Lawn care blog
It's getting to that time of year when the mower gets put away, and the leaf blower is dusted off, but let's have a little look at what leaf blowers are all about and how to use them safely.
Introduction Here I'm going to demonstrate to you the best possible approach if youi plan to use a leaf blower, and in addition the various sorts of leaf blower and variety of different tasks that leaf blowers aere able to perform. Having read this, and your manufacturer supplied manuals, you should fully understand how to utilize a leaf blower all the more securely and politely to help make life for both yourself and those around you more pleasant. Why do we utilize leaf blowers? Leaf blowers have been around since the 70s and since their introduction have quickly turned into a vital time and work saveing device for professional and amatuer gardeners alike. Leaf blowers are greatly effective for cleaning leaves and other rubbish from paths, walkways, parking spaces, tennis courts, parks and a whole host of other oudoor locations. a leaf blower is more time and cost effective than a rake, broom or pair of hands. Leaf blowers also clean areas covered in mulch or wood chuppings effectively as they don't disturb the ground in the way that a rake might. What do leaf blowers do? You can utilize a leaf blower to: Vacuum organic matter Seperate tangled up grass Clean areas such as driveways and paths Clean large tools and equipment such as those used in agriculture Shift light dustings of snow Different types of leaf blowers There are two types of leaf blower besides the different types of power source: those held by hand and those worn on the back. Both are normally fueled by either a petrol engine. Some handheld blowers are also able to both blow and vacuum matter. There are a whole variety of different hand held leaf blowers, and most work on the same basic principles whether powered by an electric motor or a petrol engine. Crucially, compared to leafblowers from say 20 years ago, today's leaf blowers are far more effieicent and quiet. Using a leaf blower Before you get started with your leaf blower, read the manufacturers instructions. On the off chance that you don't have the instructions, you can should have no issue obtaining one from the manufacturer or supplier. Also, these days many manufacturers have them in PDF form online. You have to know how the leaf blower functions and how to utilize it safely before you begin work. General rules outside of the manufacturers guides:
Ensure you are always stood on a flat level surface during operation - no standing on stools or ladders Appropriate clothing
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This is more food for thought for next year but none the less it's an important topic. As you might expect, cutting your lawn is only ever going be half the battle towards keeping your garden looking great. Once the lawn is cut there are all manner of finishing touches to be done to make sure your garden looks tip top.
One such finishing touch is making sure that the edges of your lawn are neat and tidy. The usual tool for the job is what's known as a 'half moon' edging tool. This enables you to dig into the turf right at the edge of the lawn and create a nice crisp, uniform edge. As a guide to help you create this edge you should use a plank of wood, or anything else you can think of to act as a giant ruler to cut up against. Once the border is straight, the particularly tufty bits of grass that run along it can be dealt with either with a strimmer or lawn mower, or if you really want to be particular about it you can get down on your hands and knees with pair of shears, or the more civilised long handled edging shears. During autumn you should look for the tell tale signs of the wear and tear that will have set in during the summer months. It's the perfect opportunity to roll out any treatments to make sure that your lawn stays fighting and survives the cold winter snap.
Now is the time to carry out lawn treatment, as the September weather is warm enough to allow grass to flourish before temperatures drop too low for any growth a all to take place. Scarifying I've mentioned the importance of aeration previously, but there is another process that, if done regularly, can drastically improve the health of your lawn. Scarifying Scarifiying, or lawn raking, is a process that aims to remove all dead grass (or thatch) and other debris from the lawn that at best basically serves no purpose, and at worst is detrimental to the health of the lawn. A layer of thatch any greater than about half an inch can cause problems, so it's best to get in there with a scarifier before things get out of control. It's important to note that raking the lawn will leave your lawn looking very damaged, but this is normal, and as long as you do so properly, raking won't do any lasting damage. You should also aim to carry out any raking or scarifying during the autumn rather than spring, as the subsequent summer conditions after spring are not ideal for grass to make a healthy recovery. If you do feel that some raking is necessary during spring or summer you should try to keep it light, rather than the full on process that is more suited to this time of year. Top dressing As part of the recovery process to lawn scarification you will need to carry out a number of other treatments, the first being aeration (see below) and the second being top dressing. Once air, moisture, and nutrients are able to get back into the soil, the next stop is to top dress the lawn. Top dressing basically involves spreading a layer of sand, or organic mulch/loam onto the lawn to try and even out the lumps and bumps. The upshot of doing this is ultimately stronger grass roots and thicker turf. Anyone who takes pride in their garden will know just how frustrating it can be to see unwanted guests popping up from the ground. Whether its on the lawn or between patio tiles, the feelings it leaves you with are the same, frustration and deflation. After all who gave these guys the right to move in on your turf... literally!
Relax, breath. Whilst weeds can certainly be problematic to say the least, there are definitely ways to combat them. Of course some of these methods can be quite severe, but if you're weed problem is equally as severe then you'll almost certainly be tempted to take some serious action. Bare Soil A patch of bare soil is like an open door for weeds. With nothing else to compete with they will quite happily move in and make themselves at home. So rule number one has to be, it's better to have a well stocked flower bed than not, and besides these look much nicer too! Remove Annual Weeds Part of the reason that weeds are so successful is that they are able to survive in far more challenging conditions than most plants, so they''ll happily survive year in year out, reappearing again just when you thought that last year was going to be the last you saw of them. With weeds you need to get stuck in to remove them, quite literally. With the aid of a hoe or your hands you should find the seedlings before they grow and remove them whilst they are in this more innocuous state. It can be tricky to tell your weeds from your flowers at these times in the year however, so you should be careful what you are removing. Whatever state the weeds are in when you remove them, you should be sure to make sure you remove every last trace, a piece of root left behind can be enough for the weed to re-establish itself. Lawn Weeds As the focal point of the garden it can be particularly frustrating to see weeds sprouting from the lawn. You can either remove them with the aid of a long handled weeding tool or a knife. Regular aerating, raking and general lawn upkeep is the best way to keep the lawn weed free, but if absolutely necessary chemical intervention can be applied. If you do go down the chemical root, try to use a herbicide gel rather than spray if possible, as this can be carefully applied to the leaves of the weeds and shouldn't effect the grass itself. Path Weeds If you notice weeds starting to sprout from between paving slabs or cracks in paths, try using a knife to remove them. The 'advantage', (if it can be called that!) of dealing with weeds on paths is of course that you don't need to be concerned about harming other plants in the process. With this in mind you can take more drastic action such as by using a flame gun, effectively a hand held blow torch which you can use to scorch and kill off the weeds with ease. |
AuthorHi I'm a lawn and gardening enthusiast, here to share my experience and advice. Archives
May 2017
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