Most people I know expect that having a great looking lawn takes significant time and effort.
Will it take significant time and effort? – It isn’t necessarily so!
Regularity is the key word when it comes to lawn maintenance, especially if you are trying so hard to prevent lawn weeds from taking over.
Weeds, are at the top of the lawn issues list.
Apparently it is men mostly that take over the control of the lawn and some show great pride in their lawns.
Did you know that your lawn has beneficial cooling effects? Armed with this information, when it’s hot, head for a pleasant shady spot in your garden and enjoy your lawn.
When working on your lawn, take your time, work methodically, get some good easy lawn care advice and tips and be the envy of your neighbors and friends.
To sum up – Lawns enhance an area – Please enjoy your lawn
Maintaining a beautifully green lawn all year round, may appear to be on the difficult side, it really is not that complicated once you take on board and enact a few easy lawn care tips, with these, the care and maintenence of your lawn does not need to become a chore.
After all, looking after a beautiful lawn can be a rewarding past time.
When your lawn is looking great, the result will speak for itself.
And if the lawn is used by the whole family, don’t forget, a grass surface is still considered to be one of the safest surfaces for playing on.
Add to this, some believe that walking barefoot on the grass is a very nice sensory experience – Try it.
THE LAWN
In the past it was a widely accepted fact that the lawn was the foundation and special characteristic of the British garden.
Not so anymore, today in the developed world, everywhere you will find shaven emerald green swards, smooth, tight and springy as a newly laid pile carpet.
Lawns enhance an area
A lawn is the perfect foil for the colourful displays within the borders and beds that make up a garden.
It is said that the grass lawn should account for two thirds of the entire area of a garden for the most pleasing effect.
In our hurried lives today the lawn can create difficulties.
The French like others in the past developed their gardens in such a way that there was no lawn, it was made up of paths and more growing areas.
If we allow it, the lawn will consume more man or woman hours than any other part of the garden.
Many enthusiasts today, will go over every square yard of their lawn, sometimes even marking it out with a garden line sq yard by sq yard in order to create that special lawn effect.
Is it worth it? of course, for some it is but I would certainly not let a lawn take over my life.
But a good looking, well kept lawn is a joy.
The requirements for a really good grass lawn are as follows:
- Good drainage
- Rich top soil to a depth of about 10 inches
- Fairly acid soil
- Not too many trees overhanging creating large areas of shade.
Generally a level surface is better but not essential, unless it is for games.
Often a slight slope or very gentle undulations can be visually attractive but this can sometimes make mowing more difficult.
Some thoughts on how to start or keep a lawn looking nice – Chaucer had some...
…and all with turves new
Freshly turved, whereof the green grass
So small, so thick, so short, so fresh of hew,
That most like to green wool, wot I, it was.
Lawn Weeds
If it’s not realistic for you, owing to time constraints, to think you’re going to have a lawn with absolutely no weeds, then don’t fret as you can minimize the weed issue by taking reasonably easy care of your soil and grass.
For some, they are not looking for perfect, OK, acceptable will do.
That’s fine, nothing wrong with that.
But consider this – When somebody (including you) looks at your house, your lawn probably makes up a large part of the picture.
In fact, if your house isn’t in the shape that you’d like it to be, often a nice, pretty and well maintained lawn can make up for it. This is a bonus if your trying to sell!
A few easy lawn care tips and pointers you really should keep in mind when working on your lawn:-
1. The soil
2. The grass
3. The lawn mowing
When planning for a new lawn or improving an existing lawn you should keep in mind that there’s a lot of new technology on the market, new fertilizers, new chemicals and new lawn tools.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re for your lawn because there’s an equally valid and strong movement toward natural fertilisers and natural soil management.
Considerations for soil:-
There’s different types of soil. One of the key qualities of soil you should consider is how well it aerates.
Aeration refers to how loose the soil is and how easily water flows in and through it.
Clay type soils need less frequent watering because they should retain more moisture, they also dry out slowly.
Which is why it is normally the clay soil structure lawns that tend to gather more moss – unlike a stone.
Not forgetting the sandy soiled structure lawns, these do not hold water very well and dry out quickly, requiring copious amounts of water, especially when hot.
A point worth mentioning here is to remind you that with excess or more frequent watering there exists the issue of fertiliser leaching – more fertiliser being washed away without serving it’s purpose.
A thorough and reliable test for your soil.
You can test your soil for water penetration by gently watering an area for around 15-20 minutes, whilst doing this stick a garden fork into the soil several times within the watered area and wiggle it around a little bit.
Now wait around a further 10 minutes.
Next, take a garden hand trowel or if you do not have one use a garden spade and dig down to a depth of around 5 inches in 3 or 4 places over the watered area.
The entire depth of soil should be wet.
The water should have penetrated 4-6 inches down into the soil.
Next grab a handful of soil from the bottom of the hole and squeeze it in your hand.
By doing this you can learn about your soil, if water oozes between your fingers, then most likely a clay soil, if no water escapes from your hand but the soil feels moist, then most likely, a sandy based soil. You can if you wish carry out this test in different places to be sure.
If the soil in your hand is dripping wet then your lawn soil probably needs to be aerated, once again this can be simply done by forking the lawn area with a gardening fork down to a depth of about 4 inches. But for a more beneficial method, hollow tine aeration is best. Improving my lawn aeration
Fertilizers and your lawn
Using fertilizer is OK but do so sparingly and preferably not at all during hot summer months and in winter when the lawn is dormant.
Top dress in the autumn is best.
Also be cautious of using too much as lawn fertilizer is normally high nitrogen and the last thing you want is to scorch your lawn or have excess run-off into other areas.
Actually grass clippings are a good fertilizer if the clippings are small enough to decompose rapidly and do not leave a ‘mat’ on top of the living grass. This method is best left to the experienced.
Mowing your lawn
When mowing your grass, don’t mow too low.
You should remove only 1/3 of the grass blade at any one time and preferably only mow when the grass is dry.
Grass that is left longer between mowing’s resulting in taller grass will shade the soil and can help prevent water loss and weed seed germination.
Keep your lawn mower blades nicely honed because dull mower blades can tear the grass.
And remember do not set them too low.
Also, alternate your lawn mowing pattern frequently to avoid compacted ruts and bald spots in your lawn.
These are a few easy lawn care tips to keep in mind as you tend your lawn during the year.
Lawn maintenance can be hard work but you’ll know it’s all worth it, when all your friends compliment you on how pretty damn good your lawn is, and tell you it looks like a bowling green.
Especially for the American ‘lawn mowers’ a whole host of PDF links for in-depth lawn care tips and information:-
Lawns: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/category/lawns.html
Turf: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/category/turf.html
Lawn care tips on Lawn Overseeding Lawn Fertilizer Lawn Dethatching Lawn Mowing
