Watch your lawn as carefully as the plants in your borders and assess its type. Think, too, about the type of soil underneath. Examine your own character, and decide whether you want a perfect sward or whether weeds will be tolerated. But even if you go for the latter approach, there is stilt work to do.

- Regular mowing is essential to maintain the quality and density of your grasses. It will keep weeds at bay and encourage tillering (spreading, sideways growth). Don’t let grass grow too long, then shave it off, because this will seriously weaken the lawn. Aim to remove the tips on a weekly basis when in full growth during spring and summer.

- Trim edges regularly, or your lawn will look tatty and start to grow into borders.
- For grass on poor soil, or small, much-trampled lawns, autumn raking, aerating, and topdressing will work wonders to relieve compaction and improve drainage and general condition.

- Feeding in spring and summer encourages dense, good-quality grass with good color. A lawn will tell you it needs feeding by its appearance. There’s no point wasting time and fertilizer on one that’s already thick, green, and lush. However, sparse, yellowing grass on poor soil will obviously be in need of a boost.

Further Readings:

• How to Have a Healthy Lawn Naturally
• How to Level a Garden Ground as a Beginner

Keeping small lawns green by watering is a manageable-prospect. Some gardeners need a good lawn to offset displays of bedding plants when they are entering competitions and they will opt to water their lawns.

If you decide to water, do so in the evening to cut down on evaporation and scorch. Position the sprinkler where it waters lawn and not path and make sure you apply enough water?? otherwise you might as well not bother. A simple way of checking is to set a few jam jars under the water spray and aim to collect a minimum of 1/2 inch of water up to 1 inch – enough to replace a week’s worth of loss during a drought.

If you don’t water, you have to wait until the weather breaks and autumn rains replenish the lawn and encourage regrowth. The autumn lawn care program of scarifying, aerating, and topdressing will help restore its health.

Further Readings:

• How to Aerate Your Lawn
• How to Water Your Garden in the Right Way

Cylinder mowers have a series of moving blades fixed around a cylinder, passing over a fixed bottom blade to create a scissor-like cut. Efficiency is determined by the number of blades on the cylinder and how fast they go round. These mowers give the cleanest cuts and are usually chosen to maintain top-quality lawns. They are not so good on long, coarse or wiry grasses. Years ago, most people with small lawns used to have a hand cylinder mower and I still think these are great. You don’t have to worry about electric cables or fuel, they Lire quiet and won’t annoy the neighbors and you can keep fit while pulling and pushing the machine over your small lawn. For larger lawns, choose gas-driven types.

Rotary mowers are the popular choice these days and are more versatile. Rotary mowers are better able to deal with longer, rougher grass areas, and are a godsend when you’ve let the lawn grow longer than it should. Hover mowers are especially good for wet grass and slopes, but are nor designed for straight-line mowing. For really large grass areas, ride-on mowers are expensive, but will save hours of time.

When to mow

Mowing usually starts in early spring and carries through to mid-autumn, hut he guided by the weather and the rate of growth rather than your calendar. Begin in spring by cutting grass that has grown to 1 1/2 inches back to 1 1/4 inches. As growth accelerates, reduce the height to 1 inch for a durable lawn, and down to 3/4 inch or even 1/2 inch for a fine lawn. When the grass is growing fast, mowing must take place at least once a week. Should mild wintry weather cause excessive growth, don’t hesitate to cut the lawn to 1 1/4 inches as long as the ground is not wet.

How to mow

Start by mowing the perimeter of the lawn, going round it twice. Mow around obstacles such as flower beds as well. Then mow in straight lines, up and down, overlapping slightly, to cut the lawn methodically. Make sure the lines are straight if you are using a mower with rollers to create stripes. It is fun and good for the lawn to change the direction of the cut from rime to time??try cutting in the opposite direction, or diagonally. When cutting larger, informal areas with a ride-on mower, work inward in ever-decreasing circles, mowing around trees and other obstacles as they arise.

Mower maintenance

Mowers need regular cleaning to prevent metal corrosion. Always disconnect the power before cleaning or attending to an electric mower and always remove the spark plug from the engines of gas-driven mowers before cleaning and maintenance. Keep a small kit handy, containing rags, an oil can, and a wire brush for cleaning down after use. Unless you are good with machinery, send the mower for a service once a year. Some companies give discounts if you book your machine in early, rather than leaving it until just before you need it in spring. There is always a spring rush and if you leave the service until the last minute, you might have an agonizing wait while the lawn grows daily out of control.

Further Readings:

• How To Perform A Spring Tune-Up On Your Lawn Mower

Some gardeners who want to get rid of moss and weeds might be tempted to use a product that feeds the grass as well as killing weeds. These do work well, but weedkillers are usually at their most effective when applied after feeding. This is because the weeds have been stimulated to grow faster by the fertilizer, making the effects of the weedkiller more dramatic.

For many lawns, an annual feed in spring will be sufficient, but on poorer soils, a summer feed will help the grass stay healthy. There is no point feeding a lawn that has stopped growing because of prolonged drought??wait until the drought breaks and the grasses show signs of growing. Where lawns have taken a hammering during summer, take advantage of a long, mild, moist autumn to apply an autumn feed and put the lawn back on track before winter sets in. Always use a formula intended for autumn use, which is lower in nitrogen and usually supplies this element in slow-release form.

How to Feed

On small lawns, spreading fertilizer by hand is a feasible method. Read the package thoroughly, measure out the required amount, divide into two lots and apply half over the lawn traveling in one direction, then the other half traveling in the other.

