July; very British lawns

July- very British lawns

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.