Getting a better lawn
A bit of effort and lots of seeds give lush results, says Peter
ONE of the lawn grass seed specialists at a trade exhibition recently stated that an acre of grass produces enough oxygen for 64 people, and Wimbledon’s lawn tennis courts require nine tonnes of lawn seed each year!
There were two messages here for me: first, we need our lawns to clean and enrich the very air we breathe and second, if Wimbledon uses all that seed, then we should be using a little to over-seed our lawns to keep them in good condition, releasing plenty of oxygen.
Most lawns took a real bashing during the summer drought, although those that had been fed early in the summer recovered much more quickly than impoverished turf once summer rain fell. My lawns are now quite springy under foot and they need the thatch (dead grass) removed.
This is more quickly, more thoroughly and more easily done with powerful machines, and I rely on Greenthumb to do this for me, even though there is a lightweight scarifier in the garage. Once all that dead material is removed and the surface opened up somewhat, a scattering of lawn seed at half the rate used to sow a new lawn should now be applied.
Several major brands offer treated lawn seeds to give quicker and stronger germination even later and earlier in the year, when soil temperatures have cooled. It is worth taking time to carefully read the instructions on packets and check out the list of lawn grass cultivars that each pack contains.
Once we would avoid rye grasses because they grew too strongly – now we have fine-leaved ryes, which serve the home gardener well. When you read the contents list, you will see several different genera and they will help to produce a dense, hard-wearing turf.
“One acre of grass produces enough oxygen for 64 people”