The joke is that you can only have a real English lawn after planting the plants and cutting them for a hundred years. You really don't need that much time, but experts advise that you need more work to plan well, and some have to be done several times a year. At this time, you should already take care of fertilizing the lawn with autumn manure.
As Regina Kanevičienė, the regional agronomist of the Linas Agro company, said, the conversation with customers who want to have a beautiful lawn near their home begins with clarifying their needs. "It's very important to know what people expect because lawns vary. Maybe for some, only a green lawn for children to run around is enough. For others, more beauty. For the third - representative lawns. It is also important to know how much time the owners are willing to devote to lawn care, as some need more, others less. And it's far from just mowing as the grass grows. Only after finding out what people expect, it is possible to provide appropriate solutions and advice," said the agronomist.
It is important to choose the right seeds
The installation of a lawn near houses or buildings of other purpose begins with the preparation of the base, which must be done very carefully, since the greenery will have to grow here for several years. First of all, proper soil selection and compaction is necessary. For example, if there is a gravel or clay base in the area intended for the lawn, the first step is to provide a vegetative layer where the grass can take root. At this stage, as explained by R.Kanevičienė, residents increasingly use the services of gardeners. "Next comes the selection of seeds. It is necessary to consider whether the area is open and sunny, or vice versa - there will be shade. Does the customer want a rougher lawn or one that can be run on barefoot? Is there an irrigation system or not? What kind of seeds will be suitable depends on such things," said the specialist. Herbs that have a deeper root system are usually less decorative and beautiful, but recover faster from droughts and create a representative image. "If we are seeding in the shade or in a lower wet area where waterlogging is greater, we put more red fescue and choose mixtures that are designed for growing in shady areas, because the grass species and varieties used there are better preserved. If we want a lawn that is resistant to trampling or to install a sports field, then we need to add more components that are not afraid of trampling and recover faster after it. All lawn grass mixes have a purpose. Some are intended for growing in open areas, others in the shade, sandy or dry soil. They differ in their resistance to grazing, drought, water demand, and are of various decorative types - from lawns to representative, intensively maintained lawns, etc.
Therefore, you should choose the mixture that suits your environment and your needs, and in no case mix them together, because the types and varieties of grass included in each lawn grass mixture are coordinated with each other in terms of decorativeness, color, resistance and durability. It is possible that after mixing different mixtures, you may be disappointed, because the lawn may grow at a different pace, differ in color or density," said Vilmantas Petrauskas, product manager of the company "Dotnuva Seeds". The Linas Agro company offers its customers lawn seed mixtures of the subsidiary company Dotnuva Seeds and the Danish breeder and producer DLF. These are professionally selected and formulated mixtures from the simplest (2-3 species and varieties) to the most complex (5 species and 10 varieties) mixtures for a wide range of use conditions. For organic farms that use less added nitrogen, they offer mixtures with white lawn clover.
It is determined by the temperature of the soil, not just the air
When installing a lawn, sowing can be started when the weather and moisture conditions are suitable. Some people think that when the spring sun begins to warm, it is already possible to start work. However, everything depends not on the air itself, but on the temperature of the soil (usually measured at a depth of 5-10 cm), which must be at least 8 degrees Celsius. "When sowing, the seeds cannot be inserted too deeply - half a centimeter is enough. A sufficient amount of moisture must also be ensured", said R. Kanevičienė. How much moisture is in the soil can be determined both with a moisture meter and with the naked eye - if the lawn starts to dry, the color turns light green or brown, it is obvious that it needs to be watered. And if the lawn is properly aerated and fertilized, but looks ugly and lacks moisture, then you need to water it infrequently, but abundantly. It is best to pour about 10-20 liters of water per square meter once a week before night.
The main components of fertilizers are three
When it comes to fertilizing your home lawn, it's usually done two or three times a year, usually in the spring, summer, and fall. The lawn is usually fertilized for the first time in April with a slow- or fast-acting spring fertilizer. The choice depends on the appearance of the lawn - if the lawn is green and undamaged after winter, we use slow-acting fertilizers. If it is rare and yellowed or damaged by snow mold - we use quick-acting fertilizers and after 4-6 weeks we use long-acting fertilizers. The next fertilizing with quick-acting fertilizers is at the end of May. Depending on how the lawn looks, how much moisture and heat has been there, another fertilization is possible. Long-acting fertilizers work for 3-4 months, and currently - at the end of August, the lawn is already fertilized with autumn fertilizers.
As agronomist R. Kanevičienė said, complex fertilizers are usually recommended so that they do not contain only nitrogen. They are called NPK fertilizers according to the chemical symbols of the main components - nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). If the lawn is not fertilized, it can happen that the root system will develop more slowly and the lawn will thin out significantly during drought or winter. Then the lawn may have to be additionally compacted and even re-sown in the spring. "The lawn is scarified (the surface of the lawn is combed down to the ground) in spring. Old plant debris is removed from the lawn to allow it to aerate and allow air, moisture and nutrients to move freely. If the lawn is severely compacted or has reduced water absorption or permeability, the lawn should be aerated by stabbing the lawn to a depth of 10-15 cm and using light soil or sand mixed with seeds. The movement of nutrients in the soil will improve and the lawn will become denser. All this work should be done only after making sure that there will be enough moisture in the near future or you will have the opportunity to water the lawn. It is very important that after scarifying or aerating the lawn, we ensure a moisture regime, because during these works, the roots of the lawn are partially exposed - if the weather is very dry, even if it is cold, the lawn will suffer greatly and will be rare. If the lawn is damaged due to excavation work, or there are unsprouted areas, we recommend sowing (compacting) the lawn with the same type of mixture that was sown before. If the lawn is thinned evenly over the entire area, then we recommend mixtures for lawn renewal (in these mixtures, plant species that are most likely to thin out are selected, so the balance of the lawn will be restored). After these works, the grown-up lawn will look like a continuous carpet and you will be able to enjoy a beautiful view", advised R. Kanevičienė, regional agronomist of Linas Agro company.
Correct height is important when cutting
Dotnuva Seeds product manager V. Petrauskas. Lawn mowing is an inevitable job for lawn owners in the warm season. When mowing the lawn, it is important to choose the right height for it: for a normal household lawn, it should reach 30-35 millimeters, but if a drought begins, the height should be increased to 40-45 millimeters. The more complex and decorative the mixture, the lower it is cut. Sometimes even up to 15-20 mm high. However, very low-cut lawns will need to be mowed fairly frequently (every 2-3 days) and watered regularly, otherwise the lawn will begin to dry out and turn yellow.
As V. Petrauskas, product manager of "Dotnuva Seeds" said, sometimes people, seeing a browned, low-cut lawn, think that if they cut the lawn higher - 50 mm, it will look greener and more beautiful. However, if the lawn is cut high, it will thin out and the lawn will have to be constantly renewed by spreading additional seeds. The lawn should not be allowed to grow too tall and then cut low, as this deprives it of nutrients stored in the leaves. So, instead of devoting energy to the development of the root system and thus thickening it, it is forced to re-accumulate nutrients. Generally, the lawn can be cut to 1/3 of its height. Therefore, if the lawn was overgrown, its mowing height should be lowered in several mowings," V. Petrauskas shared his advice.
