Dear all,
I would like to ask some advice on my lawn. This post is in regards to my grandchildren.
Having two boys already, there is another on the way, which obviously is wonderful news. We have a large lawn and a football goal set up for when they come to visit. They are only tiny at the moment so don't do much damage, but children grow quickly. I don't want to stop them playing football, but with more on the way I can only see a mini football team destroying my lawn!
Are there any tips to stop the wear on the grass? Is there a specific grass I should plant?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
K
hello there,
I love grass what is can do and what you can make it do, I would suggest making a good routine maintenance schedule for your lawn, start off with once a month aerate the ground where it is most compact either using a garden fork. proceed with using a lawn sand to fill in the holes which will help keep the lawn level and help with drainage.
You could scarify once in a while with a spring tine rake or a lawn mower mounted one, a scarifier's job is to drag out all the rubbish sitting between the grass and the soil, it would be like raking up leaves on a bed, this will start to allow more air flow between the grass plants making them grow and repair quicker as well as filling in the gaps producing a more compact lawn.
now as for grasses just to reassure you I did three year of horticulture so I'm not just making up names but at my college we studied them with their Latin names, these names are like codes, they never change or get changed over time so you can type in the Latin instead of the common name and it will bring up the exact plant or in this case grass that you want.
now you say your grand kids love football, so one grass I love is Lolium perennie, easy to get hold of and if you look in many seed mixes it will have it in there, this grass is amazing if you look closely, it has a pink base and the leaves on one side they are matted and the other side glossy. if you have a lawn mower with a roller on the back or something that drags along the bottom it will cause the grass to bend slightly either on its matted side or its shiny side, which is how you get the stripes. reproduces by means of tufted growth so if you want it you need to buy it.
Another grass I think would be good is festuca rubra rubra, this is a fine turf normally found on golf courses but it spreads fast, and like the lolium you should be able to find it in most seed packets. this grass grows by the means of stolons which are think roots that grow under and along in the ground, and once they reach a certain distance away from the grass they will come up and produce another grass plant, a bit like butter cup and how they spread, or strawberries.
one more for you Agrostis capilaris now this has a much broader leaf but has the same habit as the festuca, these two grasses grow well with each other both of them knitting around your lawn filling in the gaps.
if you go online and look for amenity lawn seed, they should show you the label that will come with the packet so you can see what seed it has in there, and with that you can look and choose what percentage you want of each.
I think thats it covered let me know if this helps
I love grass what is can do and what you can make it do, I would suggest making a good routine maintenance schedule for your lawn, start off with once a month aerate the ground where it is most compact either using a garden fork. proceed with using a lawn sand to fill in the holes which will help keep the lawn level and help with drainage.
You could scarify once in a while with a spring tine rake or a lawn mower mounted one, a scarifier's job is to drag out all the rubbish sitting between the grass and the soil, it would be like raking up leaves on a bed, this will start to allow more air flow between the grass plants making them grow and repair quicker as well as filling in the gaps producing a more compact lawn.
now as for grasses just to reassure you I did three year of horticulture so I'm not just making up names but at my college we studied them with their Latin names, these names are like codes, they never change or get changed over time so you can type in the Latin instead of the common name and it will bring up the exact plant or in this case grass that you want.
now you say your grand kids love football, so one grass I love is Lolium perennie, easy to get hold of and if you look in many seed mixes it will have it in there, this grass is amazing if you look closely, it has a pink base and the leaves on one side they are matted and the other side glossy. if you have a lawn mower with a roller on the back or something that drags along the bottom it will cause the grass to bend slightly either on its matted side or its shiny side, which is how you get the stripes. reproduces by means of tufted growth so if you want it you need to buy it.
Another grass I think would be good is festuca rubra rubra, this is a fine turf normally found on golf courses but it spreads fast, and like the lolium you should be able to find it in most seed packets. this grass grows by the means of stolons which are think roots that grow under and along in the ground, and once they reach a certain distance away from the grass they will come up and produce another grass plant, a bit like butter cup and how they spread, or strawberries.
one more for you Agrostis capilaris now this has a much broader leaf but has the same habit as the festuca, these two grasses grow well with each other both of them knitting around your lawn filling in the gaps.
if you go online and look for amenity lawn seed, they should show you the label that will come with the packet so you can see what seed it has in there, and with that you can look and choose what percentage you want of each.
I think thats it covered let me know if this helps
-
ElizabethB
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 2105
- Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:53 am
- Location: Lafayette, LA
Kcopper - unfortunately I have no idea about grass varieties suitable for your region. I live in the deep south US. I don't want to sound like I am brushing you off but do a little research on grasses suitable to your region. IDK what information resources you have in the UK. In the US we have lots of free information available through land grant universities and ag center extension offices. Try doing some region specific queries on lawn grasses. Then narrow your search with a query of sport grasses.
Sorry - wish I could give you specifics.
Good luck
Sorry - wish I could give you specifics.
Good luck