Celebrity gardener and English Chartered Horticulturist, David Domoney, reveals his top tips for caring for a lawn that has turned into a mud bath as a result of bad weather.
Given that Storm Ciaran has just hit the UK this past week, there's no better time than now to knuckle down on ways to improve lawn drainage to help further protect your garden the next time heavy rainfall takes a toll on your outdoor space.
Speaking exclusively to Ideal Home, David Domoney reveals that the first course of action you should take when trying to save a garden after heavy rainfall – especially where lawns are concerned – is to simply not walk on it.
'Don't walk on it. I think the issue with lawns is that if the soil gets very wet and you tread on it, you compact it,' explains David. 'So when it's been particularly damp, keep off it. That is my primary thing.'
'This then opens into a brilliant question on how to handle drainage in a lawn,' he continues.
After following David's first bit of advice to keep off your lawn right after heavy rainfall, you can then consider the following lawn care tips are key to maintaining lawns amidst bad weather this winter.
David Domoney's tips for improving lawn drainage
'The first thing you might wish to do is to aerate the lawn using hollow tine which takes the core of the soil out,' starts David.
'You can then top dress in between and there's lots of top dressing you can buy from garden centres which fills in those little gaps by taking a small hollow tine out of the lawn.'
He continues, 'You're basically taking the core of the soil out which prunes the roots and gives more air and space for the lawn to breathe. So aerating the lawn and top dressing is something that can really help.'
Spike aeration loosens soil and thatch to let air, water, and fertiliser down to the roots, which is good preparation for your seeding. The drainage function makes your lawn thicker and healthier.
This top dressing's fine grade ensures closer seed and root contact with the compost for swift, successful germination and strong healthy grass growth and establishment.
However, while these tips are certainly useful for helping to improve your lawn's drainage, they may not be the most effective for extremely compact and waterlogged lawns. In that case, you'll likely have to take other modes of action.
But, of course, if you're lucky enough to not be suffering with a lawn that's been completely overtaken by Mother Nature, then aerating and top dressing is a prevention method you ought to do now before it's too late.
After all, prevention is better than cure – even for gardens.
David is currently supporting Greene King's Proud to Pitch In scheme, speaking on the importance of pitch quality and maintenance for grassroots sports. If you are part of a grassroots sports team and want to learn more about Proud to Pitch in, visit: https://www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/proud-to-pitch-in/.
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