LOVE YOUR LAWN
Dust off your lawnmower and arm yourself with seed, feed and top dressing. Lawn expert David Hedges-Gower gives Hannah Stephenson tips on how to spruce up your lawn in spring
Do we, don’t we? Just when you think it’s time to get the mower out in the fine spring weather, the heavens open and everything has to be put back inside again.
Spring can be unpredictable – frosty or mild – but if the weather starts to improve, soil temperatures rise and the grass soon grows. If it’s a poor spring, hardly anything seems to happen at all, so be prepared to implement your lawn care plans any time soon – but be flexible.
David Hedges- Gower, a regular on BBC radio, RHS lecturer and National Trust advisor, author of Modern Lawn Care, explains that all the mistakes we make with our lawns come from one problem.
“We view the lawn as just an outdoor living carpet; we forget that it is made up of plants with the same needs as the flowers, shrubs, vegetables and trees in the rest of the garden.
“So, with a housekeeping mindset, we cut it mercilessly as soon as it begins to grow in the spring to get that smooth green carpet effect; and we only think about what we can see, that green surface. We forget about the thatch layer and the soil underneath and the nourishment the grass needs for strong, healthy growth.”
If you treat your lawn the same as you do a cherished shrub, you’ll make a huge difference, he advises, and it takes less time than you spend putting right all the problems caused by neglect.
“Just like that shrub, your lawn needs to be pruned – that’s scarification, removing a good portion of the dead matter that forms the thatch layer. This lets light and air embrace the grass plants.”
You’ll need to look after your soil, aerating it to let the oxygen through, letting it breathe and helping vital microbes and good bacteria to thrive. The lawn will also need feeding four times a year, with food suited to each season.
David offers the following tips to tackle the core lawn jobs you can start doing in March, as soon as the weather is dry enough.