Lawns Made Easy

1. Stunning lawns made Easy

It is commonly known that lawns should be ‘Lawn Dressed’ during early Spring, but few people know or understand what the purpose of lawn dressing really is. The main purpose of ‘Lawn Dressing’ is to incorporate organic goodness back into the soil.

Malanseuns Top Soil is the ideal product to use when lawn dressing your garden!

The application of Malanseuns Top Soil rejuvenates, initiates and invigorates new lawn growth. This results in an immediate and visible improvement in your lawn. More importantly however, the addition of Top Soil improves the soil structure and provides a basis for future microbial activity in the soil, ensuring it will perform better for the entire season.

How to ‘dress’ your lawn?

Prepare your lawn by mowing it short and scarify if possible. This allows the dry dead grass to be removed so the Top Soil can penetrate the soil more easily.

Always apply fertilizer to the dry lawn before applying lawn dressing. Plantland recommends Wonder Vitaliser 7:1:3+C, if you prefer an organic fertilizers Wonder Organic Lawn + Leaf+C is ideal. In lawns where caterpillar activity has been problematic, we recommend Wonder 4:1:1 with Karbaril – early control will have a huge impact on your lawn results! The fertilizer application can be broadcast by hand or with a spreader, always use the application rate indicated on the fertilizer bag.

Thereafter spread Malanseuns Top Soil over your lawn using the back of a rake. The thickness of the layer may vary, but the tips of the lawn should be visible. A 30dm3 bag covers ±3m2 depending on the type of lawn and the length of the grass.

Water thoroughly to dissolve the fertilizer and initiate lawn growth.

Continue watering regularly until the lawn is established.

Weeds

If there are lots of existing weeds do not cut the lawn. Apply a suitable selective broadleaf herbicide allowing at least a week before mowing for the herbicide to act on the plant tissue.

2. CROP ROTATION

Crop rotation is the age-old practice of rotating crop families. Crop rotation is vitally important to the health and productivity of the vegetable garden. From disease prevention to nutrient balancing, the benefits of crop rotation make it well worth the extra planning.
 

Why?

Disease prevention is the main reason why crops are rotated. Pathogens build up over time, reducing productivity and may eventually result in crop failure. Rotating crops keeps diseases in check.

Insect control – Crop rotation reduces insect infestations

Healthy soils. Different plant families require different nutrients. Crop rotation prevents the soil from being depleted of specific nutrients and keeps the soil nutrients balanced

Nutrient enhancement. Some crops enhance the soil – so rotating and incorporating them into the ‘mix’ produces free organic soil conditioning.
 

The Basics

Crop rotation involves dividing your vegetable garden into sections and planting a different plant family in each section after each season. A systematic rotation schedule ensures a steady balance is maintained.

Most crop rotation systems make use of 4 rotating plant groups:

1.    Plants grown for leaves/flowers ie. Lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, spinach etc

2.    Plants grown for fruits ie. Tomato, peppers, eggplants, cucumber, mielies

3.    Plants grown for roots ie. Carrots, turnips, beetroot, radish, onions

4.    Legumes – plants that FEED the soil ie. Beans, pea’s, rye & clover

(Legumes are ‘nitrogen fixing plants’. They have nodules along their roots with specialized bacteria called rhizobia that absorb nitrogen from the air and release it into the soil)
 

Tips for Succesful Crop Rotation

In small vegetable gardens, divide beds into 4 different sections

Ideally, legumes should be planted after the root crop – as these are most nutrient intensive

Incorporating legumes increases the natural nitrogen within the soil, reducing the need for fertilizers

3. How do I maintain my Winter Lawn?

• In frost free area’s maintain a regular watering routine
• Control winter weeds ie. Winter grass with Efekto Kerb 500
• Control Harvester termites with Efekto Kamikaze, now in Plantland stores
• Get your lawn-mower serviced! It’ll soon be put to good use