Wheeled distributors are a great help on large lawns, first make sine the equipment is clean and dry, so fertilizer doesn’t clog up the holes. Use the distributor in a similar way to a lawn mower. Deliver one or two strips to either end of the lawn, or around the edge of a curved shape. Then make straight lines up and down, taking care not to overlap applications. You can see most fertilizers clearly??some even have a dye added.

Soluble fertilizers are quick-acting and at least you don’t have-to worry about whether it rains afterward to wash the fertilizer in. The soil should still be moist, rather than dry, when they are applied, but do not apply to waterlogged soils. Tiny lawns can be treated using a watering can with a rose (sprinkler) on the end. For larger lawns, applicators are fixed to the end of a hose; these dilute the concentrated fertilizer into the water as it flows past.

Further Readings:

• How to Have a Natural Garden
• How to Use a Rake Efficiently

Laying sod

The first job is to mark out the shape of the lawn, allowing for the fact that as sods are always laid in straight lines, you need to cover the areas where curves might eventually be cut.

1. Lay the first tine of sods…

2 …then put down the second so that the ends are staggered, rather like laying bricks. This means the ends won’t make long lines which could split apart during a drought. Theoretically, sods should be cut to the same thickness, but sometimes you will need to excavate some soil to make the sod lay flat. Butt the edges up together and then press down, so they are as close as possible. I pat the sods down with my hand to push them into contact with the soil. In theory, one shouldn’t bash sods with the back of a spade, but I have done this lightly with no ill effects. While working, lay the sods in front of you while standing on the soil.

3. The final job is to apply a sandy topdressing over the cracks and brush this in to really seal the edges together. To do this, stand on boards??never on the grass itself?? and brush the dressing in with a besom (birch broom) or the back of a rake. Finally, cut any straights or curves into the sod. Some gardeners mark their curves with a hose, but I prefer to draw mine on with a spade, getting it just right before finally cutting. Mark straight edges with a line, place a long wooden board against the line and cut along the edge.

Seedling sod

Most gardeners lay conventional sod, but you might come across lightweight rolls of sod raised in specialty nurseries. These are much thinner than usual and need careful handling. Lay only when conditions are excellent, because the grasses will be more sensitive to cold and drying out. Some are supplied on a foam base, which disintegrates over time.

Aftercare

Avoid treading on the lawn until after the roots have started to penetrate into the soil and the sod has begun to knit together. The first time you tread on the lawn without boards is when it has begun to grow and needs its first mowing. Water, feed, and control weeds as normal.

To mend a bare patch with sod, you must cut around the patch using straight lines to square the area off. Fork up the soil and add or remove soil as necessary to ensure that new sods sit flush with the surrounding grass, fill in any cracks with a sandy topdressing or sifted soil. Water during droughts.

Further Readings:

• How To Perform A Spring Tune-Up On Your Lawn Mower
• How To Perform A Spring Tune-Up On Your Lawn Mower

Trey Rodgers is a botanist with the Michigan University and has care for grass for most average property owners and the Olympic Games. Trey says that having an amazing yard is essential to a lot of property owners, but full agenda tend to use all essential time for the lawn. He advices that one can prioritize their tasks that regard caring for the lawn by looking for bypass that will give them gorgeous lawns.

Some of the bypass and tips that Rodgers advices are:

- Cut the lawn less frequently and when you do it, cut a quarter only of the total height of the grass. A lot of property owners think that they will cut less often if they ”shave” the grass. On the other hand, “scalping” causes real problems to the grass blades making them more susceptible to pests.

- How about getting some help from the kids? You can give them responsibilities of easy backyard tasks such as clearing away toys prior to mowing the lawn. The kids can equally assist in watering.

- On the same subject, it is advisable that you water your yard more often, preferably in the morning to substract opportunity of evaporation and enhance water absorption. Set the sprinklers right the first time if you are using manually placed garden sprinklers. This way, they will water a big part of the lawn without spilling water on sideways. If you are in a position to leave the sprinkler attached to a water hose, it is better as you will save yourself a few steps but if you cannot, just write their locations to make it helpfull for you the next time.

- If you haven’t yet perfected your feeder spreading techniques, you can fertilize once a year at the on-set of the growing season, using a balanced nitrogen solution. It is less likely to cause any damage to your grass and will go on working for many days.

- Ensure your mower is always in great shape. Have it repaired and turned up; at least once a year or you can do it yourself. This should take you less than a few minutes.

- The final suggestion from the expert, if you are completely busy but want the lawn to be great, you can cut the front lawnfirst, followed by the back yard a few days later.

The Bad – Dandelions

Dandelions may appear to be nice looking flowers, and we all remember giving mom a bouquet of dandelions as a kid, but they are a vile weed. The problem with these seemingly innocent looking flowers is that their roots run deep into the ground and take up a lot of space away from your grass roots, or other flowers’ roots. Not only that but they also consume a lot of nutrients and water in the soil which in turn prevents your grass and flowers from growing properly. Dandelions should be removed from the root and not just cut on the surface or they will grow back. Once you’ve removed the weed be sure to add some fertilizer to repair some of the damage they have caused.

The Good – Clovers

A clover immediately conjures up the idea of a nasty lawn weed and we’ll rip it out along with dandelion without thinking about it. Before you do consider that clovers are beneficial to your lawn. Clovers are known to add nutrients to the soil and therefore help your lawn. Not only that but clovers also help to keep other weeds from sprouting by occupying the space where these weeds would normally grow.

The most important thing to remember about weeds is that they need to be weeded out by the root. It might seem like more work than just spraying herbicide but uprooting them will prevent them from growing back and you will protect your lawn from the harmful side effects of commercial herbicide. Remember to always add fertilizer to the area to promote growth from your grass.