As the nights start to draw in and the days get shorter, some of us might not think about gardening so much!
And while autumn is the perfect time to enjoy a hot chocolate, or something slightly stronger, from the comfort of your favourite armchair of an evening…
It’s also the perfect time to spend a few days doing some pre-winter jobs in the garden.
Here are our top tips for autumn gardening jobs:
🍂 Keep your lawn tidy!
Rake fallen leaves and debris from your lawn regularly.
This ensures that light and air can still get to your lawn and keep it in good condition.
There’s no need to dig it in – the worms will take care of that for you over the winter!
🌱 Scarify and aerate your lawn
Rake away dead grass, moss and weeds.
Aerate your lawn if you think it needs doing. It encourages the grass’s roots to grow deeper, which will give you a healthier, stronger lawn.
Fill in any bare patches with topsoil, seed or new turf if the patches are large!
Now is also a good time to give your lawn an autumn feed.
🦔 Provide shelter for insects and hedgehogs to hibernate
Just like worms, animals such as hedgehogs and insects are really helpful in the garden. So it’s great to encourage them!
Hedgehogs will love a pile of leaves and twigs in a sheltered place where they can hibernate. Under the shed is a great spot. Or if you’re feeling flashy, you could make your own hedgehog house!
As well as leaves and twigs, log piles are great for insects and invertebrates.
🔨 Check fences, sheds and greenhouses and make any repairs
Before the wet and windy weather sets in, check your fences, shed and greenhouse for damage. Make any repairs before they get worse!
🌱 Lay a new turf lawn
Autumn is the perfect time to lay a new turf lawn. So if you’ve been thinking of doing it, do it now!
Prepare the area well and lay your turf the same day it’s delivered.
Save yourself time and effort in the garden with our low-maintenance gardening ideas!
As much as we love our gardens, we don’t all have as much spare time as we’d like to look after them!
So we’ve put together some top tips and ideas. To help you save time and hard work, and keep some parts of your garden low-maintenance.
Then you can sit back and relax in your garden instead!
🌲 Bark chippings are great to use in beds and borders, pathways and for topping containers.
They help with weed suppression, water retention and ground cover.
They’re also a brilliant solution if you have a steeper slope in your garden that is difficult to mow or look after.
Our Play Grade Bark and Play Grade Chip are also perfect for children’s play areas. So you don’t have to have the heartache of watching your lawn getting ruined OR repairing or replacing it!
Use them on pathways, driveways, and beds and borders. Also for topping pots and containers, ornamental areas, fish ponds, or around rockeries.
They add colour, texture and interest all around the garden, as well as being very durable!
But they’re not just for show – they also provide weed suppression and water retention.
🌷 Planting annuals each year can be time-consuming.
Include more low-maintenance plants such as perennials, ornamental grasses, ferns, hostas and evergreens. These don’t need regular deadheading or pruning and pretty much look after themselves.
TOP TIP: Ferns and hostas are also great choices for shaded areas.
🧱 Edging borders and lawns is a really useful way to stop your lawn from spreading into borders or onto paths.
You don’t have to use plastic edging though – you could use bricks, stone, wood, or steel to add extra interest.
💐 Create your very own wildflower meadow!
Well, ok, you may not have enough room for an actual meadow! But you could sow wildflower seeds in a corner or the edge of your garden, or just allow it to grow wild and do its own thing!
Wildflowers look amazing, add loads of colour, and are brilliant for pollinators such as bees and butterflies.
⛏️ Stop digging!
The ‘no-digging’ method means adding a layer of mulch to your flower beds. You can use a variety of mulches such as compost or well-rotted manure in spring and/or autumn.
Not digging means you’re not disturbing the worms etc. that help to keep soil and plants healthy.
This method of gardening improves soil drainage and stops many weeds. AND your borders won’t need watering as much.
What’s not to like about that?!
We hope this helps! If you’ve got any time-saving or low-maintenance gardening tips, do let us know!
Artificial grass isn’t as green as it looks. Why would you fake it when you can have the real thing?
While artificial grass might be a tempting option for some, it’s not as great, or green, as we’re led to believe.
It’s advertised as low-maintenance:
You don’t need to mow it; there are no weeds; it will always be green and won’t suffer from dry, brown patches.
BUT, you will need to clean it to eliminate stains and smells and water it to cool it.
You don’t need to wash real grass and it cools itself through transpiration!
What’s so bad about artificial grass?
The clue is in the name – it’s FAKE GRASS!
❌ It’s plastic, so it’s definitely NOT environmentally friendly. It’s made using fossil fuels, isn’t easily recycled and contains hazardous substances.
❌ It does nothing for biodiversity.
We’re losing so much of our natural landscapes and wildlife habitats as it is.
We need to hold on to and protect as much of them as we can for the sake of wildlife and ourselves.
And the easiest place to start is our own gardens.
❌ It gets HOT!
In fact, in high temperatures, it gets hotter than concrete. It’s reported to have burnt the paws of pets – so it will burn your feet too!
We know not to walk our dogs in the heat, especially not on hot concrete. So why would you want something that gets even hotter than that in your garden?!
❌ It doesn’t give the endorphin-enhancing benefits that walking barefoot on real grass does!
What can you do to help?
Don’t have fake ‘grass’ in your garden!
🌱 Real grass is great for the environment. It traps carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. It also provides homes and food for wildlife including worms, bugs, bees, birds and mammals.
🌱 Encourage and help pollinators, invertebrates and birds by letting some of your lawn grow long and do its natural thing. Your very own country meadow! Keep some of your grass short aswell so that birds can find food such as ants.
