How to achieve a lawn your neighbours will be jealous of!

Have you ever looked across a beautifully manicured lawn at a golf course or stately home and wished your lawn at home looked similar? We’d hate to leave you dreaming so we’ve put together some do’s and don’ts bound to dramatically improve the appearance of your own grass. So let’s get stuck in!

Aerate your soil

First things first, the most important job to keep your lawn healthy is to aerate it by removing small plugs of soil. This lets water and nutrients into the earth more easily, improves soil drainage and leaves space for roots to grow. You can most likely rent an aerating appliance (but make sure it removes plugs of soil rather than just making holes with spikes as this is better for your lawn).

Reseed your lawn

Sowing some grass seed across your lawn once a year will help stop it from becoming sparse. Once you’ve aerated your soil sow the seeds (ideally after rainfall when the lawn is moist) and then rake the seeds into the ground with the leftover plugs of soil from the soil aeration so they come into good contact with the earth. Shop around for high-quality grass seed. Seed that’s more resistant to grass diseases is ideal.

Add compost

After aerating the soil and sowing seeds, spread a thin top layer of compost about a quarter of an inch thick across your lawn. Compost is very good for grass; just one teaspoon contains a billion beneficial microorganisms. So just think how great a coating across your whole lawn will be! Covering the grass seeds with compost will help seal in moisture for growth (as well as helping prevent the seeds from being eaten by hungry birds!)

Trim bushes and trees

Grass loves the sunshine. Just watch it shoot up when the sun first starts to poke its head from behind the clouds. Trimming back your trees and hedges so they don’t cast too much shade will help your grass grow and also help wind circulate around your garden keeping your lawn cool.

Remove thatch

Thatch is decomposing old grass, leaves and garden debris underneath your lawn on the surface of the soil. It can build up and stop nutrients and water reaching the roots of your grass plants. Aerating your soil will help stop thatch developing, but if it has built up already, rake it up and remove it.

Don’t:

• Over fertilise
• Over water
• Neglect mowing
• Cut grass too low
• Expect golf course green

Don’t… Over fertilise

Fertilising your lawn replaces valuable nutrients so you may think the more often you fertilise the better. Not so! When it comes to fertilising you can definitely have too much of a good thing. Over-fertilising your garden is bad for the environment and can even stunt plant growth. As a rule, you should fertilise twice a year at the absolute maximum, but if possible contact your local garden centre for help with soil testing to establish how much fertiliser your grass needs. You’ll save money on the unnecessary fertiliser you’d have bought.

Don’t… Over water

Watering less often is actually good for your grass as well as your water bills! Plants in soil with less water send their roots deeper to seek out moisture and plants with deep roots are healthier. So let your grass get just to the point of wilting before watering it to avoid grass with very shallow roots. The best time to water your lawn is early morning when it’s not too hot to give the water a chance to seep into the soil.

Don’t… Neglect mowing

When mowing long grass, you cut off more of the plant. It’s much healthier to cut it your grass when it’s just a little overgrown. Sharpen or replace blunt lawnmower blades as blunt blades could yank up patches of your lawn and make the leaves of your grass more susceptible to nasty diseases, both of which won’t do much for the appearance of your lawn.

Don’t… Cut grass too low

That said, the ideal cutting height of your lawnmower is 2-3 inches off the ground so if your mower cuts lower than this, raise the cutting height. It’s best never to cut more than a third off your grass blades as cutting lower down weakens the grass plants and leaves your lawn sparser with more spaces for weeds to grow. Taller grass also keeps your soil shaded, which keeps it damp for longer.

Don’t… Expect golf course green

Be prepared to face the fact that the average garden lawn rarely looks as plush and green as the lawns on high-end golf courses. Professionally maintained lawns are likely to have hi-tech watering systems full of chemicals and soil monitoring systems that just aren’t feasible for the average lawn. But stick to the above tips and you’ll notice the difference in the quality of your lawn. Besides, the occasional daisy or patch of clover gives your lawn some character!

Got other problem areas in your garden? We have a whole section of this blog dedicated to gardening tips. Take a look to find out how you could improve your outdoor space.

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