Lawns

Starting a new lawn

If you're starting a new lawn, you really have to make sure it's planted out properly right from the start, it will be much less hassle to care for. Your soil will probably need a bit of TLC.

Get yourself an inexpensive DIY soil testing kit from a garden-supply shop before adding anything to the soil, it will tell you just how acidic or alkaline it is and whether or not it's lacking any vital nutrients like potassium or phosphorus.

Lime can correct a soil that's too acidic, and sulphur a soil that's too alkaline, exactly how much and whether you need to add fertiliser or not depends on the results, of course.

After adding whatever's needed, together with some compost or rotted manure, rake it over and take out any lurking stones. You need a decent seed for a good lawn as you really get what you pay for, and cheap seeds tend to yield pretty poor results.

It's all dependant on the climate whether you plant a warm-season or cool-season lawn. Fine fescue, perennial rygrass and Kentucky bluegrass are all cool-season varieties and do best in temperatures of 60 to 75 degrees. They stay green throughout most of the year, but during the hottest months they go brownish and semi-dormant. Bermuda, Zoysia, and other warm-season grasses obviously grow best in the summer (if we get one) and go dormant in autumn until spring arrives again.

Ideally, seed your warm-season grasses in spring and cool-seasons in autumn; and with either your hands or a spreader (larger lawns suit a drop spreader, and a broadcast spreader will do for a smaller one).

Grass seed needs watering twice a day after planting, and the seed bed has to be kept nice and moist for germination.

An easier way to lawn success is by laying sod, which is like a grass carpet sold in rolls. You can lay sod anytime but winter. The better you prepared the soil, the faster it will take and become established. However, it's a much more expensive route to take than growing from seed.

Grass plugs are small tufts that spread by runners if they're put in a well-prepared bed of soil, make ready the same way you would for growing a lawn by either seed-sowing or sod.

Taking care of your lawn

It's not hard to take good care of a lawn, and it makes all the difference. Just as with any other plant, the summer months are particularly harsh on lawns, they are constantly used (BBQs, children, picnics, whatever) and get stressed out with something called surface compaction. Compaction makes drainage a lot slower and so air, fertiliser and water take much longer to get through to the roots.

Lawn aeration (sticking a fork in at regular intervals) in the spring and autumn is the best way to let your lawn breathe, the soil temperature rises better and gives the poor thing a break. Do this by hand for a smaller lawn, but helpful devices can be found at garden centres for big ones too.

Lawns really do need a good watering, which sounds obvious but you'd be amazed how many people over look this. The summer months and long dry spells slow growth right down and deep-rooted weeds will overtake grass if it's fighting in drought conditions. The so-called 'Footprint Test' is a good one, if grass fails to spring back after standing on it, water the poor thing.

Controlling worm casts

Worm casts breed weeds and suffocate fine leafed grasses. The best way to get rid of them is to scatter them about with a brush before you mow and then get rid of the clippings in a grass box.

For neatness' sake, try and mow as close to the edges as you can, so that clipping manually is quick and easy.

Raking or Scarification

I know, it sounds like body modification for greens but it gets rid of dead and decaying stuff clinging to the base of roots and leaves and removes thatch, and should be done in the spring; a second, autumnal going-over removes dead leaves and dying grasses and plants, and bare patches can then be re-sown.

Top Dressing

Really only for the perfectionists, this technique builds up the quality of the soil under the lawn which improves the surface of a lawn, boosts grass growth and improves drainage. It is done in the autumn by applying a mixture of peat loam and sand.

The proportions depend on your type of soil - the basic mix is 3 parts sand to 3 parts loam to 1 part peat. Spread the mix evenly over the lawn area using the back of your rake to press the mixture into the grass.