Lawn care simple tips for a good-looking lawn
March starts with the drone of emerging solitary bees, and of the lawn mower, as the mowing season begins.
Mowing the lawn is a bit of a chore for most of us, but lawns look good when newly mowed and with the lovely grassy smell. How you cut your lawn depends on your lawn style. A nice lawn really sets off a garden. It looks lush and inviting because it is. Walking on the grass in bare feet is a treat and we all love that just mowed grass smell. There are plenty of plus points to a good lawn, but Lawns are changing. Traditionally, Lawns were all about neatness, and stipes as a backdrop to the garden planting. It remains true that a well-tendered lawn looks good, but longer lawns are becoming more popular as we find out more about pollinators and look for a more natural and an easier to maintain lawn.
We also have to contend with droughts, and watering the lawn is no longer practical or economic. Longer lawns will withstand the drought better because of the shade conditions created by the longer grass.
What's your lawn style?
Lawns are changing. Longer lawns are becoming more popular as we find out more about pollinators and look for a more natural and an easier to maintain lawn.
Just letting all or some of your lawn grow longer will help pollinators. Recent research by the charity Plantlife has shown that if lawns are cut only once a month, this boosts the production of nectar tenfold which will benefit pollinators.
You can also leave parts of your lawn longer, perhaps around the edges or in a certain part, and it will soon become a wildflower habitat.
You can buy many popular varieties of grasses from garden centres, such as Stipa, Molinia, Miscanthus, or you can just let your lawn grow. This very short YouTube video shows how an ordinary lawn has, in fact, many different grasses. In this small piece of lawn, which has been left alone, there are a number of different grasses, unique shades of green, and they are flowering nicely in June.
Just letting all or some of your lawn grow longer will help pollinators. Research has shown that if lawns are cut only once a month, this boosts the production of nectar tenfold which will benefit pollinators.
You can also leave parts of your lawn longer, perhaps around the edges or and it will soon become a wild habitat.
If you are looking for an inexpensive way to create a grass area instead of buying in various grasses, why not see what your lawn has to offer?
How to get a good-looking lawn
- Sounds obvious, but mowing at the right level is important and to take care not to scalp the lawn because it will struggle to recover afterwards. Perfection, which is aiming to cut only 1/3rd of the lawn on each mow, has to be weighed against the time factor. The ideal cut maybe only a 1/3 but for most of us there isn't enough time in busy lives, and a compromise is not to cut the lawn too short. The regular mowing helps to create a stronger and more dense lawn.
- Cutting the lawn edges is not essential for maintenance of the lawn, but does look neat.
- But it is essential is to remove autumn leaves which have fallen onto the lawn, as collections of leaves on the lawn can stop the light and cause die back of the grass underneath. Come the spring the lawn will not look good and the dead leaves will cause brown patches which will need to be re seeded.
- Scarifying is good for lawns, which is basically raking out the thatch in the lawn. It is also good for us as it is fantastic exercise, forget the gym. Using a spring-tined rake, rake over the lawn, pulling out thatch and moss which task is best done in the spring and autumn.
- Like all living things, lawns like to be fed. There are many lawn fertilisers on the market balanced exactly right for lawns, and a feed can be applied spring, summer and autumn.
- And it really is true that is best to avoid walking on lawns when frosted. The frozen lawn is brittle and as it is walked on the grass gets broken and damaged.
A bit of lawn care and TLC will transform the slightly sad looking patch of grass into lush lawn.
And it doesn’t have to be all hard work, feeding scarifying and mowing stripes; creating a lawn maze is good fun and toddlers love racing round and round. It has the added benefit of wearing them out nicely for a good night’s sleep.
