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Rolling out new turf and making new lawn with grass

A bowling green perfect lawn probably isn't what you want when you have active kids who like to play in the garden. You need a lawn that can take some trampling and is easy to care for. A utility lawn.&nbsp;So, what do you need to look out for if you need a new lawn and you want it to be hard wearing? Perennial ryegrass is key. You can get perennial ryegrass as turf which is more expensive than grass seed but more likely to produce a successful lawn with less effort. If you don't want to buy turf, most standard lawn seed bags contain perennial ryegrass.Other hard wearing lawn winners are creeping red fescue and poa pratensis (smooth stalked meadow grass). Creeping red fescue is perhaps the easiest type of fescue to germinate from seed, and maintain, it's strong, and like perennial ryegrass appears in a lot of standard seed mixes. Poa pratensis is also tough, while being a gorgeous colour and soft to the touch. The main drawback of using poa pratensis is that it can be thirsty over the summer months, but keep it watered and the benefits of using it will be innumerable.

Utility Lawns

Glistening row of dewdrops on edge of backlit wild rice leaf blade in area of browning leaves

Seeing dead browning patches on your lawn can be quite frustrating, but it is easier than you might think to identify the causes of them, and deal with them.If your dog uses the loo in a particular area of your lawn, dog effluvia, which can be too nitrogen rich is likely the cause of the patch problem. Another sign that points to a potential cause of your patchy lawn involves birds pecking and scratching at your lawn. Birds peck at lawns when they’re trying to eat leatherjackets and chafer grubs that eat away at the roots of grass. Other causes are overwatering or underwatering your lawn, fungal lawn diseases, or even simple wear and tear and incorrect mowing.Protecting your lawn from developing brown patches involves keeping on top of the usual lawn care tasks, like feeding, watering, and scarifying, and looking for the signs listed above. When you are dealing with a severe case you can turn to lawn fungicide or even remove the offending patch or patches and reseed or returf the affected area.That’s your minute! Come back tomorrow to find out about hard wearing lawns.

Patchy Grass

When inventor Edwin Beard Budding had the bright idea to create the first ever lawnmower, his invention made it so that the neatness of a lawn no longer had to rest on the sharp edge of a scythe. Before lawns were created deliberately to be incorporated into garden designs, short sections of grass indicated that livestock had grazed there. Rich landowners wanted to replicate this rustic aesthetic but in a fashionable upmarket way. Pre lawnmowers, out went the casually grazing sheep and kine, and in came the teams of workers to plant and keep the lawn shorn to the appropriate level with their scythes and shears.&nbsp;Next time you strike your mower up, think about the work involved in the maintenance of lawns in the past. From Capability Brown’s eerily perfect pastoral scenes to the incroyable Tapis vert of Versailles, many hands made light work of many lawns.If you enjoyed today’s Gardens and Mowers Minute come back tomorrow to read our Saturday round up post to see what you may have missed. If you would like us to take a look at your lawn <a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/garden-maintenance-services-2" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/garden-maintenance-services-2" title="click here ">click here.</a>

Before Mowers Existed

If you try to think of grand dames of Victorian gardening and plant science, the names of Marianne North or Gertrude Jekyll might come to mind, but what about Annie Gulvin and Alice Hutchins? In 1896, the year after Lilian Lindsay became the first woman to qualify as a dentist in Britain, Gulvin and Hutchins also took their first steps into a male dominated space: Kew Gardens.Both graduates of the pioneering Swanley Horticultural College, that educated a great number of female gardeners, Gulvin and Hutchins received support from some male colleagues, and were derided by others who wondered if the work would be too hard for them. After their acceptance a small group of other women followed. The ladies of Kew first and otherwise had all gone by 1902, either to further their careers or get married, but they had left their mark. Come the First World War there were women at Kew again and there continued to be from that point onwards.Like the women of Endell Street Military Hospital, Annie Gulvin and Alice Hutchins proved that women could be just as capable and talented as men at a time when that truth was constantly questioned.

The First Ladies of Kew

No, we’re not talking about something that would strike fear into the hearts of Stede Bonnet and Anne Bonny, but we’re talking about that scourge of roses, black spot. The common rose disease, that causes black blotches to appear on the leaves of roses, can in fact be prevented and treated and doesn’t have to be feared.Prevention is better than cure, so we’ll start there. Planting your roses near to onions and garlic or other alliums helps because black spot is a fungal disease and alliums are antifungal. Proper basic care is another useful form of prevention, if your roses are pruned correctly and at the right times, well irrigated, and in a place where air can circulate around them, they will be less likely to develop black spot.If your roses have already developed black spot, don’t despair. Affected roses should be fine if you remove any affected stems and spray with an antifungal rose treatment. If you don’t want to use chemicals a natural cider vinegar treatment may help. Otherwise it is worth investing in a black spot resistant variety of rose.&nbsp;And most importantly, wash your hands and your equipment regularly.

Black Spot

Thinking outside the box when picking a hedge pays. Your typical box hedge can be susceptible to box caterpillar and box blight so it makes sense to look at other options when choosing what hedge you want.&nbsp;If you’re looking for something that can be clipped into neat, formal shapes outside of the taxus, buxus, and laurel trinity, pittosporum, holly, and yew are good choices. Though it is wise to be careful with yew, it is generally resistant to most pests, but it is toxic and can cause harm to young children. Low growing hebes can also create an attractive hedge that can thrive with little meddling required.If bright, beautiful hedges are more to your taste than our more formal friends, hedges made of lilacs, and hydrangeas will bring joy and elegance to your garden. Lavender too, made into a low growing hedge will bring the serenity and scent of Sénanque to your garden and make a lovely display from late spring into early summer.If you need help with garden maintenance, pop over to our <a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/garden-maintenance-services-2" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/garden-maintenance-services-2">Garden Maintenance Services page</a>.&nbsp;

Gardens and Mowers by Clive

The Gardens and Mowers Minute

Utility Lawns

Patchy Grass

Before Mowers Existed

The First Ladies of Kew

Black Spot

The Right Hedge