Danny Calderbank on how his grass is always greener...

In most gardens the lawn covers the greatest area and yet its appearance is often secondary to borders for example, which is unfortunate for here in the North we experience the ideal conditions for growing grass and we should be able to create fine lawns with very little effort.

Of course how you treat an existing lawn to improve its appearance depends very much on its condition: lawns that are largely grass with only a few weeds are not a problem and a ‘weed and feed’ fertiliser applied twice a year will eradicate most weeds, while the more persistent will need individual spraying with a selective lawn weed killer. The treatment is quick and effective.

When grass is thin and the soil beneath is visible it allows weeds to flourish. There are many reasons why this happens but if you eradicate the weeds and then over-sow with grass seed the sward will thicken and in just a few weeks you will re-establish a quality lawn. Over-sowing isn’t common yet it is a cost-effective way to improve your lawn as you will only use half the amount of seed that would normally be needed to create a new lawn.

Of great concern to gardeners, myself included, is what type of grass seed to use. Manufacturers try to help us by listing their products as ‘hard wearing’, ‘for shade’ or ‘best quality’ when in fact they are a mixture of different grasses in varying proportions. Selecting the right type of grass and then mixing the seed in the correct proportions is a skill that some suppliers seem to be lacking and it is possible to spend time and effort (as well as cash) on preparation only to ultimately be disappointed by the ‘wrong’ seed mixture.

In my opinion the top supplier is Jubilee Seeds and Turf Ltd (www.jublilee-seeds.co.uk) who also happen to be ‘by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen’ Despite this accolade its prices are very competitive and it offers seed mixes for all situations including bowling greens, wild flower meadows, ornamental lawns and royal parks of course. All the mixes use the latest seed types that have been researched carefully to provide the best combination for the purpose.

My choice is JS18 Superlawn containing a new generation of fine-leaved and very dense perennial ryegrasses that are named ‘Sauvignon’ and ‘Evita’ for they offer rapid germination, good wear and tolerance and ease of maintenance but none of the coarseness. You can use this to over-sow an existing lawn or to create a new one.  

In some circumstances the best option is to start from scratch and create a new lawn and you should certainly do this if the weeds have taken over leaving very little grass. The existing grass and weeds will need to be killed before re-sowing and ‘Bayer Glyphosate Concentrate’ will do this well; you will also have the opportunity to make good any bumps and hollows. The good news is that September is a great month to sow seed, for the soil is warm and rainfall is more likely than in the summer months. However, if we experience an ‘Indian Summer’ do maintain moisture by lightly irrigating the area.

Weeding out your garden problems

We have an area of garden that is underneath trees and only gets some light in the morning and unfortunately various weeds manage to grow there. Can you recommend a plant that will grow in these conditions and smother the weeds?

There are few plants that will tolerate these conditions but Waldsteinia ternata will do nicely as it is totally weed suppressing, vigorous, semi-evergreen and produces attractive yellow flowers in late spring/early summer. The most economical way of growing it is to divide potted plants into smaller pieces and they will rapidly colonise the area. Do note however that it can become invasive and spread to other areas – including your neighbour’s garden.

I enjoy gardening and cooking and add spices whenever possible but I am somewhat defeated when it comes to herbs other than the ‘safe’ parsley, thyme, sage and rosemary. I would love to snip off a shoot and do something with it. Can you recommend a book?

A really good book to start with is ‘The Cook’s Herb Garden’ by Jeff Cox and Marie-Pierre Moine who are experienced cookery and organic gardening writers. It is quite literally a ‘plot to plate’ guide covering 130 herbs including how to grow, harvest and cook with them. I didn’t know there were so many. While I do grow a few common herbs in pots I am far from captivated but that’s probably because I would rather spend time in the garden than the kitchen. That said I found this book difficult to put down and with over 70 recipes it offers plenty of scope for any aspiring cook. At £12.99 this is also a snip.

Cuttings

•    Continue picking celery, beetroot and other ‘late’ crops. Sow seed of winter lettuce under cloches or frames; I like the variety ‘All The Year Round’ but for something more robust try ‘Winter Density’. Both are available from Marshalls.

•    Apply an autumn lawn ‘weed and feed’ fertiliser. It will provide more phosphates and potash than the spring feed but this combination strengthens the plant for the ravages of winter

•    Remove any weeds that have started to grow in paths or borders; with luck you may not need to repeat this until next year

•    This is an excellent month to relocate evergreen shrubs but don’t neglect them:  maintain soil moisture but not to the extent of water-logging and consider staking the taller plants in exposed gardens

If you have any gardening questions for Danny contact him by e-mail on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it