Eco Garden: Green lawns

It is one of the big ironies of gardening that the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers we use to keep our lawns green make them one of the least ‘green’ areas of the garden. Many gardeners put a lot of effort into maintaining their lawns, and this diligence can be a real asset if you want to go green, because it requires a fair amount of work to keep your lawn in top-notch condition using organic methods. The good news is that a more relaxed approach rewards you with a beautiful, wildlife-friendly lawn.

The main lawn maintenance task in summer is mowing. For a neat lawn you need to mow twice a week throughout the summer, but don’t mow too low – 2.5 cm is low enough for a play area, 3 cm for everywhere else. If the weather is dry then raise the blades on the mower – longer grass stays greener for longer. Grass clippings can be left on the lawn as a mulch, to conserve water.

In a relaxed lawn, allow some weeds to thrive and appreciate the splashes of colour they bring. If you want to remove them, dig them out by hand, filling in the holes with potting compost and sowing some grass seed on top. Trim the edges of the lawn, and rake out moss.

In autumn, rake up falling leaves and remove them from the lawn. Consider using them as a mulch elsewhere, or starting a leaf mould heap, rather than consigning them to the dustbin. If your lawn is very compacted then autumn is a good time to aerate it – use a hollow-tined aerator for the best results, and brush sand into the holes. Aeration improves soil structure and drainage.

You may need to scarify the lawn by raking it to remove the build up of organic material on the soil surface. This encourages the grass to send out side-shoots, but any bare areas that are uncovered should be