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Grass is an essential part of your garden’s appeal and creating a lawn that is not patchy or withering involves a little effort and care. When deciding what type of grass you would like to grow, you need to decide what your lawn will be used for. If you have children or pets, it’s best to go for a coarse, sturdy grass that is resistant to wear. Also if the area you’d like to grow your lawn is shaded you need to choose the right type of seed or turf suited for those areas. There are various types of grass mixtures you can buy at any nursery. Red on, and then speak to someone at your nursery about what is best for your region and for the effect you are aiming to achieve.

Seed or turf

Lawn can be both seed sown or laid down in turves. The latter is a little more expensive but can provide a quick growing and attractive lawn in within 2-3 weeks. The most important thing before sowing your seed or laying turf is to prepare your soil well. The soil should be dug up and tossed and all plant debris or weeds should be removed. This process should be repeated after about a week to ensure that weeds don’t get in the way of the grass growing process. Also, any stones larger than 25mm should be removed.

Once you have tossed the top soil, it is important to ensure that the sub-soil is well drained. You can do this by digging 25 cm trenches here and there and filling them with small stones. You need to make sure your soil is gritty and contains a lot of organic matter. If it doesn’t, it is important to layer your sub-soil with manure or compost. Then cover again with top soil. Garden shredders are great for making compost.

Laying your lawn

Now you can begin sowing your seed or laying your turf. Before you begin sowing, you should rake the planting area and then flatten it again using your feet. You can now start sprinkling your seed evenly over the soil. Once you have sown, rake again. Let about half of the seeds be covered with soil.

If you are laying turves, lay down each square piece alongside the next one. Let the fringes overlap about 1cm. You don’t want to have any gaps between your turves as this can cause a problem once they take root. Once you have laid them, you can use a plank to flatten them.

Caring for your grass

All you need do now is water your grass regularly, soaking it rather than giving it a little drizzle here and there. Within two weeks your seed should start sprouting and your turves should have started taking root. Try and pull up one of the edges just to see if it has become stuck to the soil. Keep tending your grass and soon enough you will have a rolling meadow of a lawn for your enjoyment.

Tags: garden care