Lawn Care Tips

Below are a some simple lawn care tips to keep your lawn looking its best

Trimming edges keeps the lawn looking neat and prevents it from spreading into borders. Use a long-handled edging shears or a rotary trimmer, after mowing, to trim any lawn that overhangs the edges

Neaten lawn edges each spring using a half-moon edging tool. To cut straight edges, cut against a plank of wood and for curves, trim along your lawn with an old hosepipe on the ground leaving an edge of about 7cm deep.

Repair lawn edges that have been damaged. Use a spade to slice through the lawn, cutting out a small rectangular piece from around the damaged area. Now lift the piece of lawn from the ground with the spade and turn it around, so the damaged part now faces the lawn. Press down firmly and fill the damaged grass area with compost. Sow grass seed over the compost and water.

Feeding your lawn with a fertilizer will make it greener and thicker, which helps it resist weeds and moss. There are a number of different types depending on the time of the year you are feeding, and there are also feed and weed products, which will kill moss, while providing nourishing the grass.

Filling hollows where the lawn has sunken, simply repair by making an H-shaped spade cut across it with a half-moon edging tool and then peel back the two flaps of turf over the hollow. Add some topsoil, level and firm down the flaps. Fill in the gaps left by the cuts with more topsoil.
Removing weeds

A few small weeds in the lawn is OK, but if small patches or single weeds need to be removed, pull up by hand with the help of a daisy grubber tool or similar device. This helps to get the deeper roots of perennial weeds out. Alternatively spot-treat with a dab-on weed killer that can be bought in tubes. If there are large amounts of weeds such as creeping buttercup. Use a selective weed killer on lawns with large colonies of weeds.

Mow your grass little and often. Regular cutting keeps the lawn thick, tidy and deters weeds. For most lawns, at the start of the year set the mower blades to 3cm (1.25in) and cut the lawn about once a week. When the grass grows faster during the spring and summer, lower the blades to 2cm (1in) and you may need to cut up to twice a week.

During long dry spells, take care of your lawn by mowing less frequently, let grass grow longer and don’t use summer feeds that will make lots of new growth. If you are in a drought area your lawn may turn brown in summer, but learn to live with this rather than using a sprinkler and it will soon recover when it rains in autumn.

To stop worn areas appearing in the lawn put in stepping-stones. Dig out paving-slab slices of turf and set these just beneath the surface of the lawn so the lawn mower can pass over them easily.

Follow these simple lawn care tips for a perfect lawn which will be the envy of your neighbours