One thing that does actually distinguish this
country from other European countries is how we treat our lawns.
British lawns range from the ultra-tidy, striped, impeccably green ones (usually owned by scientists or former greenkeepers), to
the hardly-ever-mown ones with bits of play equipment, dolls, butterflies and tortoises
lost in the tall grasses. These ones are usually owned by members of the Green
Party, ex-hippies or Indian Head massage practitioners. Sometimes if all
three categories overlap you can get a really wild garden that feeds the
Wildebeest escaping from the wildlife park.
Most of us are somewhere in the middle: green but
mossy with occasional bare patches where the BBQ fell over or where the dog
tried to bury something unspeakable. It is soft, the right colour, doesn’t need
too much attention and is robust enough for Dad to re-live his fantasy of
scoring the winning goals.
The worst lawn offenders are engineers. I realise I
am about to lose a customer base by saying this, but I have yet to meet an
engineer who doesn’t think that you have to shave a lawn to death rather than mow
it. They are puzzled when it turns brown in summer and will go out and buy more
Weed & Feed to add yet more chemicals to the disaster.
So let’s get down to the facts: most lawns are a
collection of four or more different sorts of grasses. The best lawns have a
mixture of Meadow grasses and the utility lawns usually have Perennial Ryegrasses
and Timothy grasses. Each different grass species have their own strengths;
some are good in droughts, some hard-wearing and some very frost resistant.
Looking after a lawn is a bit like having your
cousins over for a meal; you have to serve something to keep them all happy and
the best way to keep your grasses happy is:
-keep the grass from 20mm to 30mm long by mowing
regularly
-use a product like Weed & Feed in spring (be
careful to follow the instructions)
-aerate the lawn in spring and/or autumn if the kids
have been jumping up and down on a patch. Do the same but with a garden fork.
-rake in spring and autumn with a spring-tine rake
to take out any “thatch”. This is dead grass and moss that can accumulate on
the surface of the soil and nothing to do with political opinions.
So now I have ruined the Wimbledon viewing in your
house because you will be tut-tutting about the state of the courts in week two, let me
move on swiftly to other tasks for this month.
· Hardy Geraniums and Delphiniums can be cut back after they have flowered to encourage a second flowering.
· Hanging baskets and displays can also be cut back to encourage a second flush but add liquid feed to nurture them.
· Cut back the shoots of shrubs that have flowered such as Weigela and Philadelphus.
· Cut back the current year’s side growths of Wisteria to about 150mm.
· Prune deciduous Magnolias but never more than 25% of the canopy.
· Prepare for the herbaceous and mixed borders getting over-grown by pushing in canes or long Beech twigs that can hold up the plants.
· Trim fast-growing hedges such as Leyland cypress to avoid having to make one big chop that may expose brown stems.
· Stay calm and keep hoeing out the weeds and inebriating the slugs.
And when you have done all of the above you can
safely collapse onto your lawn knowing that the moss will soften your fall,
that your daisies are perfect for making chains and the dandelion heads are
ready for blowing.
Just don’t tell the neighbours.
