The Beginner’s Guide to Caring for a New Lawn
Lawns are a quintessential part of the British garden…probably because in the UK grass grows so well. Most gardens will therefore tend to have an area of lawn - large and rolling or even just a tiny square. Although having grass is a maintenance overhead, it is one many people are happy to include in their garden (and some will resolve the labour issue with a robotic mower).
In an ideal world maintaining grass should really just be about mowing (with occasional scarification and aeration where necessary in the autumn). Fertilising for a perfect green space though seems counter-intuitive and is certainly not part of the the regime in a biodiverse garden. We are slowly moving towards seeing our grass as a green zone where perfection is judged instead by the plants cohabiting within the turf - creating a natural mosaic of interest and wildlife (the flowery ,mead of medieval poetry).
It is worth noting that turf grass will grow moss due to shady or wet conditions (and therefore simply replacing it to remove moss it is not a sensible action). I like moss though - it is green, looks good from a distance, doesn't need mowing, and is soft to walk on!
Anyway this is guide is about new lawns, and new lawns are created either through turfing or seeding. Once installed however they both need slightly different aftercare to look their best.
GARDEN TURF
Starting with turfing;
this is the quickest way to create a lawn and is often the best approach in a newly designed garden.
A contractor will lay the turf and when done properly the edges and sides will all be butted up against each other with no gaps. Your first role when it comes to maintaining it is to keep it watered. This involves using a sprinkler to keep it damp (unless laid just before a particularly rainy period…but only a little rain will still mean you need to add extra water for the turf to establish). What you are trying to do here is keep it damp enough for the grass plants to grow their roots down beyond the turf and into the soil below. This secures the turves in place and also ensures that they can survive without a need to continuously water them - as deep roots find more water.
A common problem that is encountered with new turf is where not enough water is used. This obviously happens when the turves dry out in hot weather but they dry out even quicker in windy weather. The first sign of this is that the turves shrink and gaps start to appear between each laid roll.
If caught immediately this is resolved by soaking the turves and then pushing the back into place with the back of a rake, stretching them so the sides are touching each other again (like kneading out bread dough). You then just need to water a little more going forwards.
If this does not resolve the problem, as the turves begin to tear, then there is extra work that will be needed in filling the gaps with topsoil and grass seed to solve the issue…so it’s much easier to keep it watered properly from the beginning!
LAWNS FROM SEED
Seeding is the alternative to turfing.
This involves creating a suitable tilth and sowing seed evenly across the surface. For the keen gardener (without children or pets) this is a great method to adopt, allowing you to watch the seeds germinate and grow, but you do need to keep the birds from gobbling up the seeds before they grow! It is also best to sow seed at the right time of year in April and May, or September and October, to try to get the seeds to germinate as quickly and efficiently as possible. Gentle watering will still be required but not as much as with turf.
The issue that may occur with seeding though is patchy germination with gaps forming, that are then colonised by weeds. You need to be aware of that, and then to over-seed when needed to fill in those gaps, and also be prepared to weed if necessary to allow the lawn to establish itself (although once you start to mow the mower will remove the weeds as long as you have a reasonable coverage of grass to begin with).
WHEN TO MOW
Until you are mowing regularly you need to keep off of the lawn to allow it to develop.
You mow for the first time when the grass starts to thicken up. To assess this you want to give the lawn its first cut when the grass gets to around 8cm (3”) and to mow when the grass is completely dry. However you also need to set the blades on the mower to their highest setting so you only mow the tips of each grass blade only - encouraging it to re-grow…and you need to keep the blades high for the first few cuts whilst the sward fills out.
Keep mowing like this 2 or 3 more times and then you can lower the blades (never to less that 3cm though) and start to use the lawn. Remember though that weeds will be mown out and if you decide to remove any lawn weeds (like daisies) don’t start pulling them up for at least 6 months (otherwise you’ll affect the grass as well).
AND WHEN NOT TO MOW…
No Mow May is a movement that has gained traction in recent years - where grass is left unmown in May for plants and wildlife to make the most of the habitat. Although you can’t join in during year one of a new lawn - if you want a good thick sward to develop - after the first year this is fantastic for both reducing the amount of mowing you do and in helping the wildlife with which you share your garden. If an unmown lawn is too much for your desire for neatness then perhaps just mow the fist few metres of the lawn from your house and leave grass further away than that to grow longer? Perhaps like most adherents it will become no mow June as well!