawn (but not during a prolonged dry spell) no wind (but it will rain within one to two days) at least 3 days after being cut at least 3 days before being cut [According to my calculations this must mean Wednesday :-)] At last I decided - "Stuff It - JFDI!"* So I set out and treated the poor neglected lawn despite the breezy conditions and was just finishing when it started to rain. Timed to perfection? Quite possibly. I know from the size of lawn and the amount of reatment used I have put down roughly twice the amount recommended but hopefully after the initial shock of being fed the lawn will rally. Ramble One reason I have been slow to treat the lawn is my lawn spreader - it is a Fisons model which has a rotating 'troughed bar' at the bottom which picks up a measured amount of lawn treatment and as the wheels rotate it tips this out through holes in the bottom. So far fine and dandy - but the mechanism for opening the holes when the spreader is moving and closing them when the spreader stops is a spring loaded shutter which is activated by two plastic legs behind the wheels. Theory seems to be that as you push the spreader along the drag on the legs allows lawn treatment to be dispensed but when you stop the legs spring backwards and close the shutter. In fact, the spring/leg combination is stronger than the push handle, and the spreader keeps twisting and stopping, plus digging two furrows in the lawn. So not a good experience. Yesterday I bought a spreader pack - a choice between J Arthur Bowers and Phostrogen and I went with J.Arthur Bowers because it seemed better value. Good points - it seems to work as advertised and you can refill it by unscrewiing the top and pouring in more lawn treatment from the standard packs. Bad points - the refill pack I bought was just a cardboard box - not lined with anything - and it started to leak before I got it home. Need to vacuum the boot. Also there must have been a little damp penetration because there were a few bigish lumps which blocked the spreader nozzle when they tried to get out. All in all, though, a quick and easy way to treat a lawn. Additional thoughts: The pack recommends that you spread from 0.5m height (around knee height) but at this height there is quite a bit of 'drift' in the slightest breeze. To counter this, when working near borders, I tried moving faster in narrow strips with the spreader nozzle almost touching the grass. I seemed to get good coverage and no drift but I have used more treatment. We shall see. The Homebase generic treatment comes in a plastic bag (so no leakage or moisture ingress) and is also spread at 35gms per square metre. I finished the bottom corner using this (it has been sitting there since last year whilst I attempted to overcome my aversion to the spreader) and this seemed to work fine as well - roughly the same grain size. Will probably use this in future assuming all goes well. Colour - ISTR lawn feed used to be bright blue so you could see where you had spread it. Both these treatments (JAB and Homebase) are neutral in colour and so are very hard to see once you have spread them. The blue colour was such a good idea, why was it dropped? Grass clippings - do not use for mulch but intead they must be buried at a crossroads at midnight on a moonless night with a stake through their heart. I presume it is O.K. to put them out in the brown wheelie for the council to compost? /Ramble The pack says you can treat again after six weeks - how many times a year (maximum) is it safe to treat a lawn? If your lawn is starved and neglected, how often should you feed with just a lawn feed (assuming you can get one - weed and feed seems to be everywhere at the moment).? And finally I also bought a pair of spikey sandals as they were only about £3 but haven't used them yet. They should provide a lot of light entertainment for onlookers over the summer :-) Cheers Dave R *JFDI = Just Finally Do It! -- |
#2
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Mission Impossible - treating lawns! {Long}
"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ... Hi, I have waited many long years for the required conditions to treat a lawn: dry lawn (but not during a prolonged dry spell) no wind (but it will rain within one to two days) at least 3 days after being cut at least 3 days before being cut [According to my calculations this must mean Wednesday :-)] At last I decided - "Stuff It - JFDI!"* So I set out and treated the poor neglected lawn despite the breezy conditions and was just finishing when it started to rain. Timed to perfection? Quite possibly. I know from the size of lawn and the amount of reatment used I have put down roughly twice the amount recommended but hopefully after the initial shock of being fed the lawn will rally. Ramble One reason I have been slow to treat the lawn is my lawn spreader - it is a Fisons model which has a rotating 'troughed bar' at the bottom which picks up a measured amount of lawn treatment and as the wheels rotate it tips this out through holes in the bottom. So far fine and dandy - but the mechanism for opening the holes when the spreader is moving and closing them when the spreader stops is a spring loaded shutter which is activated by two plastic legs behind the wheels. Theory seems to be that as you push the spreader along the drag on the legs allows lawn treatment to be dispensed but when you stop the legs spring backwards and close the shutter. In fact, the spring/leg combination is stronger than the push handle, and the spreader keeps twisting and stopping, plus digging two furrows in the lawn. So not a good experience. Yesterday I bought a spreader pack - a choice between J Arthur Bowers and Phostrogen and I went with J.Arthur Bowers because it seemed better value. Good points - it seems to work as advertised and you can refill it by unscrewiing the top and pouring in more lawn treatment from the standard packs. Bad points - the refill pack I bought was just a cardboard box - not lined with anything - and it started to leak before I got it home. Need to vacuum the boot. Also there must have been a little damp penetration because there were a few bigish lumps which blocked the spreader nozzle when they tried to get out. All in all, though, a quick and easy way to treat a lawn. Additional thoughts: The pack recommends that you spread from 0.5m height (around knee height) but at this height there is quite a bit of 'drift' in the slightest breeze. To counter this, when working near borders, I tried moving faster in narrow strips with the spreader nozzle almost touching the grass. I seemed to get good coverage and no drift but I have used more treatment. We shall see. The Homebase generic treatment comes in a plastic bag (so no leakage or moisture ingress) and is also spread at 35gms per square metre. I finished the bottom corner using this (it has been sitting there since last year whilst I attempted to overcome my aversion to the spreader) and this seemed to work fine as well - roughly the same grain size. Will probably use this in future assuming all goes well. Colour - ISTR lawn feed used to be bright blue so you could see where you had spread it. Both these treatments (JAB and Homebase) are neutral in colour and so are very hard to see once you have spread them. The blue colour was such a good idea, why was it dropped? Grass clippings - do not use for mulch but intead they must be buried at a crossroads at midnight on a moonless night with a stake through their heart. I presume it is O.K. to put them out in the brown wheelie for the council to compost? /Ramble The pack says you can treat again after six weeks - how many times a year (maximum) is it safe to treat a lawn? If your lawn is starved and neglected, how often should you feed with just a lawn feed (assuming you can get one - weed and feed seems to be everywhere at the moment).? And finally I also bought a pair of spikey sandals as they were only about £3 but haven't used them yet. They should provide a lot of light entertainment for onlookers over the summer :-) Cheers Dave R *JFDI = Just Finally Do It! -- Toplawn is the blue "see where you've been" FWMkill you are thinking of. |
#3
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Mission Impossible - treating lawns! {Long}
Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:142782
Thomas Greeves responded without editing to: "David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ... 100 lines now snipped Toplawn is the blue "see where you've been" FWMkill you are thinking of. Did you really need to include the whole original message? Chris -- Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh. |
#4
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Mission Impossible - treating lawns! {Long}
FYI:
I have raised your problem with the leaking box and it is being looked into. |
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