A beautiful lawn

A beautiful lawn is not a mere coincidence. A few simple steps all year round will keep it looking healthy.

A beautiful lawn
A beautiful lawn

In the spring
This is the period when then the grass cover demands a lot of care. You can also dispense some of these cares in autumn if you did not have the time to do it earlier in the summer months.

Reseed in places where the grass has become sparser during winter. The all- in- one options are really practical. All you need to do is to rake up the spots after mowing the lawn; water thoroughly, spread the granules about, then eventually use a lawn-roll over it or press with a plank.

Wait until May to give it a lawn, azote rich fertilizer. Before, the grass is rarely yellow. Water the lawn beforehand, whether the fertilizer used is diluted in water or in a granules form. Well nourished, the grass is denser and stands in the way of weeds. You can also spread some new compost or sieved compost, broadcasting it on your lawn. This action is called ‘terreautage’ and brings in nutriments to the lawn. It also prevents the development of moss which is very useful, especially in the shady areas given by large trees.

A beautiful lawn
Moss gains ground in the shade.

Gardeners who are enamoured with beautiful lawns will pass a lawn -scarificator-aerator, a kind of rake, either manual or electric with sharp blades which extract moss and dry stalks. This action allows the lawn to better absorb air, water and nutriments afterwards. Depending on the quantity of grass left, you can either water and spread compost for the lawn to get denser, or reseed lightly above. If you do not want to use a weed killer, pull out the weeds such as thistle, creeping buttercup and dandelions but leave clovers and daisies alone.

Mow the lawn once every fortnight setting the cutting height at 5 to 7cm. Not cutting the grass too short allows protecting the lawn from drying. The secret of a beautiful lawn? A lawn-mower’s blade nicely clean and sharp (take it back to the shop where you bought it once a year).

In summer
It is normal for a lawn which has not been watered to become yellow. It is not dead: It is just that the grasses which make it up naturally go into a summery rest. They will become green again after the first rain… So it is not useful to want to water the lawn at any cost, all the more so as some restrictions do forbid it in some areas in summer. However, if you do want to keep a small green area, near the terrace or by the swimming pool for example, water thoroughly once a week, preferably in the morning or in the evening. If you have sandy soil (meaning your soil is light and dusty), it is best to water a little bit every evening, but anyway it will be difficult to keep your grass green in that case.

When the weather is really hot, do not give the lawn a fertilizer: it would only burn it.

A beautiful lawn

In autumn
Do the same actions than in the spring, minus the fertilizer, to give back some tonus to your green carpet. Pass a lawn roller over it, clean it up removing what blocks it. In particular, remove the dead leaves. Do these actions as often as possible, to avoid that the grass being deprived of light become yellow under the leaves. Brush the lawn with a large, plastic, flat-teethed, fan-shaped rake or mow the lawn which will at the same time, collect and shred the leaves. A mix of grass and dead leaves rots very quickly: It will give you good compost the following spring.

A beautiful lawn
The lawn roller gives a denser lawn.

Redesign the lawn borders on paths or flowering beds. For this use a garden fork or a small tool of which the blade is used to cut the grass called a ‘ dresse-bordure’ You don’t have to intervene before spring and your plantations on the edge of the lawn will look much better during winter!

To finish, go over with the lawn roller which forces the grass blades to lie down on the ground and to take roots, giving you a denser, shorter cover. The ideal is to do this after it rained, when the ground is supple. Cross the passages for an optimal effect.

In winter
Do all the jobs that you have not been able to do in the autumn, and the spring ones, in order not to fall behind, when the weather is humid and no frost is forecasted for several days. If the grass is growing and the winter is mild, you can of course mow the lawn. But do not give any fertilizer or treatment to your lawn.

All the same, during winter, the most important is not to ill-treat your lawn! Avoid stamping on it when it is covered with frost or snow, as the frosted grass blades will not recover! If you need to frequently walk on the lawn because of some work, protect the passageway with a plank placed over it. This will avoid many problems later on!

M. Jean-Michel GROULT
 
Pépinières PLANFOR
1950 Route de Cère
40090 UCHACQ - FRANCE
Tel : (020).7660.0178