5 Steps to Re-energize and Replenish Your Lawns

At Greenleaf, we have a lot of love for the garden lawn. They are often beautiful, lush and welcoming areas of greenery that bring a garden together and give it usable space. 

With a little care, your company’s lawns can be the envy of other organisations, or even a welcoming social space where employees and visitors can relax and come together. 

Unfortunately, a badly planned or maintained lawn can do the complete opposite, quickly becoming a messy and unappealing wasteland. 

That’s why we’ve brought you five simple tips to keep your natural carpet at its best all year round! 

 

Be Sure to Mow at the Right Time! 

In early spring (usually around March in the UK), the ground starts to warm up after the long winter and grass begins to grow again. As a result, this is the ideal time to plan your lawn and ensure it starts the year as perfectly as it was the previous summer. 

Make sure the grass is dry when cutting, and use a high cutting height at first to minimise shock to the plants. 

You can then gradually reduce the cutting height with each new mow, until you reach your desired grass length. 

In spring, autumn, and sometimes during warmer winters, you should mow every 2 weeks. In colder winters, the growth should pause and you shouldn’t need to mow at all. 

In summer, accelerated growing will mean this should be increased to every week for best results. Regular mowing aids the spread of grass roots, which will allow your lawn to fill bare patches, block out weeds, and maintain itself to an extent. 

Be sure to leave your lawn at around 5-10cm at shortest in summer - as being below 5cm can make the grass prone to drought, bare patches, moss and other issues. 

Feed Wisely!

A lush green lawn has a significantly more appealing look than faded or yellowed grass. It also complements the other colours in the area, such as trees, shrubs and flowers. 

It’s easy to forget that grass is a living organism that needs food like any other. The best time to start is April, when accelerated summer growth is underway. 

Simply follow the lawn fertiliser instructions - although most will be based on the area of your lawn, so measuring it in square metres first is a good idea. 

Once you’ve fed your lawn, it’s smart to use a garden fork or similar sharp item to poke regular holes in the soil, aerating the lawn. 

This improves water drainage, allows air into the lawn more easily, and encourages root growth - all of which will increase your lawn’s aesthetic, health and survivability. 

There are also winter lawn fertilisers available - these are focused on helping your lawn survive the cold months by releasing nutrients more slowly than summer feeds. As a result, they are best used in October when these conditions haven’t fully taken effect and the ground is still soft enough for easy absorption. 

Watering 

Watering is perhaps the most obvious point on our list - and in a wet country like the UK, it is often not even necessary. 

However, the 2022 heatwave taught many of us that regular rain isn’t a reason to let your guard down - and that even our typically moist country can experience dry enough conditions to cause severe damage. 

Established lawns are relatively resistant to drought and don’t need much watering at all - but it will take work to allow the lawn to get to that stage. 

New lawns have shallow roots that can dry out very quickly, so in dry summer months they will need regular watering. 

It’s important to water them in the early hours of the morning or in the evening, when the sun is at its coolest. In the middle of the day when the sun is high in the sky, most of your water will evaporate, dramatically reducing the amount the lawn actually absorbs. If you don’t have time to do this, setting up a sprinkler to run for a solid hour at this time is a great solution. 

Fresh turf should also be watered every single day for 10 days straight in order to allow it to get established correctly and without issues. 

 

Maintain Your Edges 

Failing to maintain the edges of your lawn can lead to grass growing into borders or planters, previously straight edges becoming curved or uneven, which can also encourage bare patches or allow the sun to directly hit the soil, drying out the lawn more quickly. 

Some people solve this by creating a permanent line the grass can’t cross - like a stone border, wooden sleeper or raised soil line. This can work well in some scenarios but it can also come with some downsides such as potentially damaging your lawnmower. 

Another way is to simply use a long pair of shears to regularly straighten the edges and keep them in good shape - it takes a little more work, but provides the best long-term results. 

Keep Off! 

Keep off the grass is probably the most well-known rule when it comes to lawns, but many people overlook it as unnecessarily strict or not really worth following. 

But actually, in wet and cold months, a lawn has close to zero ability to repair itself - so even a quick few steps across it can cause lasting damage. 

Giving your garden areas an appropriate path and signage to ensure people can move around freely while staying off the grass will save money in the long run and keep your lawn looking fresh and appealing. 

In the hot months, this is a little less important - but dry leaves and soil can damage the grass in other ways, so this is the ideal time to rake. 

 

What Can phs Greenleaf do? 

As the UK’s leading provider of commercial gardening services, we offer all types of commercial grounds maintenance, including outdoor plant displays, hanging baskets and more. 

With over 25 years’ experience of providing planting and landscaping services to businesses throughout the UK we have the knowledge of providing our services in a variety of sectors including hospitality, retail, FM’s and public sector. This means you can be sure that phs Greenleaf will provide you with an unrivalled plant service. 

To learn more, get in touch now! 

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