Mowing in Wet Weather

Mowing the grass in the rain can be miserable and without the correct equipment, you will not be doing the grass any favours either. Some commercial mowers such as the Mountfield S461 and the Hayter Motif 53 can handle the task; most residential lawn mowers aren't up to it. At best, you may end up with a badly cut lawn. At worst, you can end up with ruts and dead patches that are a pain to repair.

There are numerous of reasons why rain gives grass the upper hand when you try to mow, Grass behaves like people when it's getting rained on: it hunches over. The result is that many blades of grass get pushed over, not cut, when you try to mow. At least until the sun comes up, when all of the uncut grass should once again stand at attention. Some of the wet grass may stick to the mower blades, making it cut less efficiently.

Wet grass can stick to the mower's undercarriage, eventually getting thick enough to impede the mower blades and slow their rotation, further diminishing the mower's cutting ability.

Most mowers have mulching blades that create suction. Cut grass gets sucked up and cut into tiny pieces when it's dry. But when it's wet, the grass clumps up and doesn't get mulched.

If your grass has been saturated past its root depth, and if your mower wheels or shoes slide laterally, they can literally push the grass, roots and all, out of place, leaving ruts.

If you do decide to mow in the rain, make sure you are using a top of the range mower that is up the task.

Spring Lawn Care

As the trees blossom and the flowers start to bloom you might start to think about the aesthetics of your garden. Preparing your garden over the spring months will be important for a fantastic looking garden in the summer. Here’s how you should approach spring lawn care.

Begin with Raking
Raking your lawn is one of the most important things you can do in the spring to get a healthy lawn. Make sure the ground is relatively dry and isn't soft and squishy. By raking, you pull out all the old dead grass and lift up some of the matted grass to keep fungus problems to a minimum. It does take a considerable amount of elbow grease, but it really is the best thing you can do for your lawn. A good raking in the spring effectively acts like a basic de-thatching that helps the thickness of the grass in the summer.

Feeding and Fertilizing
A good feed with a lawn fertiliser, not only makes the grass greener, but it makes it grow thicker and increases its strength, vigour and health. This will make the grass more robust and better equipped to compete with weeds, moss and weather-related stresses. In spring, the best results are achieved by using a granular feed and a lawn spreader that supplies a vast amount of nutrients over the entire garden.

Mowing
Mowing lawns outside of the summer might seem drudgery for some, but it is an important factor in the quest for a great looking garden in the future. Regular mowing insures healthy turf and mowing at the appropriate intervals will not only insure a beautiful lawn, but will provide sustenance for the roots.

Most grasses should be maintained at a height of about 2 inches during the spring and at 2½ -3 ½ inches during the hot summer months. The reason for the higher height during the summer insures that shade is provided for the underlying growth and higher growth enhances the retention of moisture in the soil, thereby reducing requirements for watering.

The most critical rule for determining the best time to mow is to insure that no more than 1/3 of the grass blades are cut at any one time. Cutting more than this length will damage the grass. First, it will deposit more thatch in the form of cuttings on your lawn than is healthy and second, the root system and small shoots of growth will be quickly exposed to the harsh summer sun which causes stress on the plants.

The 1/3 rule means that grass will likely require more frequent mowing in the spring when the grass has just been fertilized and is growing rapidly and less often during the hot summer months when growth is slower.

Start Preparing
If you neglect your lawn during spring, you could end up paying for it the rest of the year. Start preparing now and benefit from a beautiful looking garden in the future.

Scarifying your lawn ready for Mowing

As we head towards March it may be a bit early to think about cutting the lawn especially as it may still be covered with frost. However it’s not too early to think about preparing your lawn to be cut. Over the winter while the grass doesn’t grow particularly long but there does tend to be growth of moss and grass thatch.

This moss and grass thatch growth won’t be removed with a traditional lawn mower. While raking and lawn rakers will remove the growth of moss, the wires used in rakes are not great at dethatching a lawn. Using a lawn scarifier is more effective than a rake as it has steel cutting blades that cut the thatch and prune the lawn as the lawn is cut downwards rather than cross cut that is done in mowing.

While March is the time for lawn scarifying, it shouldn’t be done if your lawn doesn’t need it. Brown grass or spongy grass doesn’t necessarily indicate thatch growth as they can be caused by other issues, the best idea is to take a sample of the lawn, and check for thatching between the grass and the soil anything from half an inch to 2 inches indicates a thatching problem and you will be best using a lawn scarifier to solve the issue.

So why not examine your lawn as we head towards March and buy a lawn scarifier ready to dethatch your lawn when it’s needed.

Prepare for Spring

When it comes to buying gardening equipment, many people think it should only be a summer pursuit but there are actually things to do in the garden all year round and you should be taking advantage of the time of year to keep your garden in check.

