Lawn Care

Traditionally, lawn care uses a heavy amount of chemicals – both natural and artificial. However, organic gardening methods are beginning to take hold, with new products that contain active bacteria enabling you to both control moss growth and feed your lawn area. Good physical practices can really help when creating a decent lawn. An example of this is scarifying, which is the removal of the dead thatch that collects underneath the live grass and this process greatly thickens the lawn. Grasses spread via underground stems and scarifying breaks these, causing the grass to produce more crowns and thus ‘tillering’ or thickening. This can be done with a manual scarifying machine, or in smaller areas with a lawn rake.

Hand mowing (cutting the grass without the use of petrol or oil) is also a good organic practice. For heavy soils prone to getting very damp, spiking or aerating your lawn will allow drainage to take place. Lawn grasses hate having wet feet, so you can also improve drainage by adding a sand top-dress. Over sowing with a good lawn seed mix during spring and autumn is good practice, and – unless you’re planning to play golf on it – let the daisies and dandelions take their place as they’re great for pollinators!