17/01/2023
Dear garden friends. As I sit and write this weeks blog, the weather has once again changed to remind us all that despite some of the milder days we have been having, winter is still very much with us. That said, I personally like nothing more than getting out into the garden on a cold and crisp morning when there is a frost on the ground but the sun is shining and the air just somehow seems to be sweeter and more pure. Lovely!!
I thought that this week we could have a brief conversation about lawns. Through the many conversations that I have it seems that there is a bit of a myth around not doing anything with your grassed areas at this time of the year and that you should be going anywhere near your lawn until at least the spring when everything, including the grass starts to grow again. It is true that there are some jobs which should wait until the spring but here a some maintenance jobs that can be done now thus ensuring you have a beautiful lush lawn all through the warmer months. A small word of caution. If your grass is covered with ice, frost or snow or heavily waterlogged please stay off of it or you are likely to cause more damage than you solve.
Aeration - provided that your lawn isn't too wet, now is a good time to aerate your soil. This can be done by either a garden fork pushed into the ground about 15cm at approximately 5cm intervals and wiggled around or a hollow tined aerator used in the same way. The later will produce little plugs of soil which should be raked off the grass and can be used on your flowerbeds or place on the compost heap. If drainage is a problem with your lawn then immediately following aeration spread either horticultural sand or sharp sand over your lawn working it well into the aeration holes.
Repair hollows or bumps - Now is a great time to get your lawn bowling green flat for the summer. if you have a hollow or dip, with a lawn edger or sharp knife cut a H shape over the affected area. using a spade peel back the turf and fill with a good quality topsoil enriched with a good peat free compost. Roll back and tamp lightly with the back of a garden rake.
For lumps the process is the same but this time remove any excess soil until you achieve your perfectly level lawn.
A final quick mention about worm casts. Worms are quite active at this time of year and are super beneficial for your lawn. Try to get into a routine of regularly sweeping of the casts from your lawn with a soft broom. This will prevent them getting trodden into the grass and causing mud patches everywhere which will result in bare patches of grass on your beautifully maintained lawn.
As always I hope that this post has been useful for you and again, should you have any questions or would like some advice, please let us know.
Until next time, take good care and happy gardening
