Guide to the Perfect Lawn

No matter how little or how much time you spend in the garden, most people strive for that beautiful lush, green lawn.  It's not that difficult to achieve either - Following these easy year round guilde will help improve your lawn and make you the envy of your neighbours!

It's Not All About Mowing

When most people think about lawn maintenance, the first thing that comes to mind is mowing.  Of course, mowing the lawn is a regular garden job, but mowing just keeps the grass short and the dandelions at bay.

Aerate your Lawn

Aerating the lawn twice a year, ideally in March and October with a spike aerator will get air to the roots and allow water and nutrients to get deeper into the soil.  The stronger the roots, the stronger the lawn.

The ground gets compacted over time which will impact on drainage, so once every couple of years (unless you have a big drainage problem) use a hollow tine aerator instead of the spike aerator.  The hollow tine aerator removes plugs of soil from the lawn which makes more space.  You can then sweep silver sand into these holes using an old broom which will give the roots more space to breathe and the water more chance to drain through.

Read more about Aerating Your Lawn here.

Scarify Your Lawn

If you look closely at you grass, you'll probably notice old brown grass right next to the soil.  This is thatch.  Thatch consists of old, dead grass and small clippings that weren't collected when you were mowing.  It's a good idea to rake this out using a scarifier or lawn rake.  This will give your grass more space to grow and this is what will give your lawn that thick green look.

Scarifying should be done twice a year.  Once in March/April and again after the Summer in September/October.

Feed Your Lawn

Lawn food should be applied from April through to September.  Personally, I'm a big fan of EverGreen Complete as it lasts for weeks and slowly releases its nutrients evenly over time.  Unlike most granular feeds which give you a burst of green after application, the graduel release means you don't need to run out with a mower a few days after it's been applied.

One of the added side effects of using EverGreen Complete is that it will also kill moss and any broad leaved weeds in your lawn.  Any dead moss will turn black in a few days and is very easy to rake out.

It's safe to use EverGreen Complete if you have children and pets, but you shouldn't let them on the lawn until after the first rainfall (or you could give the grass a quick water after you've applied the feed) as the weedkiller needs to be washed in.  Once the lawn is dry, it's perfectly fine for pets and kids to play.

Quick Results

For those needing a quick fix use a soluble or liquid feed.  This will get absorbed by the roots straight away giving visible results in a couple of days rather than a week.  I'd recommend a feed like Miracle-Gro Lawn Food or Miracle-Gro Lush Lawn both of which can be used with a hosepipe which makes it much easier! Miracle-Gro Lawn Food can be applied with the Miracle-Gro Feeder while Miracle-Gro Lush Lawn can be applied with a LiquaFeed Gun - don't get this the wrong way round :)

Yes liquid and soluble lawn foods give quick results, but they don't last so need re-applying every couple of weeks.  Miracle-Gro Lawn Food and Lush Lawn don't kill weeds or moss, so if you have a problem with either of these you'll need a separate lawn weedkiller or moss killer.

Feed in Autumn

It's a very good idea to give your lawn a last feed in the Autumn but NOT with the same food you've been feeding with during the growing season.  Using an Autumn Lawn Food in September or October will strengthen the grass over the cold winter ahead but as Autumn Feeds don't contain much Nitrogen then won't make the grass grow sappy and weak.

Kill Weeds in your Lawn

Some people are lucky and don't suffer from weeds.  If you do, don't panic, they're very simple to get under control.  If you haven't fed your lawn with a Feed and Weedkiller mix, then there are selective weed killers available which just kill broad leaved weeds so won't kill the grass.  One of the most popular of these is Verdone Extra which is cost effective when you buy the concentrate and use it in a pressure sprayer alternatively if you don't have many weeds, then a ready to use spray is available.

Kill Moss

Again, if you haven't fed your lawn using a feed, weed and mosskiller but you still need to kill the moss.  A product like EverGreen Mosskil Soluble or more traditionally Lawn Sand will do the job.  Apply then wait a few days until the moss turns black.  It's then much easier to rake the moss out of the lawn using a lawn rake.

Take some care - Mosskillers nearly all contain ferrous sulphate (which is iron based) so take care not to get it on your patio as iron can leave a rust like stain which is difficult to get off.

Mowing

Okay, so we were going to get around to mowing eventually right?  There's a variety of different Lawn Mowers to choose from.  Cylinder mowers give the cleanest cut, hover mowers are convenient and mowers will a roller on the back will give you that traditional stripe.  None of them will make your lawn greener, but they all keep it looking crisp and sharp.

It's important when mowing not to leave grass cuttings on the lawn though, so either use a mower with a collection back or rake the clippings up afterwards.  Although they take a long time to rot down, grass cuttings do make excellent compost.

When to Mow the Lawn

As a rule of thumb, and for the best results, mow your lawn every 2 weeks in March and April, then every week until the end of August.  September and October need fourtnightly cuts too.  In November thanks to the variable British weather, your lawn might want one last cut if the weather is still mild.

The Legal Bit

• EverGreen Complete contains MCPA mecoprop-P and ferrous sulphate
• EverGreen Autumn contains ferrous sulphate
• Verdone Extra contains fluxroxypyr clopyralid and MCPA
• EverGreen Mosskil Soluble contains ferrous sulphate
• Lawn Sand contains ferrous sulphate

Always read the label, Use pesticides and herbicides safely.