Just what is a good lawn?
Is it all about the uniformed growth and greenest weed free swards?
Is a good lawn one you can play football or golf on? Does it just need to look
nice from the kitchen window when you are washing the pots? Has it got to be
full of wild flowers and only need to cut it twice a year?
There are so many different variables to lawns and the
answers are as diverse as the gardeners who look after them.
Over the past few years these green patches of ground have
come under increasing criticism both for their high maintenance and need for
chemical use to keep in tip top condition. But it doesn’t need to be that way.
I for one have tried
alternatives on a small scale. I set aside a small area to go wild (much to the
annoyance of one of my neighbours) and turned one area into a chamomile lawn. I
can tell you now both of these take up far more of my time looking after than a
conventional lawn.
Over the fence
I don't think I know one person in Inishowen who is totally
happy with their lawn.
As a viewer over the
fence, most gardens look lovely. I have some old images of my plot when we
first moved into the house and the whole garden was overgrown and neglected, I
couldn't wait to get stuck in and ‘improve’ the place.
Looking at the
pictures now seven years later, the garden actually looked far more lush and
colourful than it does now after all my work. The garden in the pictures hasn't
changed but the way I look at it has.
Overall the garden looks lovely in the pictures but it's
only when I hone in on the details and imperfections as I did when I moved in
that I started to worry and think about making changes, it's a similar
principle to most issues we have in everyday life.
I think I tend to look at my own lawn and project my
irritations and frustrations on the rough patches before realising the
imperfections are in me and not the grass.
Let’s see what
gardener's actually say about their lawns.
The most common observations and complaints about lawns here
in Inishowen are:
- Too wet and waterlogged.
- Costs too much to keep as we need to get someone in to cut it twice a month.
- Need too many chemicals to keep it looking nice.
- Moss growing everywhere and taking over.
- Not growing well in shaded areas.
- Takes up too much time cutting it in summer.
- Not hard-wearing enough to play on.
All of these issues can be overcome to some degree apart
from finding someone to cut the grass for free if a family member isn’t
available. The reality is that there will always be something that needs doing.
I've just come back from a family wedding in Alicante and I only saw one or two
patches of grass growing. There were plenty of herbs and picking the
pomegranates is fun , the local council seem to favour artificial grass now as
it saves on water in the city centre. So
just growing a lawn here in Ireland seems easy in comparison.
Regardless of how you look at your lawn, plants will be
plants and the grass will need a bit of annual care, especially in the case of
moss. The only place you'll see grass without moss is on the sandy golf links around
the peninsula, you will even see moss on artificial grass eventually! So living
with it seems to be the easiest option. Apart from digging up the whole garden,
raising it about a metre and putting in new soil/sand and drainage it will more
than likely come back every year and need to be treated with a chemical.
Drainage is the answer to lawns being too wet and compacted,
but can be a costly job on large areas.
If you have bald patches the autumn is a great time to overseed
the area. If you don't have the same grass mix to add and want a more uniformed
colour them scatter the seeds outwards from the patch putting fewer and fewer
seed on the ground as you work out. It's a bit like blending colours in
paintings. Mix the seed with a bit of sharp sand so it goes on more evenly.
If an area is in shade there are certain types of seed you
can get to put in these areas. They might look a bit different but at least the
area will be green.
Scarifying the grass with a spring rake can get a lot of the
moss out. After this you can aerate the ground with a fork and sweep sand into
the holes. This will help with drainage and compaction.
If the lawn has a lot of crane fly larvae in it you could
put black sheeting over the ground then check it every morning putting the
leatherjackets out for the birds. These will probably only be temporary
measures in the same way that chemical usage will be.
Conclusion
Instead of us looking for the 'perfect’ lawn for our garden
and being annually disappointing, we can ask ourselves...
Does the area look generally pleasing to the eye and give us
and the family pleasure?
Is the lawn suitable for purpose? Game playing, dog use, defining
borders siting the barbeque, table and chairs?
After sitting four stories up in a city centre apartment
block for a week at the family wedding in Alicante I'm just pleased to see any
greenery and I must say from the plane up here at 20,000 feet, all of your
lawns look absolutely wonderful!
