Lawn Mowers
SERVICE
We have a full workshop facility with trained engineers to carry out all service and repair work to all makes and models of horticultural machinery.
We operate a collection and delivery service within a 25 mile radius of our site in Staplehurst.
SALES
Although we specialise in Honda and Makita Lawn and Garden Equipment we can supply a wide variety of equipment to order. Part exchange will be considered on your existing machine. A selection of used machines are in stock.
Free delivery within 25 mile radius of our site in Staplehurst, delivery charged at cost outside of this area.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CALL ON 01580 893950 OR CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL US.
SUMMER LAWN CARE
Lawn Matters
In most domestic gardens the lawn takes centre stage as the very heart of the garden. Its soft green hues complement and enhance the flower borders and provide the perfect backdrop for trees, shrubs and other plants. The lawn offers a soft surface for walking, playing and relaxing and withstands the general wear and tear of summer use. Most gardeners aspire to having a beautiful green lawn and with the right equipment and knowledge it is easily achievable.
To Get The Best From Your Lawn
Fine quality lawns should be cut regularly, as often as two or three times a week in late spring and summer. Adjust the frequency to reflect how quickly the grass is growing. You should always only remove the very top third of growth during any cut. If you remove any more it will damage the grass plants and look unsightly.
When mowing a newly seeded lawn allow it to reach about 5cm (2in) in height and then cut using a rotary mower to 2.5cm (1in). Choose to use a quality Honda rotary mwer from the new IZY range. It has a completely redisigned cutting blade that improves its cut and collect perfomance and will effortlessly cut the tips from delicate grass plants.
Keep the blades on your lawnmower properly adjusted and sharpened. Blunt blades bruise the grass and cause damage, which looks unsightly and can affect growth. Bring your mower to us at EMS Mowers at least once a year for a service.
For the most eco friendly cut, replace your old lawnmower with a new model from Honda that is fitted with the latest technology designed to provide an excellent cut and fuel efficiency. Choose a mower with a wider cut that will cut more grass in less time; a large collector to reduce the frequency of emptying; an optional mulching facility to recycle the clippings back into the ground when conditions are correct and an automatic choke for optimum fuel efficiency.
Avoid cutting normal domestic utility lawns too close. A height of around 1.5cm (1/2in) for summer is about right. Any shorter and you will stress the grass, which could allow weeds and moss the upper hand and may make the lawn much more susceptible to drought, other pests and diseases.
Alternate the way you cut the lawn. Start at the other end of the lawn to avoid continually cutting in the same direction. Regular mowing in the same direction can lead to a bumpy, uneven lawn and may make the grass grow unevenly too.
Do not cut the grass when it is wet, or when the soil is water logged.
Watering And Drought Control
Apart from newly turfed or freshly seeded lawns there is little need to water a lawn even in a drought. Although the lawn may go brown it will almost always recover. Watering it may actually do more harm than good, encouraging the surface roots to prosper where they are more susceptible to extremes of temperature.
Give your lawn a head start at tolerating drought by keeping it well fed and free from moss and weeds as early in the season as possible.
In hot and dry weather give the lawn a very light cut, removing just the very tips of the grass to tidy it up and do not be tempted to cut it short. Stressing the grass in extreme weather conditions could damage it severely or if it is weak, it could kell it completely.
If you are sowing a new lawn from seed wait until the autumn and choose a seed mixture that contains a higher percentage of drought tolerant grass species.
Feeding The Lawn
Every lawn benefits from the addition of a lawn fertiliser. Keeping the grass properly fed will ensure that it performs to its full potential and will assist in its resistance to pests and diseases.
A lawn in need of nutrients becomes stressed and grows less vigorously, far from this being a godsend for the lazy gardener, it will actuall add to the workload. When the lawn is weak, weeds will quickly encroach on the lawn and the lethargic grass will struggle to compete for the limited nutrients available. Weeds and moss will gain the advantage and thrive at the lawn's expense, creating a mossy, weedy lawn instead of one made up of healthy grass plants. To take the first step in improving your lawn, feed it with a dedicated lawn food.
Lawn food should be applied when the grass is growing vigorously in mid spring and summer. Use a proper lawn feed because it will contain rich levels of nitrogen for vigorous leaf establishment and just the right level of phosphate, essential for healthy root development. If weeds and moss are a problem, choose a lawn food with added weed killer and moss treatment, so you tackle three issues with one application.
Problem Solving
Moss - A mossy lawn might look nice and green, but gradually the moss will take over and you'll be left with an unsightly mess every time you try to mow. Deal with the causes first and the symptoms later. Moss thrives in shade, which may be hard to alleviate, prune overhanging trees and shrubs to let the light through. Poorly drained soils encourage moss. If the lawn is compacted aerate the area using a hollow tined aerator, or a garden fork. Moss thrives on poor soils, so simply be feeding the lawn you will improve the situation. Use a combined feed, weed and moss killer toincrease the nutrient levels and add a moss killing action to the lawn. Remove dead moss from around the grass roots by scarifying with a spring tine rake. Do not do this until the moss is dead or you will simply spread the problem around.
Weeds - Lawn weeds are aopportunist thieves that colonise any area of bare soil. Regularly use a daisy grubber to remove shallow rooted weeds or an old kitchen knife to cut out raproots such as dandelions. You can also apply a lawn weedkiller product. NEVER use a general weedkiller on the lawn as this will kill the grass too.
Mulching Mowers
One of the biggest trends in lawn care recently has been the introduction of mulching mowers and optional mulching kits for lawnmowers. The more cynical gardener might consider that simply leaving the grass box off and mowing more regularly would have the same effect but there is much more to mulcing than meets the eye. If the clippings are too long they are deposited as needle like deposits around the base of the grass plants and this quickly builds up as thatch. This is bad news. Thatch starves the grass of moisture, demands nutrients to power the microbes that break it down and can even prevent rain from reaching the grass roots and that is just for starters. It can also encourage disease problems and allow moss to encroach on the lawn. Thatch can be removed by scarifying, but tha is an extra lawn care job and one that could easily be acoided by either collecting the clippings or mulching.
Several of the Honda HRX range of lawnmowers have an optional mulching kit that can be easily fitted to the machine. Others use the revolutionary Versamow mulching system that enables the user to swithc from collection the clippings to mulching and the flip of a lever.
From the consumers perspective one of the best things about a mulching mower is that you don't have to keep empyting a grass box and you aren't left with piles of stagnating grass clippings that can quickly overwhelm a compost heap. So it saves time and effort too.