The dark green tufts with silky white hairs along the leaf edges are field wood-rush, a grass-like plant that lawn weedkillers cannot touch. It creeps through lawns that are damp, thin, thatchy and acid, so the lasting fix is better…
Re-cut the lawn edge with a half-moon tool on a dry winter day and the grass has a clean line to stop at. A drop of about 7.5 cm (3 in) between lawn and border keeps plants off the grass…
Most of a yearly mower service is about an hour of cheap checks on oil, air filter, spark plug, blade, deck and fuel, done with a socket set, a scraper and a funnel. A specialist earns the fee on the…
Grass keeps growing whenever the temperature stays above 7 degrees C (45 degrees F), so a mild winter spell can leave you with a lawn that needs a trim. Mow rarely, on a dry day, with the cutting height set…
A second-hand mower tells you how it was used through its oil, its fuel, its controls and the size of the lawn it came from. Ask how long the seller has owned it and how often it was used, do…
A ring of dead grass and toadstools is a fungal colony pushing outwards by about 30 cm (1 ft) a year, and mowing over it changes nothing. Digging it out means removing turf and soil to at least 30 cm…
Wiping out a colony tends to hand the ground to incoming queens, which can start even more nests than the one you destroyed. The heaps are fine soil, so brushing them flat on a dry day before you mow is…
A lumpy lawn gets worse with every mow, as bumps and hollows make the mower scalp the grass and leave bare patches. Cutting an H through the turf lets you peel it back, take soil out of a bump or…
Your owner’s manual names the engine type and the oil grade, and that one page settles every argument in the shop aisle. Standard car and truck oil with the right grade and a modern service rating works in a four-stroke…
Chickweed is a shallow-rooted winter annual that sprouts in autumn, grows through the cold months and sets seed again in early spring, so the bright green mat you see this month is a plant preparing to multiply. Pull it or…
