How to Achieve a Healthy-Looking Lawn

How to Achieve a Healthy-Looking Lawn

First and foremost, it's about choosing the right grass seed mixture. Nowadays, meadow-style lawns are quite fashionable, but for those who prefer a classic beautiful green lawn, a daisy in the grass won't bring much joy. It's therefore advisable to choose a lawn tailored to your needs. According to your requirements, garden type, house surroundings, light and shade suitability in the garden, garden style, soil moisture, and also the time you can dedicate to lawn care. What you'll mow it with, how often, etc. The right choice of grass mixture will save you a lot of worries and you'll better enjoy a healthy green lawn. Heavily used areas require special mixtures. Water and fertilize your lawn sufficiently. A healthy and well-maintained lawn forms dense grass sward. Lack of nutrients or moisture will weaken the lawn and weeds will easily take hold. Mow your lawn regularly.

If you're establishing a lawn from seed, great patience and irrigation are required. The lawn needs a lot of care from the very beginning. An important component for a healthy lawn is loosening the soil on the future grassed area. On soils compacted during construction work, it's necessary that this loosening is preceded by the use of so-called green manuring.

Diversity of Grasses

Grasses are divided into grasses for temperate climates and grasses for subtropical and tropical locations. In Central Europe, grass species of the temperate zone are used. Grass composition - Bentgrass (Agrostis) - dark green fine-leaved grasses, growing to lower heights, very resistant to mowing. Fescue (Festuca) - fine-leaved species, tolerating even very low mowing, drought-resistant. Undemanding regarding soil selection. Bluegrass (Poa) - is moderately resistant, we don't recommend too short mowing, some species are coarse-leaved. Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is a fast-growing grass species with increased moisture requirements. Resistant to trampling, poorly tolerates low mowing.

Types of Lawns

Grass mixtures are blended from these grass species. Always buy quality mixtures that will be resistant to molds and diseases.

Sunny garden - if you have this type of garden, you're already set to be an excellent grower and owner of a beautiful lawn. All types of lawn are suitable for this garden type. You can even use ornamental mixtures.

Partially shaded garden - light-loving species won't thrive too well here, we recommend a grass mixture for partial shade or a grass mixture for shade. Choose a mixture that will suppress moss growth.

Garden with seating area - will require higher resistance to foot traffic. Select a suitable mixture resistant to trampling. In this case, a basic mixture for regular use is sufficient.

Garden for sports and children's play - this type of garden requires special grass seed mixtures - sports fields and playgrounds - which contain multiple species of resistant grasses. These grass mixtures allow you to mow the lawn very short.

Extensive type is more suitable for "weekend" gardeners, as it is less demanding in terms of maintenance. Mowing, watering and fertilizing is carried out 2-4 times monthly. It is used in orchards, around country houses, in meadow and flowering lawns. These are so-called landscape lawns - they have a less formal character, are taller and often feature blooming meadow flowers (bluebells, daisies, clovers, etc.).

Intensive type is more demanding in maintenance, mowed at least 3 times weekly, sometimes even twice daily, fertilizing and watering also occurs daily. These are recreational or sports lawns - they are more resistant to stress and trampling. Of formal appearance, suitable for the front part of the garden, around outdoor seating areas, for active recreation.

Sowing and Care

Generally, spring (April, May) is the most suitable period for sowing, when there is more rainfall. The lower limit for grass germination is approximately 8°C. After germination, the lawn needs regular watering. During summer periods, additional fertilizing with foliar fertilizer is required. In summer periods, trim the new lawn for the first time. Use the lightest possible mower, set to 3 cm cutting height. If it's dry, water the lawn daily. Before sowing, we recommend preparing the soil surface (digging, cultivating, roughly leveling with a rake). The amount of seed ranges between 20-25 g/m2, always indicated on the package. The amount of irrigation before and after planting the grass mixture is also important, so that the seeds are not washed away. Watering is also important during dry periods. We recommend smaller amounts of water but more frequently.

Fertilizing is an integral part of lawn care. With proper selection, we can maintain the lawn without bare spots, moss and pests. When the lawn dries out, we recommend raking the surface, roughening it and using supplementary grass seed mixtures for overseeding. We also maintain the lawn in good condition through frequent mowing. Frequent mowing promotes lawn thickening. We mow a new lawn at a height of 7-10 cm, always max. 1/3 of the lawn height.

