Six quick ways to get your lawn looking good for summer
How can you improve the look of your lawn this spring? Find out, in our guide.
Now that spring has arrived, most of us are keen to get out in the garden to enjoy better weather and longer days. But does the state of your lawn make you want to stay inside? Many lawns can look worse for wear after winter, with bare and soggy patches, thinning grass or problem plants growing through the grass. Fortunately, it’s easy to get on top of these issues with only a few quick jobs that will make all the difference.
6 ways to get your lawn in shape
Scarify your lawn
Scarifying your lawn involves removing the dead thatch (the brown material found beneath the green grass blades). It enables air and water to reach grass roots more easily and encourages the grass to grow more vigorously. Scarifying is an easy job that’s only necessary once a year. Gently rake the grass with a spring-tined rake; then collect the dead material and put it in the compost. Your lawn will look worse before it looks better, but it should recover quickly. The best times to scarify your lawn are when the grass is actively growing in spring, once the weather has warmed, or in early autumn.
Aerate your lawn
After scarifying, you can aerate your lawn to help alleviate soil compaction and waterlogging. This is a job that needs doing in late spring or early autumn every two or three years, in most cases. Small lawns can be easily aerated by spiking the surface using a garden fork or hollow tine lawn aerator: about 8cm deep every 15cm. Aeration can be time-consuming if you have a large lawn, so you might want to hire a powered aerator to make the task more manageable.
Sow lawn seed
Bare patches in your lawn can be filled by sowing small areas of grass seed mix in autumn or spring. This is a quick and easy job that should take only a few minutes. Ideally, sow after it has rained, while the soil is still wet. Don’t walk on the reseeded area until the new grass seedlings are well established.
Alternatively, if the bare patches are in sunny secluded areas, they can be left to attract mining bees that need bare soil in which to make their burrows. You might be lucky and see ashy mining bees and tawny mining bees from March to June, or ivy bees from September to November. They don’t damage the lawn – in fact their burrows aerate the soil, and they are an important part of healthy ecosystems. If you do have bees in your lawn during these periods, avoid mowing for the few weeks when they are active.
Mow your lawn
Start mowing your lawn in spring, once the grass has begun to grow again. Mow weekly or fortnightly for a conventional short lawn, suiting the frequency to the growing conditions. However, cutting the grass regularly with an electric or petrol lawn mower uses time and energy, and prevents many wildflowers in the lawn from flowering. For a flower-rich lawn that will attract pollinators, stop mowing after an initial cut in spring and leave part, or all, of your lawn to grow until the end of July.
Edge your lawn
Create defined edges to your lawn in spring with a flat-bladed spade or edging tool. This prevents grass growing into the borders. After the lawn is edged, you can keep it looking good by clipping it using long-handled shears after you have mown the lawn.
Deal with problem plants
Many of us are now happy to encourage wildflowers to grow in our lawns, especially low-growing plants that are easily kept in check and those that have flowers that benefit our struggling insect populations. If you have plants in your lawn that you don’t want, remove them using a hand fork or daisy grubber, making sure you get out all of the roots.
Some lawns have a high percentage of moss, usually as a result of shady, damp conditions and compacted soil. More and more people are now accepting moss in their lawns, even welcoming it as a valuable habitat for invertebrates and a resource that many birds require to build their nests. If moss is an issue, improve soil compaction by aerating, work on improving the general health of your lawn, and don’t cut the grass too short. But you might find, if you can’t reduce shade or moisture levels, that it's best to embrace the softer, biodiverse world of moss.
Frequently asked questions
Should I water my lawn?
New lawns need watering during the summer, but should not be overwatered. It’s not necessary to water established lawns, as they can cope with dry conditions. Even if hot weather causes your lawn to turn dry and brown, recovery will be quick once the rain returns. When you water young lawns, use grey or rainwater, rather than mains water. Longer lawns cope better in drought conditions than those that are closely mown, so consider leaving areas of grass to grow longer to increase the resilience of your lawn.
Does my lawn need feeding?
It’s best not to feed lawns, unless absolutely necessary. Synthetic fertilisers create large amounts of greenhouse gases in their production. Studies have shown that synthetic fertilisers reduce levels of microbes (fungi, bacteria and other micro-organisms) in the soil, which affects soil fertility. If your lawn does need feeding, use an organic mulch or feed that will benefit soil microbes as well as giving the grass a boost. Ideally, fertilise your lawn when rain is forecast, so it will be washed down to the roots where it’s needed.
How can I rewild my lawn?
Rewilding your lawn, or an area of your lawn, supports biodiversity, creates interest with a range of flowers throughout spring and summer, and it’s a timesaver too. The best lawns for wildflowers and wildlife have a range of different grass lengths, so stop mowing after an initial cut in spring and leave part, or all, of your lawn and its wildflowers to grow until the end of July. Mow some areas more regularly to create places for low-growing flowers like daisies and bird’s-foot trefoil to thrive, mining bees to nest, and birds such as starlings to feed. Aim to leave at least some sections of your lawn uncut all year, to provide shelter for wildlife in the winter. Reducing mowing uses less energy, and longer grass remains greener during droughts, while also helping reduce the effects of flooding by soaking up rainwater more effectively.
