AD – GIFTED | There’s a very familiar sound at this time of year. Up and down “this blessed plot, this earth, this realm“1 you can hear the coughing and humming that announces the arrival of British Summertime at last. Because if you have a garden, #FirstCutSunday marks the start of the grass cutting season too. Yes, it’s time to start preparing your lawn ready for Spring. This year though, thanks to Flymo *, who have very kindly gifted us a new lawnmower* and 3-in-1* blower, strimmer, and trimmer, our job will be a whole lot easier. So, how have we got on, and what lawn care tips are involved in getting your garden Spring-ready?
How do you prepare your lawn ready for Spring?
Winter isn’t kind to lawns. I’ve written before about not treading on frozen grass as it will damage the cellular structure but this isn’t the only issue. Fallen leaves block air and light getting through to the new grass, and moss and thatch build up are perennial problems. There’s a reason why there are so many lawn care and maintenance companies around. And there’s a reason why so many lawns end up being decked or gravelled over. Contrary to popular belief, maintaining a lush lawn is one of the hardest things to do in the garden. Which is probably another reason why new build houses tend to have such tiny ones, but that’s a whole other blog story. Anyway, here are some lawn care tips to help you prepare your lawn ready for Spring.
Clear the leaves
Fallen leaves act like a blanket on your lawn. We pack most of ours into biodegradable sacks throughout Autumn and store them while they convert to leaf mould mulch for use the following year. But if you don’t have space for this, then now is the time to sweep them up and get the leaf blower out for the stragglers. And there’s something very satisfying about jumping into a huge pile of leaves isn’t there? Although I might need to tell Flora that repeatedly doing this is a fast track to being banned from the garden…
Provide aeration
Moss and thatch is a problem we face each Spring. Our lawn and orchard don’t have the best drainage and this year seems worse than usual. Aeration opens up compacted soil and allows it to breathe and incorporate the water and nutrients it needs to grow. If you have a small lawn, you can buy a special rake with long tines and give it a vigorous DIY massage. Otherwise it’s best to hire a proper aerator to remove plugs of soil, or get a lawn care company to do it for you. In our case, I think our lawn needs professional help this year, although the orchard has fared much better thanks to the acid from the fruit trees. Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase, an apple a day 🙂
Add a feed
After clearing leaves and aerating, it’s time to feed your lawn to help get it ready for Spring and Summer. Fertilizing now provides a nutrient build up that helps it withstand heat stress and drought through the summer months. And if last year’s heatwave is likely to be repeated this year, our lawn needs all the feeding we can give it. Again, if you’re not sure what to do, a lawn care company can help.
Repair any damage
Another unwelcome side effect of last summer’s heatwave was the infestation of cockchafer grubs in our lawn (not the orchard though). Earlier this year, the birds made mincemeat of huge patches of grass when they all went crazy digging out the emerging grubs. We’ve had to cut the turf away and put down some temporary turf rolls while we wait for our lawn care company to aerate the lawn. Once all this has been done though we can reseed the bare patches. Despite all of the above, grass is tough. It’s a weed and will thrive in most places. Think back to last summer and all those brown patches. As soon as we had a few days of rain, the patches greened up as if nothing had happened.
Cut the grass
This is the last step for getting your lawn ready for Spring: actually cutting the grass. Once you’ve dragged your mower out of hibernation, make sure the blades are sharp (replace them if necessary) so they actually cut rather than rip the grass. And for the first cut of the year, keep the blades high so as not to shock the grass. Mowing high and often for the first few weeks is the best way to encourage the grass to grow healthily for a lush green summer sward to be proud of.
#FirstCutSunday with Flymo
As I mentioned, this year we’ve been very lucky to team up with every gardener’s dream brand, Flymo, for their #FirstCutSunday campaign. And we’ve been testing two of their products, their Mighti-Mo lawnmower and their new C-LiNK 3-in-1 blower, trimmer and strimmer.
C-LiNK
“The all-new Flymo C-Link kit includes two lithium-ion batteries, a grass trimmer with a 30cm cutting width, a hedge trimmer with a 42cm blade length and 16mm blade gap, and a blower that has blow speeds of up to 129km/h. All these products are click and go interchangeable with the power head concept.”
This tool has been a joy to use; it’s so lightweight that even Flora has been able to wield it. She had huge fun blowing the leaves around, although was less keen on actually tidying up afterwards…
We haven’t used the hedge trimmer attachment yet, but will be doing so later this year, once nesting season is over. (We have a lot of birds who nest in our hedges each year). I already know how easy to use it will be compared with our last one, which weighed a ton. And it’s hands down the best strimmer we’ve ever had. Perfect for going around the greenhouse, trees, and newly emerging individual delicate Spring flowers.
