lawn care in your gardenA good quality lawn takes dedication to create, and will involve more than simply mowing on a regular basis. To keep your lawn healthy and attractive, annual maintenance may include fertilising, topdressing, aerating, moss control and weeding, depending on your site and climate.
One point to remember about mowing & lawn care - this stimulates growth. Hence the more often you cut it, the healthier your lawn will be! Little and often is a good way of tackling mowing your lawn. A good rule to try and follow is remove no more than a third of the length of the grass blade each time.
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Therefore in late spring and early summer, frequent mowing is recommended but in summer and autumn, this will reduce.
In winter an occasional cut is recommended just to ‘top’ the grass, keeping it neat and tidy. |  |
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Rotary or hover mowers or cylinder mowers for fine lawns
When choosing a mower to use, there are two basic types, a rotary mower, which includes the hover-type mower, which is suitable for most lawns. These can cope with long and wet grass, and some will collect the clippings.
Cylinder mowers will provide the finest lawns, and have a rear roller which will produce classic stripes. They produce a close cut, which is the best choice for a high quality lawn. While you do not need to collect the grass clippings, removing these will discourage earthworms, and reduce the spread of certain weeds.
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Once a year, due to the grass roots growing in a matted fashion, lawns require aerating using a fork to spike the grass at regular intervals or a scarifier for larger lawns from your local tool hire shop.
You should also feed your lawn at least twice a year to keep it at its best using one of the proprietary brands from your local garden centre - being careful to follow the manufacturers instructions. |  |
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Aerating, scarifying, weeding, watering & feeding lawns
It is also important to weed your lawn on a regular basis. Regular mowing aids this by preventing annual weeds from germinating. If your dedication will stretch to it, individual broad leaved weeds should be removed using a specialist weedkiller.
You may need to water your lawn, particularly in prolonged dry periods. Two signs of a water deficiency are footprints remaining in the grass as the dry blades fail to spring back up, and sometimes a dull sheen with a bluish tint on each blade of grass.
However you water your lawn (a hose fed garden sprinkler is by far the most effective method) you must ensure that it gets a good soaking, as light watering only encourages shallow roots - making the lawn vulnerable in prolonged periods of drought. |
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