Almost every garden has a lawn, and yet many gardeners keep asking us how they should be looking after them. We hope that these notes will be helpfull.
As well as providing a calming contrast to your bright border flowers, a lawn can also be a hard wearing play area or a restful sitting out area. With good care and attention it can do all of this and still look good all year round.
Mowing
Mowing is probably the most common lawn care activity. There are several tips that can make this much more effective.
How often should I mow?
Your lawn will need mowing about once a week in good growing weather. In the Spring and Autumn mow about once a fortnight and even give it a light trim in the winter if the weather is mild. It is best to only mow when the grass needs it, rather than cutting slavishly every Sunday.
How short should I mow?
For most lawns 1 inch will be low enough in the summer, although you can go lower on a fine lawn if your mower is good enough. You should raise the height of the cut in dry weather and also in the winter. Don’t remover too much growth at any one time. You should only remove about a third of the height at any one time.
What should I do with the clippings?
The clippings are full of nutrients; instead of throwing them away why not try composting them to use later on beds and borders.
Like any living plant your lawn needs nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potash as well as a range of minerals. These are available in most soils, but as most lawns are continuously having these nutrients removed in the clippings it is necessary to replace them if you want a strong growth.
The simplest way to replenish these lost nutrients is by applying a commercial fertiliser. Ideally you should apply about one ounce per square yard of a spring and summer fertiliser in May and July, and then a similar amount of an autumn and winter fertiliser in October.
It is now regarded as anti social to water your lawn during periods of dry weather. If you do decide to water it is much more effective during the night when the water has time to soak in. It is also preferable to water thoroughly rather than giving a light sprinkle every few days.
Don’t worry if your lawn does die back in very dry weather, no lasting damage will be done, it will recover when the rains come.
Lawn grasses will not thrive in a waterlogged soil, and you will not be able to walk on it when you want to. This is seldom a problem on sandy soil, but you may need to install drains on a clay soil.
Drainage can be improved by thoroughly spiking the lawn. You can use a garden fork inserted 4 to 6 inches deep all over the lawn. This is hard work, but worthwhile. You could also try a specialist hollow tine aerator – this removes plugs of soil and allows it to drain and breathe.
Spiking or aerating the soil is also beneficial in relieving compaction in heavy “traffic” areas.
One persons weed is another’s wild flower, so it is hard to give guidelines on their control, only you can decide what is acceptable.
Small numbers of weeds and be removed by hand or perhaps by using a knife. Spot weeding can also be done with a selective weed killer in a handy use spray gun. Make sure that you use a “selective” weed killer – one that does not damage the grass. For larger areas of weeds you will need to treat the whole lawn. You can use a liquid weed killer if you have a sprayer, or you can choose a “weed and feed” fertiliser, which will do two jobs in one. Whatever method that you sue, make sure you use the manufacturers instructions. Do not be tempted to put on more than the label recommends or you may damage the grass.
Weed control is best done when the lawn and the weeds are growing well i.e. in spring or early autumn.
Moss can be very troublesome, especially in lawns that are not in peak condition. It is often made worse by:
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Poor drainage
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Shade
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Surface thatch
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Lack of fertiliser
The long-term solution is to change the conditions of the lawn by improving the drainage, removing shade or thatch or feeding the lawn. In the shorter term the best treatment is to use a fertiliser containing iron, lawn sand or a liquid moss killer. These will turn the moss dramatically black, and then you can remove it with a rake or scarifier. The stronger the grass grows the less trouble the moss will be.
Top quality lawns should be routinely scarified at least once a year. This removes the build up of dead plant material which is known as “thatch”. Removal of the thatch discourages moss and helps with the maintenance of an even surface to the sward.
Top dressing is the spreading of a sandy soil on the surface of the lawn to make it more even. The top dressing fills depressions and hollows and allows you to mow the lawn more closely. You should look for a top dressing which has been sterilised to kill weeds, seeds and disease. It is important to scarify before top dressing to prevent the build-up of thatch.
Worms
Whilst worms are beneficial in the rest of the garden, they are not to be encouraged in lawns. Their casts are unsightly, and made bare patches which tend to lead to weed problems. You should avoid touching worm casts when they are wet, but wait until they are dry and then brush them into the surface. There are no products available for worm control, but they are discourages by an acid soil. You can make you soil more acidic by using fertilizers contains iron and ammonium sulphate.
If you think that worm casts are a problem, then wait until you encounter molehills. You will be amazed at the amount of soil a small creature can move! Mole hills should be swept up and removed form the lawn. Moles can be discouraged by a number of devices such as smokes, or mothballs. However the best solution is to use mole traps unless you do not like the idea of killing the moles.
Over Seeding
Your lawn will be subject to wear and tear and may become weaker over time. One solution is to over seed the lawn with fresh seed in the autumn. Ideally the ground should be spiked and scarified to create a seedbed. The seed should be mixed with topdressing and spread thinly over your area. You will need to water it in gently if there is no rain due. If birds are a problem eating the seed, then you could cover the area with garden fleece.
A neat, tidy edge sets off a lawn wonderfully, but it does need to be regularly trimmed either with long handled shears or a powered strimmer. If you find this one too time consuming you could consider laying paving along the edge of your lawn at just below lawn level. You will find that you can move right to the edge and keep it tidy much more easily.
