How to make your lawn look and feel its best
“Happiness is walking in the grass in your bare feet” – Snoopy.
There’s nothing quite like walking across your lawn with bare feet on a summer’s day, or the rush of nostalgia when you smell your first mowed lawn of spring. Isola Garden Design shares their top tips to keep your blades healthy and green.
Mow-how
We know how tempting it can be to cut the lawn short to reduce the number of cuts, but it’s counter-productive. Let your grass grow longer to encourage root growth, aiming to cut just a third of the height – more than this can stunt growth rates.
Keep blades sharp
If your mower has blunt blades, it will be ineffective, shredding the grass unevenly so you’ll get an untidy cut and greater potential for disease. Many manufacturers recommend sharpening after around 10 hours of use.
Fed and hydrated
To keep your grass green and strong we recommend a regular feed to keep it nourished. Consult an expert to ensure you get the right fertiliser for your grass and soil.
Watering your lawn is essential to keep it healthy and green. How much you water depends on the time of year and weather conditions. It’s a fine balance keeping it well hydrated and not under or over watering it. Early morning is the best time of the day to water during the summer months.
Stave off weeds, thatch and moss
Weeds, thatch and moss can be a gardener’s biggest bugbear, especially in shady parts of the garden, so it’s worth considering regular lawn treatment to stave them off. Weeds and moss can absorb much-needed moisture and nutrients, while thatch (a layer of organic matter on top of the soil) creates a blockage, stopping moisture and nutrients accessing the soil and reaching the roots.
If pulling weeds out from the roots is too big a task by hand or tool, you can find good spray treatments with low toxicity herbicide. Thatch is identified by its spongy feel and causes dead patches on the lawn; it is removed by scarification (the process of raking and removing mulch). Moss will spread if not treated by sprays and scarification, it thrives in areas of shade, poor drainage, clay soil, thatch and drought.
Increase drainage
Waterlogged lawns can lead to all sorts of complications and damage. Improve the flow of water and air by aerating the soil with a fork or specific tool to decrease surface build up. Alternatively, redirect the water away from your lawn with gutters and drains, plants that absorb water or alter the shape/gradient of your garden. We often have to factor this into our design projects.
For more lawn tips by season, read our Spring Opening, Summer and Autumn Shutdown tips, or if you’ve recently laid new lawn, read our tips on how to care for your new lawn.
If you’re contemplating a new lawn it might be worth considering a complete redesign of your outdoor space, please get in touch to discuss your ideas. We love hearing your grand plans!