fancyAhouse

Archive for July, 2010

Grass is very strong and can survive harsh winters when there is severe frost and snow. Very rarely will you see that your lawn has patches where the grass has stopped growing or even vanished.  An example of having a patch where no grass grows is if you have left something on it that would suppress growth like a piece of wood or lid from the bin. You will also be left with a patch if you have a pond in the garden that you later remove, once you fill the hole the grass will not automatically grow back.

How can you patch lawn?

The best time to patch lawn is between spring and autumn but by doing it in autumn you can guarantee that it will have grown by the following summer as opposed to doing it in spring and waiting for it to grow.

If you decide to patch lawn then there are two easy ways to do so. Method one: using lawn seed. Sow seed into the patch that you would like new grass growth then rake over. You can aid germination by covering the area with a piece of polythene plastic.

Method two: using turf. Cut out the area of lawn to be patched and rake the soil until its even, add topsoil if required and cover with a piece of turf.

Depending on the size of the area that needs to be patched it shouldn’t take long to patch. Make sure you aid growth by watering regularly and use a good quality lawn food to ensure grass stays healthy. It is only worth patching lawn if a small percentage of it is affected, so if you 60% or more of lawn is affected then it’s better to re-do the whole area. If 40% or less of garden lawn is patchy then it’s worth re-patching.

As many parts of the country is experiencing a severe drought the use of lawn sprinklers are banned at the moment, but this doesn’t mean your lawn should suffer. You can still use lawn food and a watering can instead of a hose or sprinkler. Lawn food can also help parts of lawn that do not seem to be growing as well as other places. You can also use lawn food to encourage growth and healthier looking lawn.

Shake and rake gardening has become extremely popular recently due to the low cost, minimum required garden tools and the limited time it takes up to do. So if you have a full time job and want to use up as little as your spare time gardening or you have health problems or elderly then shake and rake gardening is the simplest and easiest way to make you garden look summery and colourful.

One of the advantages of shake and rake is the diverse range of flowers each box promises to give in return you can get up to 35 different varieties in one box. So you can save time shopping around for flower combinations as they have been selected for you. You will also help the pollination of flowers and encourage butterflies and bees to come out and reproduce. You may not know that butterflies and bees in the UK are in danger of becoming extinct due to illness, lack of habitat and finding a mate. You can help wildlife in your own back garden for as little as £1.19 for a box of seeds that can cover 50m².

What is shake and rake and how does it work?

This is a good product aimed for people of all ages and all types of gardens; whether you have a large garden a small garden or a little plot of land at the front of the house that needs some colour. For shake and rake all you need to do is prep the soil by removing weeds, stones and anything else that might interfere with flower growth. Then rake the area to a depth of at least 2.5 cm and shake the box so the seeds can scatter out evenly. The box says to shake the box over the area for at least 30 seconds but if you do this then you will have no seeds left for the rest of the garden (if you have a large area to cover). If you have only a small area to cover then you can afford to be generous and shake as much as you want. When you have covered the area you want flowers to grow with the seeds you just simply rake the seeds in and water. Always keep the soil moist to ensure that the flowering process is viable.

Where can I buy shake and rake seeds?

They can be found in most garden centres but I have found that they are much cheaper online and you can also get many different varieties that are not yet available in the shops. You can also find them in the most unlikely shops so always be on the lookout. The cheapest I found was £1.19 a box and the most expensive was £10 but they were both the same just different varieties of seeds and brand name.