As we hurtle towards the end of winter, spring is well and truly on the horizon – and, with warmer weather just around the corner, it’s time to start giving your garden some TLC.
A luxury home is as much about a beautifully maintained outdoor space as it is a show-stopping inside, and your front garden is often the first thing that visitors will see when approaching your house. As they say, first impressions count – so making sure it remains immaculate, year-round, should be one of your weekly priorities.
In spring and summer, we spend more time enjoying the outdoors than ever, and creating a beautiful back yard area that you love to be in is worth the effort it takes to get it looking picture perfect. The key to perfection? A carefully tended to lawn.
Achieving a luscious green lawn can be tricky, but with a few simple tricks and some regular upkeep, yours will be the envy of your neighbours in no time. Here’s how to look after your lawn throughout the seasons – so that you can reap the benefits during the warmer months.
Spring
After a long, cold winter, your lawn is unlikely to be in prime condition, so once the weather is mild and dry, take some time to inspect it and see what you’ll need to deal with. Look out for any weeds in the grass, and if it feels spongy underfoot, you likely have a moss problem. Both will need to be treated, so for ease, stock up on the products you’ll need online now. GardenDIY and Lawn Mower Hut both test out and review a great range of lawnmowers and gardening gear that will make the task all the easier.
April is the perfect month to begin your lawn feeding programme, but first, apply your moss and weed treatments, and allow them to do their work. At this point, you might find that the grass is looking a little patchy, which is far from the desired result – but it’s important to take things one step at a time, and this can be fixed by sowing new grass seed in the areas that need it. Be sure to wait out the required time frame after applying any treatments first – if you don’t, then your new shoots are unlikely to grow.
To prepare your lawn for seeding, rake and spike it to hep aerate the soil and relieve compaction. Once the new grass has begun to sprout, you may find that some additional weeds pop up. This is due to the germination of dormant weed seeds lying beneath the surface of the soil – but don’t panic, as these can be dealt with later.
Once the seeds have been sown, keep the area moist with regular watering to facilitate germination. Allow the new grass to grow to around 2cm in height before mowing, then keep up a regular, weekly schedule from here on out. Make sure your mower blades are sharp so that they cut cleanly without causing any damage to the grass.
To get those all-important defined edges to your lawn, you’ll need a half-moon edging tool. To get a straight edge, use a plank of wood as your guide when cutting. Trim any grass that has grown over onto your pathways and use a sharp knife to cut the turf so that you can pull excess pieces away.
You may find you have rather a lot of kit to deal with when it comes to tending to your lawn – so investing in a good shed for the garden will ensure you have the storage space you need close by.
Summer
Continue to mow your lawn weekly throughout the summer months at a cut height of 2.5cm – or 1.2cm if your lawn is purely ornamental and doesn’t encounter any footfall. If particularly hot weather is forecast, then allow your grass to grow a little longer, as this will help prevent it from getting scorched and damaging your lawn – undoing all of your hard work over the past few months.
At this time of year, it’s wise to water your lawn weekly – particularly when the weather is good. Turn the sprinklers on, either at dawn or dusk, and leave for an hour or so to allow the water to penetrate the soil.
If weeds and moss are still a problem at this point, now is the time to apply a second dose of treatment. You can follow this up with a good fertiliser again to encourage regrowth where patches are visible – much like you will have done back in spring.
Autumn
Autumn is a time for preparing your lawn for the winter months, when it will get little to no upkeep. Start preparing the ground for turfing by digging and levelling to remove any lumps and bumps, and apply weed killing treatment as required.
Use a garden fork to spike and rake the lawn and loosen the soil, then sow your grass seeds (MOOWY has a great selection to pick from). Thoroughly soak the soil before applying your turf.
Leave to settle, then feed with an autumn lawn care product to prepare it for the harsher winter weather on its way. Rake regularly to remove any fallen leaves.
Winter
After all that hard work, it’s time to take a step back and leave your beautiful lawn alone for a few months. Avoid walking or stepping on it in cold or frosty weather, and pause your mowing schedule until spring. Then, it will be time to start the whole cycle again – but it’s all going to be worth it for that perfectly manicured lawn.
