When It Comes to Lawn Care The Difference Is In The Detail

‘The Difference is in the Detail‘ ‘“ the Greensleeves strap line epitomises our passion and dedication towards all things lawn care. But what exactly does it mean? Well we have created this particular blog with that in mind. We take a look behind the scenes of Greensleeves and delve into the research and development behind the carefully created lawn treatment programme that our customers choose to invest in.

At Greensleeves we are passionate about lawns and are great advocates of quality over quantity, we are dedicated to ensuring that we invest in the correct science and products to provide lawns with the exact combination and measure of fertilisers and herbicides they require to be at their absolute best. The Greensleeves Lawn Treatment programme is by no means a happy accident, quite the opposite in fact, it is the result of years of experience, expertise and testing to create a treatment programme that is perfect for your lawns.

Our Treatment Programme

The composition of our lawn treatment programme began back in 1998 when the company was first established. We knew that we wanted to offer something tailored and unique and as a result we consulted with the technical experts from a major world-renowned fertiliser manufacturer. Together we designed the optimum treatment programme for UK lawns. Taking into consideration the plants specific requirements combined with environmental factors such as seasonal variation in the climate. The result was a range of fertiliser products that were specially tailored to provide lawns with exactly what they would need at certain periods throughout the year (Spring, Early Summer, Late Summer and Autumn).

This was an optimum starting point and one which has evolved over the years as science and the environment in which we operate has developed. As the seasons began to alter as a result of climate change our programme adjusted with them. The winters in recent years have become noticeably milder and with this change we noticed an alteration in the prevalence of moss and diseases within lawns during what were historically the frosty, cooler months. It became apparent that the winter months were now providing the habitat for lawn problems, moss in particular, to thrive and additional control was required. Our fifth winter treatment was introduced in 2013 providing us with an additional opportunity to tackle moss, making us one of the only lawn treatment providers to target moss three times during a year (autumn, winter and early spring).

Our programme is carefully planned to provide for longevity of product ‘“ a controlled release system over an 8 ‘“ 10 week period ensures that even when we aren’t physically on your lawn it is still benefitting from our treatment and our programme is working its magic. Furthermore, we have embraced the concept of no scorch technology, whilst this is not unique within the lawn care industry we are particularly proud of how effective our particular version is, especially as it requires no watering in – great news for our customers. 

Our Herbicides

The herbicides that we use to tackle weeds are provided by one of the best professional brands, it is approved for use in professional turf environments and is more advanced than your average herbicide product. You certainly won’t find it on the shelves of your local garden centre or DIY store! Its special formula contains several active ingredients which broadens the range of weeds that are controlled by it. As with our other products, we carefully trial and test our herbicides to ensure that they provide optimum performance. They are completely safe for children and pets, something that is essential in the environment in which we operate.

Our Grass Seed

The grass seeds we use in our over seeding treatments are carefully selected through a strict vetting process. They are a combination of Rye Grass and Fescue and are similar to those used on Centre Court at Wimbledon, so are particularly resilient to wear. We have honed down our selection as a result of working with the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) and examining their grass ratings to select grasses that will perform based upon parameters including cleanness of cut, drought tolerance, colour and thickness of leaf. Our chosen strains of rye grass are particularly well performing grasses as they are a clump forming grass and hardy without producing excessive thatch.

Our Equipment

In addition to the carefully comprised products and services that we offer, a key component to our high-quality service is the equipment that we select to apply the products to your lawn as well as our more industrial aeration and scarifying machinery. For an even and effective lawn treatment the size of the granules and the distribution of the particles across the lawn must be even, likewise the droplet size and application rate must be set to an optimum dispersal rate. We ensure that all equipment is carefully calibrated to ensure optimum performance and undergoes regular maintenance.

Our People

All the members of the Greensleeves team from the head office staff through to the individual franchise teams are committed to excellent customer service and quality of treatment. Our lawn technicians are all fully qualified, undergoing an intensive training programme before they are able to treat customers lawns. Our carefully devised programme of initial training combined with continuous development and on the job training as well as off job training, seminars and updates ensures that as a network we are kept abreast of technological developments and our service is the best possible solution for our customers lawns.

Our Testing Process

As we review and introduce new products they go through a rigorous testing phase prior to incorporation within our treatment programme. At our Head Quarters Greensleeves has a dedicated testing lawn specifically for the testing of and training in new products and services. Once we are happy with a product or service from an internal head office perspective it is then rolled out via a soft launch to our corporate branches which allows for further testing and monitoring prior to a full roll out to our franchise network.