I realise that for non-gardeners, this may not be hugely interesting, but when you’ve had to replace countless strimmer blades and suddenly don’t have to, well, day made. The inclusion of a second battery is also a great idea as you can keep one on charge while you work and then swap over when necessary.
Mighti-Mo – Cordless Lawn Mower
“Powered by a 40V Li-Ion battery, the cordless Mighti-Mo 300’s 30cm cutting deck can cut a lawn up to 250 sqm on a single charge. A single lever allows for easy changes of cutting height from 25mm up to 65mm, and a 30 litre grass box means a less frequent need to empty the box. The mower has a convenient carry handle and weighs just 9.9kg with battery. The handles fold down so it’s easy to store away too.”
Quite honestly, we were a little sceptical when we unboxed this mower. It’s so lightweight and small that we wondered how it would cope with our orchard. But… after a couple of hours with the battery on charge, it was perfectly happy whizzing up and down. We did have to readjust the battery fit a few times though, as our orchard is a little bumpy. Our existing petrol mower is heavy to push, which is why grass cutting always falls to Alan.
We have masses of Spring bulbs all over the place and he loathes having to navigate his way around them, with me squeaking in alarm behind him. The Mighti-Mo, however, is so light and manoeuvrable that I can use it too (although I’m not sure this is necessarily a plus point, haha) and cut around my precious flowers. To be honest, I can’t see him getting out the old petrol mower again, our new Flymo model is so easy to use.
In conclusion
So there we are, five lawn care tips to preparing your lawn ready for Spring, and Summer too, of course. Not too onerous if you break it down. And when you’ve got the right tools, it’s actually quite enjoyable being outside in fresh air, taking the time to appreciate what’s blossoming and shooting around you.
What do you do to get your lawn ready for Spring? Have you got any top lawn care tips to share?
1 Shakespeare’s Richard II, Act 2 Scene 1, John of Gaunt’s speech 🙂
* This is a sponsored post and features gifted items, but all opinions and photos are my own.
What a perfect item for you to receive through your blog Lisa! I bet you were thrilled. Lawnmowers can be expensive! We actually have a gardener (I know, that sounds SO pompous) who does our grass for us so we don’t have to worry about it thankfully! He does a good job 🙂 And our garden isn’t too big that it’s an overwhelming job come Spring and Summer.
Jenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
Thank you, Jenny, honestly, I couldn’t believe my luck, my dream collab, absolutely peak garden blogger goals! And no, I actually envy you a gardener, we used to have one too but he quit because there was too much work to do, haha! xx
We only have a small paved garden, but I genuinely love reading about other people’s gardens and yours is beautiful. After taking a little read and look around your blog this seems like the perfect collaboration for you, so congratulations!
Hannah
Ah thank you so much, that’s so kind of you. It’s a lot of hard work but all worthwhile, especially when opportunities like this one come along too! x
Just looking at your photos makes me feel nostalgic. I used to live in the house with garden, and even if it’s lots of work to keep it pretty, I really miss it.
Nice post and I am glad you had a chance to do this collab.
Thank you 🙂 Yes, I used to live in a first floor flat with just a window box so having all this green space to play with is still a novelty for me, even after ten years! x
What an easily accessible and informative post! In all honesty it makes me grateful that I don’t have to care for a lawn!
Thank you so much, I did try to break it down so I’m very glad it’s come across – even if it has put you off owning your own lawn, oops! 🙂
Both our front and back gardens are laid with decorative stone or slabs, so we don’t have a lawn. But I remember how difficult they were to maintain – I think that’s why we opted to re-landscape both gardens. A great lawnmower is a must have though and I bet you were thrilled getting one to review! That’s the perfect gift for your blog.
We have issues with leaves falling from our two fruit trees. Putting them into biodegradable sacks throughout Autumn sounds like the ideal solution. Thanks for the tip!
I’m not going to lie, there have been many occasions when we’ve both considered paving over our lawn and just keeping the orchard (this year being one of them thanks to the cockchafer grub infestation) but there’s something about a lush green expanse that’s to appealing. And thanks to this amazing collab, this year it’s going to be a whole lot easier to keep maintained! Good luck with your leaf collecting, it’s so great getting something for free instead of throwing them away 🙂 X
Your garden looks lush, the daffodils look glorious! My garden is a patio and some gravel at the moment and I am looking forward to having a lawn again. Although to be honest I’m not the biggest fan of having to cut it. Where did you get you your tiger? I think my nephew would love that in the garden.