Lawn Restoration - Removing Bare Patches

Lawn restoration and reseeding helps prevent further damage to the lawn. The lawn stabilizes the soil, and where no grass grows, soil erosion gradually occurs. Also, worn patches expand and become harder to repair. If the lawn is infested with pests, the pests must be identified and chemically removed. If the soil is heavily trampled, it's better to, for example, place stones in these areas and create a pathway. If the lawn is generally thinning, you can fertilize it with compost. Always start restoring the lawn once the soil has warmed up in spring. Place straw on newly seeded areas so that birds don't peck out the new grass seed. Never sow grass seed during rain. Seeds can absorb too much moisture and fungal infection can easily occur. If you're seeding bare patches before winter, cover this area with geotextile fabric.

Weeds in the Lawn

Fighting weeds in the lawn requires time, but a beautiful, evenly green lawn is worth it. In spring, inspect the entire lawn thoroughly and map out any possible weed occurrence. The lawn should not contain plantain, thistle, daisy, hawkweed, chickweed, dandelion, yarrow, couch grass, white clover, and red clover. Lawn scarification is recommended against weeds. This way air reaches the roots. Pull out larger weeds. A second weed check should occur in the middle of the lawn's growing period. If weeds have spread, pull them out with their roots, or use chemical control. The last weed check should occur in autumn so that weeds don't overwinter in the lawn. Don't let weeds grow, flower, and seed. When chemically removing weeds, be careful not to spray the lawn itself, which you can easily burn, and such damaged areas will be harder to repair. How to most easily prevent weeds? Use the right grass seed mixture. Delicate grass mixtures will eventually die off and leave space for weeds.

For your new lawn to thicken quickly, it needs to be mowed daily. If it needs supplementing - you can use ready-made renovation mixtures. In the initial stage of establishing a lawn, it definitely pays off to roll the lawn after the second or third mowing. The lawn will thicken more this way.

Lawn Aeration

Through aeration, oxygen reaches the grass roots, ensuring healthy and rapid growth. We perform aeration whenever the lawn is sparse and matted. Aeration creates small openings in the soil through which nutrients, water, and air reach the roots more easily. Additionally, roots can grow into the created openings. Excessively trampled soil is not good for a healthy lawn. Lawn aeration is best performed in autumn. At lower temperatures, the grass recovers better from this intervention and manages to develop roots before winter arrives.

In winter, it's time to rest and prepare for the new gardening season - snow is the best protection for your lawn. Once the thaw begins, let the lawn breathe a little longer and stick to paths and walkways to avoid compacting the surface too much.

Equipment designed for aeration comes in either motorised or manual versions - choose the type you're comfortable with and suitable for the size of your lawn. After aeration, rake the lawn thoroughly, water it well and apply fertiliser. After raking, you can also spread sand, which will gradually work its way into the lawn and prevent the soil from becoming too compacted.

Regular Watering and Fertilising

Water systematically and your lawn will reward you with lush greenery. Regular watering supplements natural conditions when sufficient moisture is needed and the lawn cannot draw it from either groundwater or rainfall. Water is ideal for delivering nutrients to plants. A properly watered lawn is dense, strong and has developed robust grass roots. Don't water the lawn in full sunlight. If the summer is very dry, don't mow the lawn too often and leave it at a higher length. During prolonged dry weather, water every third and fifth day, in the evening.

Fertilising - a beautiful lawn requires balanced and regular fertilisation. After fertilising, keep children and pets off the lawn for at least 24 hours. You can tell when fertilising is needed by the colour of the lawn. If the lawn turns from green to yellow-brown, it needs nutrients through fertilisation. If the lawn is matted, aerate it first to at least a depth of 0.5 cm. Then rake the lawn. Grass clippings are also a valuable fertiliser. The fertiliser packaging indicates which components and nutrients it contains. Nitrogen is the most important nutrient source for grass. If the lawn is heavily infested with weeds, it's good to use a fertiliser with a higher phosphorus content. Fertilise lawns near trees more generously, as they share the fertiliser with their roots. Besides these fertilisers, there are products on the market against weeds and moss. Don't use these fertilisers preventively, but always with a specific purpose.