Lawn at Brasenose College, Oxford University.

If you fancy impressing the neighbours or you fancy holding a croquet tournament on your lawn why not try to grow the perfect lawn? If the idea of a perfect lawn doesn’t appeal no harm, you can always go for a wildlife lawn complete with daises e.t.c However, there are several steps we can take to enjoy a better lawn

10 Steps to a Perfect Lawn

1. Preparation. Prepare the area by providing a good well drained soil, free of large rocks and flattened with a rake. In preparing the lawn, take time to remove any perennial weeds. You can grow from seed, but for more immediate results, buy turf from a specialist supplier. At least then you can get off to a good start. If your lawn is really bad, it may be worth starting from scratch

2. Regular Mowing. Regular mowing at the right height is one of the most important tasks to maintain the lawn in good health and beat off any weeds which may creep into the lawn. The height of mowing will vary. But, generally the rule is to start higher and reduce the cutting height in the middle of the summer, when the lawn is growing fastest.

Another lawn at Brasenose College.

3. Remove Clippings and place on compost heap

4. Feed with Nitrogen Rich Feed in Spring / Early Summer. With constant cutting of the lawn it is important to replace nutrients for growth to maintain a strong grass. In autumn, it is important to feed a more balanced feed targetted not at leaf growth (nitrogen) but at building up a strong root structure.

Balliol College, Oxford
5. Raking. For grass raking I prefer one with metal rakes. This helps remove thatch, moss and dead leaves. It also helps to lightly aerate the soil. Raking is important in spring and autumn, especially for removing fallen leaves. It is also helpful to rake before mowing as raking often brings weeds to the surface so are more affected by cut.

6. Tackle weeds as soon as they appear. You can try spot killing individual weeds with a knife or apply weedkiller directly to the leaves.

7. Aerate the Lawn. On a small scale this can be done with a fork, there are also rotators for larger lawns which do the job more efficiently.

8. Brushing off any worm casts.

9. Top Dressing in Autumn. Top dressing is a way to add loan to a lawn and fill in any hollows. On a heavy soil, the top dressing would have a high weighting of sand to loam and peat. For a sandy soil, the top dressing would be higher in loam and peat. It is applied with a sprinkler and then worked into the lawn with a flat backed rake. or similar tool. It helps build up the lawn and makes it flatter.

10. Avoid Heavy Trampling. You don’t need to have ‘keep off signs like these Oxford Colleges, but, be wary of furniture which sits on grass for a long time.

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Daises in the Lawn