The lawn is often the most neglected area of the garden, yet it covers the greatest area of ground from a visual impact viewpoint; you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression!

Most lawns because of neglect or simply poor maintenance are a mix of various grasses, monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous weeds, which by their very nature are usually aggressive in their spreading habit across the surface of the lawn.

Not only do they spread rapidly but they are also naturally invasive and will smother the lawn grasses; this can happen with both winter and summer weeds, creating a patchwork quilt effect of both colour and texture. With the heat of summer starting to decrease but growth still very active, now is a good time to review the state of the lawn and consider a programme to reduce/eradicate weed activity in the coming months.

The three summer turf grasses in Bermuda being are Bermuda grass, Zoysia grass and St Augustine with rye grass being used as an overseeding winter grass in bare areas of lawn, which will die out during the hot periods of the year.

Such bare patches will fill in with the summer grasses if given attention by top dressing the bare patches with a mix of silica sand and peat and firmed.

In-fill with plugs of the surrounding grass type and water in to encourage a quick cover and eliminate new weed growth. The most used type of mower is the rotary blade, which is best suited to the coarser grasses of the St Augustine types because this grass is best mown to a height of three inches. Mowing too low can create problems because scalping the foliage will weaken the growth and can create the introduction of weeds be they grass or broad leaf types.

The fine-blade grasses such as Zoysia and Bermuda grass are more suited to being mown with a reel mower; the greater the number of blades the finer the cut – contingent on the blades being sharpened on a regular basis – and more definition of the mowing pattern, be it stripes or blocked. The height of cut for the fine-leaf grasses can be as low as a quarter of an inch to one inch for best results.

Reel machines usually come with a collection bin attached to the front of the mower and should be emptied as the bin fills up; allowing the mowings to be broad spread can reduce the sharpness of the blade and its cutting action, as well as creating a thatch on the soil surface that can hamper seepage of rain into soil and root zone.

Whereas the rotary mower simply disperses the clippings in a broadcast manner, especially so with the higher mowing cut. Excess mowings should be raked up and composted or dumped as these could also become a problem of thatching.

Fertilising during hot sunny periods is not recommended as scorch to foliage could be detrimental as well as damage the root zone. Apply fertiliser after heavy rains and when cloudy conditions prevail when soil moisture is greatest using either a drop or broadcast spreader at the recommended settings found on the fertiliser bag; remember, if all else fails, read the instructions, they are there for a very good reason.

Weed and feed is a combination of a herbicide and fertiliser and should be applied under specific conditions as stated on the instruction label, and certainly not when the grass is under stress and the soil moisture deficit would be detrimental to growth.

Follow up irrigation with sprinkler systems will assist in keeping the moisture level present in the root zone and should be carried out in the cool of the evening. Foliar feed can also be applied in this method if the sprinkler system can accommodate the system of application.

Spot weed control can be carried out with a knapsack sprayer targeting only areas of weed growth. When carrying out this procedure, use a narrow nozzle cover over the lance end and avoid spray drift which can damage lawn grasses and nearby plantings.

• Malcolm D. Griffiths is a trained horticulturalist and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture in Britain. He is also past president of the Bermuda Horticultural Society, the Bermuda Orchid Society and the Bermuda Botanical Society