Richard Harrison

Laying A New Lawn With Turf

Turf will produce an instant lawn and within four to six weeks the lawn can be used. Make sure you use a good supplier though. Always use a cultivated turf which will have been fed, watered and looked after. Some companies supply pasture turf which is che... Read >

Feed The Soil Not The Plant

It is all well and good to select an attractive plant or shrub for a client's garden but attention needs to be paid to the nature and content of the soil to ensure that plant grows into a healthy and robust specimen Some plants require an acid soil (Rh... Read >

Mulching Garden Beds

Mulch is an organic or non organic layer over the soil which keeps down weed growth and conserves moisture in the soil. It has an aesthetic benefit as well as a practical one, as an attractive chunky pine bark mulch for example can enhance the appearan... Read >

How, When And Where To Prune

A most lucrative area of income is pruning of shrubs, hedges, rose bushes and small fruit trees. Safety is of greatest importance when working on trees and shrubs. If you use a chainsaw, you should be aware of all safety issues, always wear the appropr... Read >

Using A Chainsaw In The UK

When operating a gardening business you may from time to time be asked to cut down trees or at the very least cut some branches from a tree that overhangs a house or a neighbour's fence. A client may also ask you to cut up some existing branches or garden... Read >

How best To Prune A Rose

For rose pruning make sure you use a pruning guide as there are many different types of rose all requiring different types of pruning. One method the same for all roses is 'autumn wind rock pruning'. When growth has stopped in the autumn remove about o... Read >

Sowing A Lawn From Seed

The first step in sowing anew lawn is to apply a turf starter fertiliser that has an N:P:K (nitrogen: phosphorous: potassium) ratio of 8:10:8. This is low in nitrogen compared with normal fertiliser, but is the best balance for new grass. Nitrogen helps l... Read >

How best To Top Dress A Lawn

Top Dressing is the task of applying a mixture of sand and topsoil to the surface of a lawn. The renovation process is based on enhancing the integrity of the existing grass, so as to cause as little damage as possible to what is already there. You wil... Read >

Establishing A New Lawn

The most important thing to remember when you are trying to establish a new lawn is preparation. A poorly prepared area will only give second rate results or possibly even complete failure. The first thing you need to do is walk over the site (fairly o... Read >

The Gardening Business - Strimming

Strimmers are a high speed, fast cutting power tool but they can be dangerous and because of this safety precautions must be observed to reduce the risk of personal injury. Should the cutting tool come in contact with solid foreign objects such as ston... Read >

The Gardening Business - Lawn Mowers

There are many types of lawn mowers on the market. The older cylinder type mower cuts with a heavy roller and blades rotating in a cylinder against a cutting edge, this has a very good effect on even, well kept lawns. The advantages of this type of mow... Read >

Gardening - Lawn Mowing

When should I Mow Grass should be mowed when it has grown 12 to 25 mm above its recommended height, though heights vary with different grass types. When Not to Mow: When the grass is wet. Drought conditions. Frost conditions. Before or directly a... Read >

A Healthy Lawn - Common Grasses

Even though most turf is a mixture of grasses and probably contains many weeds, a basic knowledge of common grass types will help you provide a more professional service. So what are the most common grasses you will find? Couch Grass This is fair... Read >

Gardening - Lawn Mowing Rules

In the hotter months grass may go brown due to a lack of water; this can be overcome by informing clients that when turf is cut short the roots stay close to the surface. If grass is not cut so short the roots will grow down deeper and find any available ... Read >

Why Invest In A Franchise

Jim's Mowing is the world's biggest lawn mowing and garden maintenance franchise. First franchised in 1989, it now has 2000 franchisees operating in four countries (Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most recently the UK Perhaps some people in the UK ... Read >