7 TOP TIPS FOR HEALTHY LOOKING LAWNS
A lush, green, open space, suitable for children - 7 easy steps
1. Think about your cut of the season - cutting your grass in stages in terms of height/length. Your lawnmower will have settings enabling your first cut to be longer. Cutting your grass in stages will avoid yellow patches but also encourage your ‘little’ green plants to grow sideways and not just ‘up!’. The knitting together of these individual plants will encourage a thicker, lusher lawn.
2. Moss can be a problem after the long winter months, the removal of this is quite simple. Raking is the obvious choice, and using the right rake is paramount, an adjustable lightweight rake will make life easier and give better results. On a large scale using a feed with moss-eating bacteria can give better results quicker.
How do moss-eating bacteria work?
This friendly bacteria live on moss and digests moss quickly and efficiently, turning moss back into feed, no raking, and no black moss patches.
Kent & Stowe Adjustable Lawn Rake - £7.99
Mo Bactor Slow Release Feed & Mosskiller - From £14.99
Available in all garden centres - CLICK HERE to find your nearest centre
3. Thin or patchy grass can be made simple by improving drainage and tackling compacted soil where foot traffic is intense or where children play. Aerating is a method of making small holes in your lawn to break down where the surface of the soil - these 'holes' can be filled by brushing in sharp sand or a simple compost or mulch will help improve the health of your lawn. Using Plant grow is a plant fertiliser and soil conditioner, ideal for use when aerating.
Plant Grow Soil Conditioning Fertiliser 10 litres - £11.99
Available in all garden centres - CLICK HERE to find your nearest centre
4. Feeding your grass after its first cut is essential for improving 'what you have'. With a balanced feed, you can expect results over an extended period, the feed is slow to release encouraging a healthy lawn that doesn't just grow fast and need mowing more regularly. Using a feed helps your lawn to withstand drought, and reducing the opportunity for unwanted weeds to flourish. Good grass starts at the roots, a mycorrhizal fungus will help increase the footprint of the roots of your lawn and will improve the grasses' ability to absorb feed.
What is Mycorrhizal fungus and how does it work?
In simple terms it is a happy, healthy funghi that works in harmony with your lawns root structure, enabling roots to absorb feed and water more efficiently.
GrowGreener Natural Lawn Feed & Root Enhancer 5.25kg - £14.99
Available in all garden centres - CLICK HERE to find your nearest centre
5. Weed removal. Weeds (or lawn wildflowers if you prefer!) provide a valuable source of nectar for early to raise bees and cutting your grass on a higher cutting length allows less obvious ‘weeds’ such as daisies, clover, and trefoil to thrive, but also look pretty. Leaving some lawn wildflowers is encouraging a more harmonious green space in touch with a more natural looking lawn - and better for the environment too! Lawn wildflowers help bee colonies to thrive is an essential focus for everyone therefore providing early food sources is easy by varying cutting lengths according to the season length. Larger, unwanted deep-rooted lawn wildflowers such as dandelions & plantains, can be simply removed using a weed grubber. Surprisingly easy to use and equally surprising how effective they are. Don’t forget to compost your moss and lawn weeds.
Spear & Jackson Daisy Grubber - £5.99
Available in all garden centres - CLICK HERE to find your nearest centre
You can visit our very own Lawn Wild Flower Identifier here
6. Overseeding is a simple way of planting more 'little green plants' - moss and weed removal alone may no be enough to improve the overall look of your lawn. Overseeding is simply a way of spreading grass seed where there is thinning of grass- choose a grass seed that is right for your needs. A ryegrass mix gives you a tough lawn whereas a seed mix with red fescue offers you finer leaved tufted lawn.
Empathy RHS Supreme Lawn Seed with Rootgrow 1kg - £12.99
Available in all garden centres - CLICK HERE to find your nearest centre
7. Pests are seldom a problem however leatherjackets can be a problem causing large patches of emptiness to appear - leatherjackets eat the roots of grass as they develop into craneflies. Birds on your lawn can be a sign of leather jackets as the grubs provide a valuable source of food for birds. Try leaving a sheet of black plastic down overnight where the leather jackets will surface for birds to eat!
Black Plastic Sheet 1m x 2m - £1.99 per metre
Available in all garden centres - CLICK HERE to find your nearest centre