Amateur Gardening 31-Mar-2018

1 General-purpose: This is what most gardeners want – a hardwearing sward that will withstand heavy footfall, pets and children. The seed will be a fast-growing, resilient blend of perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, red fescues and browntop. It will require regular mowing. 2 Luxury or fine lawn: Look no further if you are after a lawn of striped bowling-green perfection. The seeds will include Chewings fescue, strong and slender creeping red fescue and browntop. It won’t withstand the rough-and-tumble of family life, but it will look wonderful. 3 Shady areas: Hard fescue, strong and slender creeping red fescue and browntop are fine-leaved varieties that aren’t particularly robust, but will grow well in areas of relatively low light, such as under trees and against hedges and fences.…

NOW spring is here and the soil is drying out and warming up, it’s the ideal time to give your lawn some care as it starts back into growth. This week’s AG is a Lawn Care Special and I’m looking at different ways to create a lawn, and learning about the science behind grass-seed development. Anne Swithinbank’s troubleshooting masterclass (pages 36-37) is all about solving problems, and how to keep your lawn in tip-top condition and free of weeds and pests. Our experts also answer a query from a reader on page 39, who is concerned that her patch-seeded area of lawn looks far smarter than the rest – and what can she do? Spring is a good time to create a new lawn, either from turf or seed, and on these pages…

1 If you need to replace an old, worn or weedy lawn, remove the turf as deep as the existing roots. 2 Using a fork (or rotovator for larger areas), break up the soil below and remove any stones, debris and weeds. 3 Enrich the soil with well-rotted compost or manure. Fresh manure will cause lumps and hollows. 4 Tread over the sowing area, breaking clods and compressing the soil so seeds will sit evenly on it. 5 Mark out your sowing area into square metres, weigh out your seeds and sow them evenly. 6 Rake soil over the seeds, water with a fine spray if the weather is set dry, and protect from pests.…

THERE is much more to sowing a lawn than scattering grass seeds. Grass breeders DLF spend millions of pounds each year on research and development to get the best possible products to consumers and the brands they supply, such as EverGreen, Johnson Lawn Seed and Westland. DLF lawn-seed spokesman Guy Jenkins said: “From the day we start on a product it will probably take 14 years, give or take a couple, until the product is on the shelf.” Brands such as EverGreen and Johnson use breeders to research and develop new strains of grass from across Europe and beyond. They collect seeds from the wild in areas where they are subjected to constant pressures (high footfall, shade, extremely saline conditions) and then impose particular stresses on different genotypes of each variety to…

THIS is your last chance to lay turves until next autumn. There is no law against laying turf during the late spring and summer, but drier conditions mean more watering and greater effort to keep your lawn looking good. When you buy your turf, check that the rolls are healthy and lush green. Lay them as soon as possible once you get them home, and if laying is delayed, make sure they are kept flat and well watered to prevent yellowing. Begin laying in one corner of the garden and work across so you are always facing bare soil. Always work off a plank to avoid compressing the soil. Lay the turves with staggered joins so they resemble the pattern of a brick wall. Make sure they are closely butted together to avoid…

1 Working off a plank or board, lay the turves on prepared soil that has been weeded, enriched and flattened. 2 Lay turves so they abut closely, without gaps. Cut them with a sharp, clean knife. The overall effect should be like a wall of staggered bricks. 3 When a turf is laid, tamp it down with the back of a rake to make sure it is level and the underlying roots are touching the soil. 4 Brush a mix of sand and soil into the joins to encourage the turves to knit together. Water well in dry conditions.…