Lawn Care: How to Treat your Lawn

Treating the Lawn
There are a bewildering number of lawn fertilisers available. This means that people can struggle to know when to use different fertilisers. If you want to use just one kind for the year then growmore, containing equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, is a good choice. Sprinkle on about 2oz per square yard in early April as the growth starts, the same in June and the same in September. If it doesn't rain within two days of sprinkling, water thoroughly. This pattern of feeding will be adequate for a family garden. Don't expect it to give you a perfect lawn though.

Grass ideally needs a different treatment at different times of the year. During the growing season, from mid-March to September, it needs a good supply of nitrogen. This will keep it growing strongly and give the rich green colour we look for in a lawn. A high nitrogen fertiliser will mean regular mowings too: nitrogen makes the grass grow faster.

From October to mid-March, the aim is to keep the grass in good condition but not to encourage growth. Give it a fertiliser high in potassium. This will toughen the grass and prevent the lush growth which is more likely to suffer disease and cold in a harsh winter. In essence, the aim is to make the grass grow up in spring and summer, down in autumn.

Summer feed can be applied in granules or liquid. Most granules need to be watered in: check the maker's instructions and scatter the granues just ahead of rain if possible. Granules release their constituents into the ground more slowly than liquid feeds, so you won't need to treat the lawn so often - every 5/6 weeks from early April instead of every 3/4, as would be ideal with a liquid feed. Apply an autumn feed of high-potassium fertiliser, at the rate recommended by the maker, only once - in October.

Alfresia is an online retailer of garden furniture, and lawncare products like lawnmowers.

How to care for Hardwood

On your property, you might have all sorts constructed from hardwoods - doors, frames, benches, tables, loungers etc. Without proper care your hardwood furniture can get damaged, especially in the winter months. By following a few simple tips on how to care for hardwood, the life of your wood products will be significantly extended.

Your timber products will usually have been sanded before they are supplied to you. However, wear and tear always occurs during transportation and assembly/fitting. This means that sanding down your furniture, very very lightly, is extremely important. When you are sanding, ensure that the movement of your hand follows the grain of the wood, be it side to side, up and down or diagonal. You can sand the wood with either sandpaper, a sanding block or wire wool. Some people believe the latter gives the best effect and reduces the risk of scratching any glass surface.

Following the light sanding, brush off the dust and apply the first coat of protective paint as a primer. Once dry this is followed by two other undercoats and then a final top coat. Inbetween each coating, lightly sand the wood and brush the dust off. If you are just varnishing the wood, three coats should be enough to finish it. Ensure that you coat the end of the grain, i.e. the tops and bottoms that you might not necessarily see. When you are painting or varnishing, ensure that you follow the grain of the wood.

How often this process needs repeating depends upon the woodcare products, so make sure you're aware of this.

How To Care For Wooden Garden Shed

If you own a wooden garden shed, either from Alfresia or not, you will need to care for it in order to keep the shed in a good condition. When looking at most wooden sheds and structures, there are several very important processes to carry out: first, though, it is essential to ensure that the wooden garden shed remains on a firm and level base and protected against moisture penetration;


Seal your windows:
It is very important that all the windows of the wooden garden shed are sealed, both inside and out. The sealing process must be carried out as soon as is possible after assembly. To seal the windows, apply silicone, timber beading or any other suitable ‘water tight’ solution around the edges of the windows..


Treat your building annually:
Although your shed probably came with a factory basecoat already applied, you should definitely treat your new wooden shed shortly after installation with a good quality water resistant treatment. Repeat this process anually, taking care to brush the treatment into every single one of the wooden components of the shed, both inside and out.


Ensure nothing is in contact with your building:
This is a relatively simple tip: If there is an overhanging tree or hedge growth near your shed, then it poses a threat to to the construction and should definitely be cut back at regular intervals. This is because branches can penetrate the wood, and this ecourages water to ingress.


Check and replace any damaged felt:
If you do find that the felt roofing of your wooden garden shed has been damaged in anyway, then you must attend to it immediately. If you were to find a rip or tear in the felt, then you should strip the area from the roof and attach a new covering of high-grade mineral felt. This is available online.


Check your base:
As mentioned above, at the time of assembly, you should have already ensured the base was perfectly level. However it is very important to monitor that this is still the case. Any movement at all of the base can lead to twisting of the timber or dropping of the doors.


Lubrication:
All hinges inside the shed should be lubricated with suitable oil. This ensures that they remain easy to use.

Alfresia is an online supplier of garden furniture and also accessories for your garden, like these wooden garden sheds.