Keeping it green

Pondering solar power

Giving your school lawns a little extra TLC leading into summer means you will reap the benefits of lush green grass throughout the entire season.

The experts from Kennards Hire have produced 10 handy tips to make sure that your lawns look and last as well as possible. 1 Do a good scan of your grounds and remove any sticks. Rake up any leftover leaves so your lawns are receiving maximum sunlight and oxygen. 2 Make sure all of your lawn care equipment is in good working order. 3 Aerating your lawns will reduce soil compaction and increase air circulation. A well aerated lawn will become more efficient in absorbing rain and irrigation water, instead of it just running off the surface.

4 Testing your lawns’ pH levels will establish how acidic or alkaline your soil is. This will help you to determine the condition of your soil, and what your soil may require to nourish and sustain a healthy lawn. 5 If your lawns are suffering from any dead patches, or are a bit sparse in some areas, then it’s time to sow some new seed. Remove dead grass and fill with loose soil, then sow your seed. Make sure you use the same seed as the rest of your lawns. If you’re not sure of your lawn type, cut out a few pieces and take it down to your local garden store, they should be able to help you identify your grass type. 6 Keep your cutting height high to begin with. Make sure that you don’t cut your lawn more than one third of its height, as this may expose your lawn to disease and the lingering weather extremes of winter. 7 Grass clippings are a form of organic fertiliser and a great way to keep your lawns healthy. By using a mulching mower and returning the grass clippings to your lawns, you are essentially retuning 15 percent more nutrients back into your soil just by mowing your lawns. 8 The key to healthy lawns in summer is a deep root system. To create a deep lawn root system, you need to train the grass roots of the lawn to search deeper for water. This is done by reducing the time between watering, and increasing the duration that you irrigate. Watering infrequently forces the lawn to search deeper into the soil for its water supply with its root system - and the increased watering durations allows the water to soak deep into the soil for the root systems to seek out. 9 There is nothing worse than a patchy lawn that is riddled with weeds. Use a spray unit and use a

Bindii and broad leaf herbicide to apply directly to the weeds.

Grass grows fastest in the warmer months, so when moving from spring into summer, decreasing your cutting height down to 2.5cm won’t affect it too much.

During cooler months, grass grows much slower so it’s a good idea to raise your cutting height a little so as not to damage it.

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What to do with old concrete, hard to maintain areas and high traffic spaces? Problem solved with

Hundreds of NZ education providers are throwing away their ‘KEEP OF THE GRASS’ signs in favour of weather-proof, durable artificial grass that keeps kids being active.

SmartGrass Sports turf and artificial landscaping grass has dramatically enhanced the appearance of the outdoor area at Wairakei School, adding vibrancy and colour that the students love. Principal Shane Buckner, says:

The area didn’t look very inviting and the kids didn’t use it. Now we’re finding our children are here all the time, practicing cartwheels, somersaults and dance moves.