🌱 Have as many trees and plants in your garden as you can. They’re great for biodiversity and will brighten up your garden!
Take a look at our top-quality turf, and for best results, add a layer of our topsoil before laying your new turf.
As much as we love the summer, it puts our lawns under pressure.
The heat from the sun and less rainfall take their toll.
And that’s before we even get to how much more we USE our lawns in the summer!
What’s the best way to look after your lawn in summer?
Well, the best thing you can do is…
RELAX!
It makes sense that your lawn will be dry and not looking its best at the moment.
It’s tempting to try and revive a tired-looking lawn at first sight of it. But it’s best for your grass to let nature take its course and wait until autumn before you get to work on it.
That way you’ll have the cooler, wetter weather on your side!
So what can you do?
🌱 You can mow your lawn around once a week. Set your mower blade high (about 5-10cm) and make sure it’s sharp.
🌱 Add a summer feed if you wish. Try to do it just before rain is forecast so it gets washed right down to the roots.
🌱 Reseed any bare patches. If the patches are large you can dig them out and replace them with new turf.
🌱 Don’t forget to water a few times a day!
🌱 Keep the edges tidy using long-handled shears.
🌱 If you can, it’s good to move toys and garden furniture around regularly. This helps to keep the grass underneath them in better condition.
And as we said above, RELAX! It’s summer, so enjoy it! 😃
Is looking at your lumpy, bumpy, uneven lawn making you feel a bit queasy? Find out how to make it level and lovely again!
Over time, dips and dents can appear on your lawn, that you’ll probably want to put right.
How you fix the problem really depends on the severity.
You might have just a few small dents.
Or larger sunken patches.
Roll with it?
Your first thought might be to use a roller.
BUT…
While using a roller on your lawn won’t damage the grass first-hand, it will cause the soil underneath to compact.
And compacted soil isn’t good for grass!
To grow and stay strong and healthy, grass needs air from the soil.
Compaction squeezes the air from the soil and stops water from draining into the ground.
So it’s a good idea to only use a roller if you really need to!
So how DO you repair bumps on your lawn?
Well, you have several options, so you can choose the best to suit you and your lawn!
🌱 You can even out your lawn by filling in any small ‘dents’ with a thin layer of topsoil over the grass.
Don’t worry, the grass will grow through the dressing!
🌱 If the dents are bare of grass you can fill them with soil. Either leave the grass around them to cover the patches or add some grass seed.
🌱 You can remove sunken ‘sod’, level the area underneath with topsoil, add some water then replace the sod. Remember to keep it watered until the roots have re-established in the new soil.
🌱 If you want to fix it in a hurry, you can lay new turf. Just make sure you prepare the area well and remember to water while the roots establish.
Ideally, you should have your turf delivered the same day you’re going to lay it.
Once cut & on the pallet, it generally has a shelf life of 24 hours AT THE MOST.
In the height of summer, it will be far less.
You’ve got your turf, now what do you do with it?!
It’s easy to think you can just unroll your turf in any old fashion! But there are a few ‘rules’ you should follow for best results:
🌱 Use laying boards (or similar) to avoid damaging your new turf.
🌱 Start laying the turf along a straight edge, laying the rolls in a brickwork pattern.
🌱 Push the ends & edges close together – remember to PUSH, not PULL as this will damage the turf! (If the rolls don’t fit together perfectly, you can fill any gaps with soil).
🌱 Gently press the turf into the soil beneath. Using a piece of wood for this is helpful!
🌱 If you need to cut the turf, use a saw, lawn edger or long sharp knife.
🌱 When you’re finished, if there are any exposed edges, sprinkle a layer of soil over them. This stops them from drying out & you can remove it once the turf has established.
How should you look after your new turf lawn?
After all that hard work, caring for your new lawn to keep it in the best condition is really important!
🌱 Once you laid your turf, water it until the water soaks through to the soil beneath.
🌱 Remember not to use your lawn for several weeks, except to water it.
🌱 Over the next 1-2 weeks, if it doesn’t rain, you’ll need to water your lawn every day. In the evening is best, when it’s cooler.
🌱 After a couple of weeks, check your lawn to make sure the turf has established (rooted). To do this, lift a corner and check that the roots have grown into the soil underneath the turf.
🌱 Once your grass has established you can give it its’ first cut. Remember to keep the mower blade high to avoid damaging the grass.
We hope this guide helps you! Please feel free to share it with anyone it might help!
🌱 These are capable of tolerating a high care programme and close cutting.
🌱 Developed to the highest standard over many years, this turf is grown in light, sandy loam soil.
🌱 Independent testing ensures it meets the high standards expected by professional greenkeepers.
Hard Wearing Garden Turf
Being made up of an incredibly robust mix of grasses, our Hard Wearing Garden Turf is easy to maintain.
🌱 It’s been designed to cope with dry conditions and partial shade.
🌱 Ideal for high-traffic areas such as family gardens, football pitches and rugby fields.
🌱 Having a deep rooting system means it needs less moisture. This helps to make it future-proof for use in areas where hosepipe bans are common or rainwater is scarce.
Family Garden Turf
We grow our premium Family Garden Turf from the finest fescues, bents and dwarf rye seeds.
🌱 This is a special mix that we developed over 20 years, resulting in a lush green, high-quality lawn.
🌱 This tough turf is durable enough to withstand lots of use by children and pets!
🌱 It can be laid at any time of year and used for a wide range of garden and landscaping projects as well as sports pitches.
Whatever your turf needs, or if you’re unsure which type you need, call us and we’ll be more than happy to discuss it with you!
And don’t forget, if you’re not sure how much turf you need to order, you can use our handy Turf Calculator.