In the winter while the main vegetation has died back, it’s the time to get a chainsaw and trim back any overhanging trees and bushes. Tackling these kinds of jobs in the summer can make the job a lot bigger than it needs to me with all the new summer regrowth. A crisp winter afternoon with a stihl petrol chainsaw or a lightweight Bosch electric chainsaw can trim your garden back to state that is ready for the summer regrowth.

Along with a chainsaw it might be worth getting a shredder to dispose of garden debris our collection of lightweight garden shredders are portable and designed to be quiet, so you can make sure the garden is tidy without disturbing the neighbours. The garden shredders including hoppers to capture the debris, the shredder helps minimise garden waste by compacting the waste down and the lightweight shredders are easily manoeuvrable around the garden.

Finally for any garden waste that is too small to shred or saw a garden vacs will vacuum up the waste and leave your garden ready for spring. Next month we will look at the lawn and what machines will get your lawn looking pristine for summer.

Great Christmas Gift Ideas here at World of Mowers

World of Mowers have a great range of garden hand tools that could be the perfect practical gift for your loved one this festive season.

The Wolf Flower/Vine Shears now have a fantastic 30% off, was £14.99 now at World of Mowers for only £10.49 including VAT also with free delivery. These shears are perfect for the delicate pruning of flowers and vines. They feature extra long blades and a robust tip for cutting security; they also have a high quality plastic grip which ensures the users hands don't slip.

Save 30% on our Wolf multi-star Lawn Rake, was £18.99 now £13.29. This rake is specially shaped so that its round spring tines will not get caught in the grass. With the working width of 50cm the multi-star lawn rake is just what you need to clear your lawn of leaves and needles in a short space of time.

The Wolf Automatic Planter is a must for keen gardeners, and would be an excellent gift this Christmas. This handy tool is ideal for planting bedding plants or bulbs and plants perfectly at the touch of a button. Simply press the button and push the automatic planter in to the ground, next pull out the planter insert the bulb and squeeze the planter handle together again to release the earth. Our Price at World of Mowers £6.99.

The ladies Wolf Gardening Gloves are a perfect gift idea, these gloves are made from cotton but feature leather palms, thumbs and finger tips to ensure hands are protected as much as possible from dirt and scratches. These gloves are durable and tear resistant making them the perfect accessory for all essential gardening tasks, here at World of Mowers for £5.59.

The Kubota Range at World of Mowers

Here at World of Mowers we have an exciting range of Kubota products. Kubota is a Japanese company that was established in 1890. Major innovations introduced by Kubota within the UK since the 1970's are:

• The first true four-wheel drive compact tractor.
• The first four-wheel drive ride-on front rotary mower.
• The first hydrostatic transmission systems for the compact tractor and diesel ride-on mowers.
• The first power steering system fitted to 19hp - 45hp tractors and ride-on mowers.
• The development of Bi-Speed Turn, a system which automatically speeds up a tractor's front wheels when turning, resulting in faster, tighter turns with reduced tyre and surface scuffing.
• The continuing introduction of approved specialist matching implements to extend the year-round working versatility of Kubota compact tractors.

Suitable for the winter months, get a fantastic 10% of the Kubota RTV900MR Utility Vehicle, perfect for all terrains this versatile vehicle delivers absolute outstanding performance. With a fuel capacity of 28 Litres this camo coloured RTV has the same technology as Kubota's tractors, and with free delivery you can't go wrong! Was £13,608.00, now at World of Mowers for £12,247.20 including VAT.

Be extra prepared for winter with this Kubota RTV Snow Plough. It fits all Kubota's RTV900's

and features a multi angle blade with hydraulic lift, it's also possible for the plough to be quickly removed once summer makes an appearance. Our price only £1,599.00 including VAT. Free delivery is also provided and fitting can be arranged at a cost of £100.00.

View the Whole Kubota range here.

Don't forget we have a wide variety of snow blowers and salt spreaders, view the range here, and buy yours today!

2 Years 0% finance now available on Polaris Quads

There are great offers now at World of Mowers on Polaris Quads from now until the 31st December there is 2 years 0% finance available, making now the perfect time to buy.

The Polaris Sportsman 550 EFI EPS Utility Quad is specifically engineered for extreme off-road use, such as ATV trail riding and hunting; it's definitely a quad not to be missed!

A popular quad that comes highly recommended is the Polaris Sportsman 400 H.0 Utility Quad. This quad provides the driver with improved ride and handling, and comes in the classic Polaris Sage Green
colour.

Also don't forget to prepare for the fast approaching winter months and order your snow blowers and salt spreaders today!

The SnowEx Pedestrian Spreader SP-85 is ideal for many uses, such as treating paths andwalkways. The spreader is also suitable for use in schools, hospitals, sports venues and many other public areas. A key feature of this spreader is the up to 6m spread width making it an extremely popular choice, here at World of Mowers for £539.00 and with free delivery. View the rest of the range here.