What to Do After Laying New Turf in the Middle of Summer
Lay new turf in the middle of summer and the job is only half done when the last roll is down. Fresh turf has no roots into the soil beneath it, so in hot weather it can dry out and…
George Howson
Clay Soil Lawns Bake Hard and Crack in Summer (and How to Soften Them)
If your lawn turns rock-hard and starts to crack in summer yet sits soggy for days after rain, you are gardening on clay. The fix is not more water in the dry spells or better drainage pipes in the wet…
How to Choose the Right Greenworks Mower for the Size of Your Garden
Greenworks builds one of the widest cordless mower ranges on the market, and the secret to buying well is matching the battery voltage to the size of your lawn rather than chasing the biggest number. For most small to medium…
The Best Time of Day to Mow Your Lawn During a Hot Summer
The single best window to mow in a hot summer is mid-morning, roughly between 8 and 10am, once the dew has dried but before the day reaches its peak temperature. A late afternoon slot, around 4 to 6pm, is a…
Why Feeding Your Lawn in Hot Dry Weather Can Scorch It Brown
If the forecast shows a run of hot, dry days, the safest thing you can do for your lawn is put the granular feed back in the shed. Applying a standard high-nitrogen lawn fertiliser to dry, heat-stressed grass is one…
When to Repair an Old Mower and When to Replace It
When a mower starts playing up, the question is rarely whether it can be fixed. Almost anything can be fixed. The real question is whether the fix is worth more than the machine. A useful rule keeps most of these…
What Really Happens to Your Lawn When You Stop Mowing It
Letting the mower stay in the shed sounds like the easiest gardening decision you could make, and for a few weeks it really does help wildlife. But a lawn left completely uncut does not turn into a flower meadow on…
How to Cut an Overgrown Lawn in June Without Stressing the Grass
Come back from a fortnight away in June, or finally tackle a corner you have been ignoring, and the grass can be shin-high. The instinct is to drop the mower to its lowest setting and hack it all off in…
Birds Pecking at Your Lawn Could Mean Grubs Are Feeding Below the Surface
If crows, magpies, rooks, or starlings have started working over your lawn at dawn, jabbing their beaks into the turf and leaving small round holes, they are not after the grass. They are hunting grubs living in the root zone,…
Why Your Mower Leaves Uncut Strips of Grass (and How to Fix It)
If your mower leaves a thin ribbon of standing grass behind every pass, the fix is almost always cheaper and simpler than buying a new machine. In most cases the cause is a blunt or worn blade, a deck that…
