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There is a story that some Americans were visiting a grand public school that shall remain nameless.  While admiring the immaculate lawns they called over an elderly gardener using a reel mower.  One of the them said to him – “Hey, tell me buddy, how do you get that there lawn so damn beautiful?”  The gardener looked the American up

In the minds of many of us there lurks a vision of the ideal lawn.  Perfectly flat, a uniform green carpet cut extremely short and banded in perfect stripes from mowing.  If that is your vision you have been seduced by bentgrass – the gold-standard of the British lawn. There are actually three species of bent grass, each with distinct

If there is one thing most people carry away from school biology class it is that animals give out carbon dioxide, which plants use to make oxygen. While true, this really only tells half the story. Only the green parts of plants use carbon dioxide and release oxygen, and even that only when in the light.  The rest of the

One important factor in maintaining a quality lawn is the sharp blade of the mower. When we cut a lawn each blade of grass sustains a wound. A sharp blade on a recently serviced mower will leave a clean, straight edge. The slice in the leaf will heal quickly. A fast recovery gives less opportunity for disease to stress the

Often, the only reason a lawn exists is because it fills a gap between two fences. If you look at your lawn and cut it regularly but never walk or sit on it then why is it there? A lawn needs a purpose this may be: picnics, sunbathing or impromptu games and sports.  A lawn consisting of dwarf rye cut in

Mowing a lawn is a skill.  Whether you use a rotary or a cylinder mower accidents can happen.  Perhaps you gave the job to one of your children and they didn’t control the mower successfully.  Or perhaps there are faults in your lawn surface that lead to problems.  So you need to have some skills in both fixing mistakes and

Mosses have been around a long time – about 450 million years.  Compared to them lawn grasses are mere children, certainly no more than 100 million years old. This may explain why they are so hard to get rid of! Mosses reproduce with air-born spores, not seeds and most favour damp, shady, acidic conditions.  Because they form dense mats in

At the heart of traditional lawn-care is topdressing.  In the words of the venerable Royal Horticultural Society: Top-dressing is the application of loam, sand and well-rotted organic matter to a lawn in order to correct surface irregularities and improve the texture of difficult soils. This encourages greater rooting and thickening of turf. Top-dressing can be done with soil, sand or

A winter of torrential rain and flooding may have left your lawn a sodden mess.  Puddles and surface water may be lying on your lawn and showing little sign of departing. An extended period of flooding can result in root rot and death of the grass so it should not be taken lightly. There are various steps to take to

Many people associate lawn rollers with traditional gardening practices and think that rolling the lawn regularly is an essential part of maintaining a high-quality lawn. But why were lawns rolled at all?  Early lawns were cut with scythes (the first lawn-mower was invented in 1830).  So they had no heavy equipment running over them.  As well, there were no specially-bred

If your early contact with moles was ‘Wind in the Willows’, then meeting them in the flesh – or rather seeing their handiwork on your lawn – will be a sobering experience.  Gone is the romance of good-natured Mole, who you suddenly realize has no concern for you at all but instead is intent on raising random ridges and volcanic