Grace
Ah, thank you so much, that’s so kind. In some ways, I do think a patio and gravel would be easier, haha, but I couldn’t not have grass when it’s so lovely and green. My husband found the tiger in a charity shop – I had no idea it would be life-size when he phoned me to ask if he should get it! x
Oh wow! Your garden looks absolutely beautiful. We’re moving to a house with a garden in a couple of weeks (SO excited) so I need to learn about maintaining a lawn and everything – your posts are always so helpful, I’m bookmarking this!
Hels xx
Oooh, how exciting! A new garden, the possibilities are endless 🙂 can’t wait to see your first garden post!! Xx
Oooh these are such amazing tips, I’m pretty much the worst gardener in the world, my mum is amazing at this kind of stuff!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
Aw, thank you 🙂 TBH I’ve only got into gardening as I’ve got older, it must be a mum thing, haha x
Ooh this is the perfect range for you to be gifted! Flymo is one of the best brands isn’t it? Even I’ve heard of it and I’m not a natural gardener haha. I actually don’t mind cutting the grass though, I absolutely love the smell of it!
Soph – https://sophhearts.com x
Honestly, I still can’t believe it, I feel so lucky, it’s every gardener’s dream brand collab 🙂 I love the smell of freshly cut grass too, it’s the quintessential Spring scent! X
God bless this post! Honestly we are having so many issues with the lawn in our new build. It’s on uneven ground, there is gravel throughout and it wasn’t well seeded when we moved in. Now it’s uneven and patchy and I’ve been considering getting it covered in artificial grass.
I’m taking some of these tips and applying them to see if there is any way we can salvage it.
Oh, I’m so glad this was helpful, that’s so lovely to hear! Lawns in new builds tend not to be brilliant for all the reasons you’ve described but they can be salvaged, you just need to put a little work in 🙂 Good luck, I’d love to know how you get on!
That’s such an awesome gift, Lisa! I’d be super thrilled if I was gifted something for my garden :3 Your garden is going to look so perfect for spring!
Thank you, Eena, we are so delighted, it’s such a fab mower and the 3-in-1 is just brilliant. Roll on summer!
Yay!! I’m so happy you teamed up with Flymo, this is such a perfect collab for you Lisa! I always love learning new things about gardening from your blog, even though I don’t have much of a garden myself, this was really interesting to read. The lawn mower sounds so lightweight and easy to use – like you say, it’s perfect for getting out in the fresh air and enjoying the pretty scenery. Looking forward to see your beautiful garden updates again, in fact I’m grabbing a cuppa and heading over to your April in the garden post right now. Thanks for sharing lovely, fab post as always! <3 xxx
Honestly, I never imagined I’d work with a brand like Flymo, I don’t think a gardener could aim any higher! I’m so lucky, both their tools are wonderful, they make such a difference us. And thank you so much for your lovely comments, I’m so pleased you enjoy our garden updates, they’re among my favourite posts to write too! xxx
Lucky you Lisa! Brilliant collaboration definitely something that helps with your beautiful garden! I have a small garden & have to be honest can’t bring myself to do it, Mum usually ends up coming & doing it! Determined this year will try to keep on top of it more. Your breakdown was great 😊
Ah, thank you, I’m so glad it was helpful and good luck with your garden this year! And yes, I’m still pinching myself, haha, I feel incredibly lucky 🙂
I did not know all that about grass I find it so interesting. This collaboration is great for you, I enjoy reading about your garden posts. I love the smell of freshly cut grass, it makes it feel like spring and summer. You have written a great review! Thank you for sharing Lisa! Xx
Thank you so much, Lauren, that’s so kind of you, and yes, this was a dream collab for a gardener like me, I feel very lucky. I know what you mean about the smell of freshly cut grass, it’s such a harbinger of the warmer and lighter seasons! xx
Hi Lisa. Thank you for these tips. I’ll see what we can do with our ‘war zone’ lawns. I’ve just bought some grass seed to help with a few bare patches and areas of thin growth. Any tips for optimum use?
Thank you, Richie. I’m no lawn expert but if you rake the thin patches to rough up any compacted soil and give them a good water before sprinkling grass seed that should help. (f you water afterwards, you’ll wash away the seed). And press the seed lightly into the soil too, with a board or something. Then keep an eye out for pigeons 🙂
Great set of reminders, especially the aeration tip — so many people skip that step and then wonder why their lawn looks thin. I’d add that what you feed your lawn right after aeration makes a big difference. Switching to organic lawn fertilizers a couple of seasons ago improved both the color and the worm activity in our soil noticeably. Slow-release formulas in particular work well because they don’t push a flush of growth that stresses the grass. The overseeding timing advice here is spot-on too — getting that right makes or breaks the fall results. Thanks for putting this together!
Thank you for what sounds like solid advice!