Back on home turf

If your lawn could do with some love, now is the time to repair and rejuvenate. Mary Lovell-Smith explains how you can help your patch of green thrive.

LAWNS

• • • Sow lawns or repair gaps in old ones. New lawns need to have all weeds removed then the soil worked to a wne tilth, and perhaps a layer of wne top soil spread over the top. Likewise, top soil can be scattered over patches for repair. Dampen areas, then having chosen a seed variety according to your needs and ambitions, scatter evenly. This is best achieved by sowing while walking up and down then across from side to side. Water regularly until the grass is well established.

Or for those big on instant gratiwcation, turf provides an instant lawn, though similar preparation to the above is needed for successful turf laying.

Lawns may also need scarifying, that is vigorous raking to minimise thatching. This build-up of old grass, dead moss and so on may prevent water and fertiliser penetration. While special scarifying • •

ORNAMENTALS

• • tools and machines are available, a rake will do the trick. Just be careful not to rake too deeply. It is also a good time to aerate lawns to allow air and water to the grass roots. An ordinary garden fork will do the trick, stabbing it in to make holes about 15cm apart and about 10cm deep – about every three to four years.

Top-dress now with a 2:2:1 mix of garden soil, sand and well-rotted compost. When composting tougher, thicker leaves, such as eucalyptus or karaka, a run over with a motor mower or a turn through a mulcher will kickstart the decomposition process.

Ensure new shurbs and trees are kept well-watered until planted. Plunging them in a bucket of water and leaving until the air bubbles stop rising to the top is a good way to ensure water saturation.

EDIBLES

• • • • • Plant cabbages and cauliyowers in soil that has been enriched with compost or well-rotted manure.

Sow lettuce and cabbage seeds under cover for planting out in early spring.

Sow broadbeans and peas (preferably ones with long maturity dates – check the packets). Remove all fallen fruit from around the bottom of fruit trees, rather than let them sit and rot over winter harbouring pests and diseases. Root-pruning young fruit trees now – while the soil is still warm enough to encourage root growth – should lift production of fruiting spurs, and thus more fruit next season. To do this, gently lift them out of the ground, cut back tap roots close to the stem and shorten other roots. Then replant wrmly.

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