A lawn is an area where the grass is grown as a green carpet for a landscape and is the basic feature of any garden. It serves to enhance the beauty of the garden, be it larger or smaller. Proper lawn maintenance plays a crucial part in any landscape design. A beautiful well-maintained lawn can make the entire landscape look good, whereas a lawn that is not maintained can completely ruin its beauty. The lawn not only harmonizes with the decor of the drawing room but also sets off a suitable background for a specimen tree or a shrub, as well as for colourful beds and borders. The position of the lawn largely depends upon the layout of the garden in relation to the house. In general, the lawn should be wide open with access to direct sunshine, especially in front of a rockery and a water pool.
Regularly mowing your lawn will help promote lush, green growth. Use stored rainwater and grey water to water your lawn in dry summers to stop it from going brown.
The various aspects of lawn maintenance are discussed below:
1. Weeding the lawn:
One of the most important aspects of maintenance is the control of weeds. Without close attention or care a time will come when weeds will overcome the lawn grass, the soil will become sick, and the grass coarse. All weeds should be removed with the roots, and these should never be allowed to seed as it's important for lawn care.
2. Rolling a Lawn:
The objective of rolling is to help the grass anchor itself securely and also keep the surface leveled. In the daylight, sandy soil rolling after each weeding will be helpful. Rolling should be avoided when the soil is wet during rainy seasons.
3. Mowing the lawn:
Pruning of lawn grass i.e. mowing is another important operation. The frequency of mowing is determined by the amount of growth and will vary from season to season. But grass should not be allowed to grow more than 5-6 cm in length during any season. You need to obtain a good machine that will cut the grass evenly at the correct height.
Cut your lawn at least once a week in summer and once every two weeks during spring, autumn, and warm winters. Regular trimming encourages the roots to spread, which will help to fill gaps and block out weeds.
4. Sweeping the lawn:
Sweeping the lawn thoroughly after each mowing is essential to clean the cut grasses which might have fallen from the mower box. Sweeping is also done every morning to clean the fallen leaves and other debris. It is one of the major tasks for maintaining a good lawn.
5. Watering the lawn:
Frequent light irrigation is better than copious flooding after long intervals. During winter dew should be brushed into the grass by drawing the hosepipe over the grass before the dew evaporates. Labour, as well as water, can be saved to a considerable extent if sprinkler irrigation is used.
Sprinklers are perfect for keeping lawns hydrated but they use a lot of mains water and are not permitted during a hosepipe ban. Don't worry if an established lawn goes brown, it's not dead. It will simply green up again when the rains come.
6. Scraping and raking of lawn:
The lower part of an old lawn may get matted and woody along with the formation of a hard crust. For such lawns, the grass is scraped at the ground level with the help of a sickle in April and May.
Scraping is followed by raking to break the crust. Where the condition of the lawn is good, hard and thorough raking is done both ways to loosen the old runners and aerate the soil.
7. Top dressing a lawn:
After scraping and raking, compost consisting of good garden soil, coarse sand, and cow manure in the proportion of 1: 2: 1 is spread over the lawn at a depth of 3-5 cm. To cover such depth 100 kg of compost per 100 sq. m. will be needed. This should be added right before the onset of the monsoon.
8. Weed your lawn:
Plantains and dandelions have wide, flat leaves that can smother large areas of lawn and inhibit growth, although they are easy to remove using a hand trowel or daisy grubber. Yellow medick, buttercups, and clover can also spread quickly through a lawn, so raking before you mow can help to lift them up into the mower blades, weakening and killing them off over time.
9. Relieve compacted grass:
Compacted ground prevents grass from growing well and can lead to bare patches in the summer and mud baths in the winter. Relieve the compaction and aerate the soil by pushing a garden fork about 10cm deep into the soil every 10cm and gently rocking back and forth on the fork handle. The prongs open up the soil, allowing the roots to breathe and encouraging the grass to regrow
10. Edge your lawn:
Edging a lawn is the finishing touch to a neat, clipped lawn. Use a pair of long-handled shears to define the edge of your lawn, and stop the grass from growing into borders. It instantly neatens your garden, creating a very satisfying finish. Where the lawn has grown into the border, use a spade or half-moon edger to reshape it and create a shallow 'moat' or install permanent edging that the grass can't cross.
11. Fill bare lawn patches:
Rather than letting bare patches spoil the look of your lawn, it's easy to sow grass seed over the raked soil. Alternatively, make fillers from unused turf. When reshaping the lawn, collect up the strips and place them 5cm apart in a compost-filled seed tray, then grow them outside or in a cold frame.
To replace the bare patch, cut out a square or rectangle around the area and, using a hand trowel, dig up the soil in the rectangle to whatever depth of soil your new turf strip is. Gently lay the turf, cut to fit, over the patch. Firm it down so that there are no gaps and your new turf is no higher or lower than your existing lawn.
Remember that our Mother Nature moves slowly – you won’t achieve your perfect lawn overnight. And there are all sorts of variables in lawn care that are out of your control. The health and appearance of your lawn are heavily influenced by populations of soil microbes that you can’t even see. As well as ever-changing weather, what treatments the grass may or may not have had in the past, how you use your lawn, and what’s surrounding your lawn, the list is endless.
Caring for a lawn is like peeling a potato. Just take care of your lawn with patience and love.