The Ransome 1230 Highway is a serious bit of lawn-mowing kit.

It is the lawnmower we use to maintain large areas of lawn. Like the 8 Acres we maintain for Meadway Court in Worthing, West Sussex.

Here's one of our guys putting it through its paces:

As promised in earlier posts, here are some photos of our commercial grounds staff tackling a 40ft high Laylandi hedge.

And here's part two

Spring is here. And that means it's time to start planning for your summer lawn.

There are lots of things you (or a professional grounds maintenance company like us) can be doing in order to get your lawn looking lush and green.

Raking

Raking your lawn gets rid of debris, including leaves, thatch and dead grass.

Compaction

Compaction is what happens to a lawn when it is over used by people and vehicles. For example, parking a vehicle on a lawn caused the soil to compact. This creates a drainage problem in the soil and isn't good for grass.

A sign of compaction is the presence of mossy clumps in the lawn.

A compaction problem can be overcome through aeration. Using an aerator on the lawn can restore proper drainage to the soil.

Overseeding

This doesn't mean putting down too much grass seed. It refers to the technique of seeding areas of the lawn that are bare. Where there are bare patches in the lawn, you can apply grass seed and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer.

Fertilizing

Fertilzing a lawn gives it the nutrients and minerals it needs for growth. There are many types of compost and fertilizer available, please contact us if you have any questions about what one to use.

Weed Control

There are two stages of weed control. Preventative and reactive. Again, weed control is a complicated subject especially when dealing with invasive weeds like Japanese Knotweed. Often weed control is best looked after by a professional grounds maintenance company.

End Result

With all the above done correctly, you'll be left with a lawn read for summer. And that presents a whole new challenge: Lawn mowing!

We get asked quite a bit, "what grounds maintenance can you guys do when it's pouring with rain?"

As it was pouring with rain today, here's what we got up to.

Fly Tipping: Removing Unwanted Rubbish

Fly tipping is quite a big problem in the UK. Here are some facts and figures:

• 1.28m fly-tipping incidents dealt with by local authorities in England (April 2007 - March 2008, Defra).
• Fly-tipping costs local authorities alone almost £74m a year to clean up (April 2007 – March 2008, Defra).
• 50% of fly-tips involved household waste, 11% of all fly-tips recorded involved single black bags, 50% of all recorded fly-tips occurred on the highway (April 2007 – March 2008, Defra)

You can probably imagine, most business estates and retail parks are blighted by fly tippers. And they can instantly make your business look terrible. So to combat the damages done to your business by fly tipping we regularly visit and pick and sweep them clear of any rubbish that has accumulated.

Have You Got A Fly Tipping Problem?

The answer is probably 'yes, on occasion'. So, if you're fed up with finding piles of rubbish on your property, go right ahead and get in touch with us. We'll happily discuss how a grounds maintenance service contract can rid you of the fly tipping problem for good.

You can find our details over on our contact page. Or you can follow us on Twitter to find out where our fly tip removal is helping businesses near you.

After the recent freezing temperatures and heavy snow fall across the south of the UK, and the disruption it caused, we decided to add a new salting / gritting service. This will help our landscaping and grounds maintenance customers feel less of an impact when the snow comes again.

What Does A Salting / Gritting Service Include?

If below-freezing temperatures or snow is forecast, we will spread the salt over the entire. This is to prevent ice and snow settling.

The process generally includes:

•  Salt applied to main site roads and service areas and yards with a large spreading unit
•  Pathways and walkways are then gritted with a smaller push-spreader
•  Once applied, the salt/grit is usually effective for 2 to 3 days.
•  Depending on the severity of ice, snow and the weather forecast, the entire site will be re-gritted

Here is a picture of our large spreading unit.

How Does The Salting / Gritting Service Help Your Business When It's Snowing?

The benefits of salting / gritting your business' site when it's snowing are two fold.

The first benefit is that is easier for employees and key members of staff to make into work safely.

Secondly, deliveries of stock and essential supplies can still get to your business

Bust most important, it makes it safer for customers to come to your site.

If you would like to discuss a salting / gritting service for your business, please get in touch with us.

What Happens If It's Already Snowing And You've Not Gritted?

All hope is not lost. We can also spread salt once snow has fallen and set. We use a pure white de-icing salt, which is very quick and effective at melting snow.

If your business is being affected by snow, please call us.