The BEST way to create your dream lawn!

The Moment magazine online’s garden guru ANNE SMITH has the perfect advice for the lawn of your dreams…

Now that spring is here it is time to think about your lawn. You should carry out your first cut now, having set the mower blades to their highest setting. This will save the lawn being scalped and will encourage it to grow. Good organic practice says leave the cuttings on to feed the grass. If you plan to do this, try cutting twice a week (that sounds like hard work, but most of the effort of grass-cutting is emptying the box), with the added bonus of no great clumps of soggy cuttings to tread into the house (and up the stairs!). It is a good idea to collect some of the grass cuttings to mix with harder prunings for the compost heap. Collect weeds and prunings (but not really woody ones) and save them up in bags until you cut the grass, then layer them. Don’t try saving the grass cuttings until you do some cutting back or weeding as they will start to ferment and become unpleasant.

Moss in lawns is an especially big problem this year after the wet winter, and it needs removing by scarifying with a suitable rake, or if you are feeling rich you could invest in an electric scarifier, which will do the hard work for you. Feeding is helpful to encourage new growth and preparations are available which include weed treatment to get rid of those dandelions and other irritating weeds.

Lawn mower selection is very much a personal choice. Petrol-driven mowers are really the best if you have a large area to cut, or you could choose an electric one with a flex, which must be used in connection with a circuit breaker, for safety. Another option is a battery-driven mower which, like the petrol version, will leave your hands free, but the battery will have to be removed for charging. Finally, if you are feeling strong and energetic you could opt for the old-fashioned, hand-pushed style!