THE GREENER, GREEN GRASS OF HOME – AN ECO-FRIENDLY ROUTE TO A LUSH LAWN
If you want your lawn to look great this year, now is the time to plan ahead and take action.
“Sustainable lawn care doesn’t entail constant over-seeding or the regular use of environmentally damaging fertilisers and herbicides,” says David Hedgesgower, lawn consultant and chairman of the Lawn Association.
“It’s not about reacting to problems but preventing them, with strategic, nature-aligned interventions. Nature holds the blueprint for resilient lawns and healthy soils. It’s about understanding and mimicking these natural processes while minimising human intervention.”
Choose the right lawn seed
The key lies in selecting the right plants – native grasses that spread over quick-growing, non-adaptive varieties like ryegrass, David maintains.
“Native plants are better equipped to withstand droughts and require less artificial intervention.” They also outcompete weeds, he says.
Follow a lawn calendar
January-february: Begin by hollow tine aerating to aid soil health. For a small lawn you can use a hollow tine aerating fork (to make holes in the area to relieve compaction and aid drainage) or you may have to hire a machine.
Keep debris off the lawn and don’t walk on the lawn when it’s frosty because you’ll damage it.
Winter is also a good time to carry out repairs, levelling out uneven surface, replacing poor grass patches with new turf and straightening wonky lawn edges.
March-april: Correct winterinduced damage by pruning or scarifying. You may want to control moss, which competes with grass.
Use a spring-tine rake – or a mechanical scarifier for larger areas – to scarify in March, April, September and October, giving your lawn a ‘spring clean’ to encourage new growth before summer.
Then apply a moss treatment but keep it light to avoid scorching, and follow it with a good balanced feed. David recommends sustainable feed such as True Grass, which is made from recycled food waste that nourishes and conditions soil.
Focus on nurturing native grass growth that will soon fill in all those gaps and be ready to mow the lawn with the blades initially at their highest, lowering them as you mow more often.
May: Now may be the last chance to use natural weather patterns before warmer weather can require tap water usage. Scarify, aerate, feed, or seed to reduce water dependence and create optimal soil water storage. Avoid feeds with a high iron content and lawn sands as they can scorch the grass when it’s dry.
Weeds will have sprung up – and it’s up to you if you want to remove them, as some are magnets for pollinating insects.
June-august: Regular organic feeding and mowing should maintain lawn density. Automated mowers are good at creating this, with no carbon footprint or personal effort required. Keep the lawn clear of debris and rotate garden furniture to avoid stressing the grass in particular places. September-october: Address thatch once again and rebalance soil issues caused by droughts or wet summers, through hollow tine aeration. Fill bare spots and patches to fortify the lawn before winter. If you are scarifying to remove moss, apply a balanced autumn feed afterwards.
You can mow less regularly as growth slows down in the autumn. November-december: Prepare for winter by managing fallen leaves, mowing (albeit less regularly than before), and maximising photosynthesis through regular leaf blowing or raking, which saves grass plants from suffocation of light and air.
Nature holds the blueprint for resilient lawns and healthy soils David Hedges-gower