Top Seven
Tips for Keeping
your Lawn
Looking Good
Air it Out
Compacted ground prevents grass growing well and can lead to bare patches in the summer and mud baths in the winter. Relieve the compaction and aerate the soil by pushing a garden fork about 10cm deep into the soil every 10cm and gently rocking back and forth on the fork handle. The prongs open up the soil, allowing the roots to breathe and encouraging the grass to regrow.
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Edge It
Edging a lawn is the finishing touch to a neat, clipped lawn. Use a pair of long-handled shears to define the edge of your lawn, and stop the grass growing into borders. It instantly neatens your garden, creating a very satisfying finish.
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Feed it
To keep your lawn looking good you need to feed it regularly If you have a large lawn, invest in a wheeled lawn feeder for a fast and accurate job. Apply fertiliser to grass when rain is forecast so that it gets washed down to the roots and to stop it burning the leaf blades – an organic fertiliser will aid long term lawn health, over chemical alternatives.
Fill It
Rather than letting bare patches spoil the look of your lawn, it’s easy to sow grass seed over the raked soil. Alternatively, make fillers from unused turf. When reshaping the lawn, collect up the strips and place them 5cm apart in a compost-filled seed tray, then grow them on the outside or in a cold frame.
Cut It
Cut your lawn at least once a week in summer and once every two weeks during spring, autumn and warm winters. Regular trimming encourages the roots to spread, which will help to fill gaps and block out weeds.
Water It
Always water young lawns but don’t over water as this can cause them to root shallowly and establish poorly.
Weed it
Try to avoid using weedkiller. Chemical weedkillers can be expensive and ultimately don’t tackle poor grass health, which helps weeds to thrive. If you feel you need to use one, try a homemade weed killer instead.
Make some Seed Money
If you are worried that your garden isn’t up to the standards of the Chelsea Flower Show, don’t. Research suggests that simple, easy-to-maintain gardens help sell a home faster than those with exotic blooms and extravagant landscaping.
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Even very modest gardens are a bonus, and if you live in London, the extra value of your home can reach thousands. The real estate agent Foxtons, 62% of their clients, say that a garden is important to them, while 72% say that they would pay more for an outdoor space with a property. In some areas, a garden could mean that buyers would have to pay a premium of up to £ 50,000.
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The figures released by insurance specialists, AXA, confirm the importance of a well-maintained garden but show a more moderate increase in property values. Their research shows that while the average UK household spent £473 a year on their garden, the potential for return was more than four times as high at £1,954.
Could a nice Lawn boost your Property Price?
Earning Potential
These are all the potential increases in the value of a property with improvements, according to Post Office Money:
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Garden landscaping: 77 per cent
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Gym: 44 per cent
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Extension: 37 per cent
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Walk-in wardrobe: 34 per cent
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Jacuzzi/hot tub: 27 per cent
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New kitchen: 26 per cent
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Swimming pool: 22 per cent
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Basement conversion: 17 per cent
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Conservatory: 10 per cent
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Driveway: 9 per cent
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Wet room: 7 per cent
Why A Beautiful
Lawn Should
Not Cost the Earth
Real Vs Fake
Nothing beats a real grass lawn, but artificial turf has grown in popularity over the years as a supposedly low-maintenance alternative.
While fake turf is a lot better than it used to be, can it hold its own in terms of environmental benefits?
On this page, we’ll look at a few of the main differences between real and fake turf and how they might affect the eco-friendliness of your lawn over the years to come.
Plastic Fantastic?
In an era when we are all trying to cut down on our plastic consumption, laying a lawn made of plastic grass is a major obstacle to your efforts to be eco-friendly. Real grass not only avoids using plastic but acts as a store for carbon too.
Green grass consumes carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and releases oxygen into the air – something particularly beneficial in urban areas.
While it is true that grass clippings release that carbon again as they decay, you can let your lawn grow a little longer to avoid this and leave the clippings on your lawn to act as fertiliser for the blades that grow in their place.
Which drains better?
Artificial grass drains up to 50 litres per square metre per minute, and this figure has improved over the years thanks to better-designed backing on synthetic grass ‘turf’.
Natural grass drainage depends on the soil conditions, but it’s important to think about where the water goes.
With artificial turf, the water drains straight through and is quickly dumped into the sewers. Real grass – and real soil – slows this process down, retaining some of the water for longer.
In a downpour, that reduces demand on the local sewers and can buy crucial extra minutes for wastewater to drain away, without the nearby drains and pipes becoming overwhelmed.
And when the sun comes out after a storm, all you’ll smell with artificial grass is wet plastic, whereas with a real lawn you can get the evocative scent of petrichor.
Which lasts longer?
Artificial grass lawns have a limited lifespan, often around 7-10 years. If not laid correctly, they will start to show signs of wear and tear much sooner.
They are not maintenance-free, either. You may need to wash your fake grass to remove moss and algae – this could end up more time-consuming than using feed-and-weed on a real lawn, and may require the use of soapy detergents that drain into the soil.
Good quality turf, on the other hand, will last for years once it puts down strong roots. Even after a heatwave, natural grass will grow back once watered.
