A lawn is not only a resting place but can also be a lot of work.
Too dry, too many weeds, ecologically questionable: the lawn causes many garden owners a big bellyache. And worst of all: It is the dead part of any garden - no colorful flowers, no blooming shrubs, and no pollinating bees.
Following this blog over the years, you might have noticed that I am not a fan of lawns. For me, lawns are expensive and involve lots of work - time you better spend relaxing in your garden. Beautiful flower beds with lots of perennials and blooming shrubs are way more eco-friendly! Lawns are dead! pieces of land in many aspects. But most people don’t think about the environment and act very traditional, wanting to have an immaculate lawn. So, here are some (video) tips on how to care for your turf:
The First Rule for Lawns:
Water, water, and water even more! The second rule is to de-thatch and weed, then mow your lawn. More after a rainy period - less in dry conditions. To ease the mowing task and also to avoid costly lawnmowing services, you might consider a lawnmower robot. People use these robotic devices to vacuum their houses, clean the pool, so why not in the garden?
Robotic lawn mowers - Buyer's Guide
Expert advice on choosing the best robotic lawn mower for your garden, from the reviews team at BBC Gardeners' World Magazine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq7-8hSCS90
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Are ROBOT LAWN Mowers any Good?
See how my robotic lawn mower performed & what you need to know BEFORE considering buying one of these. Featuring the Worx Landroid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IQhM0dkiiE
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Best Robot Lawn Mowers in 2020
Comparisons are based on different sources of information, such as technical data, customer opinions, and our personal experience with the model. Due to the nature of our business, we get our hands on many different gardening tools and equipment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnadVE4Alpw
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De-Thatching
Spring de-thatching is a great way to help renovate your tired, ugly lawn. Using a rake is hard work, and it needs one of these old-fashioned straight, metal rakes. If you have a large lawn you can use a machine that can make the job so much easier than raking by hand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea1wG2iLJFA
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How to Have Clean Edges Around Your Lawn
There is nothing that looks better than well taken care of natural edges in the lawn! However, the half-moon edger he uses in the video is very cheap and you should purchase a better one, with an ergonomic handle and a wider part to step on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qwf-rVDtVo
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Grow a Micro Clover Lawn
This is my favored way of having a beautiful lawn - and I am talking of many years of experience in my own garden: Micro Clover has many benefits over traditional grass, but can also work well with grass. It requires less water and is more sustainable than regular grass lawns and requires far less fertilizer. As soon as the snow is melted, your lawn will show a nice green color, while your neighbor’s lawn is still brown and unsightly. And you save lots of mowing time. This video explains the benefits of micro clover, gives directions on how to seed a micro clover lawn AND overseed a grass lawn with micro clover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq7-8hSCS90
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My Best Advice: Shrink Your Lawn
Those expanses of green turf take an enormous amount of resources. Eliminate some of your lawns and create a more natural landscape. You will ultimately use less water and reduce chemical use and save some money too. As well, you will do less mowing and raking.
Moving away from water-guzzling and chemical-hungry lawns and cultivating yards that are diverse and self-regulating is a matter of mounting urgency. As global temperatures rise and droughts drag on, the demands of turfgrass are likely to become untenable.
Recommended reading:
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/more-sustainable-and-beautiful-alternatives-grass-lawn
https://www.cbc.ca/life/home/the-case-for-leaving-the-perfectly-manicured-lawn-behind-1.6449477
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