Make your lawn better for wildlife using more natural lawn care products and leaving some of it to grow a bit wilder. There’s nothing wrong in having a mown space for family fun and games, but why not cut down on your mowing time and leave some of it to support nature.
Care and control
Fans of Richard’s garden products know that each and every formulation is the best of the best. But did you know that many of them are organic or natural too. By opting for kinder lawn care products, you support the garden mini-beasts and the whole natural balance of the garden. So, for example, if your lawn is more moss than grass and that bothers you, Richard’s Moss Remover feeds the lawn and removes moss naturally. Two jobs in one with great results. Moss usually thrives in areas of low nutrients so this formulation deals with the moss and then changes its growing conditions so that it doesn’t thrive there any more.
Cut back on mowing
Imagine not having to mow the lawn every week in the growing season? How many hours each week do you spend cutting the grass? Then factor in the electric or petrol that powers your lawnmower and the wear and tear on your machine. It all adds up. So, this year try something different. You could keep one area of your lawn pristine and allow the rest to grow a bit longer or even into a meadow. This works particularly well if you have wildflowers in your lawns. Don’t call them weeds, think of them as wildflowers, it sounds nicer and you may start to appreciate their beauty. What’s more they provide essential food for pollinators. But even grasses are vital larval plants for many of our precious butterflies and moths, so by leaving some of the lawn to grow a bit wild you are helping to support these species too. Leaving areas of the garden uncultivated in this way also supports any creatures that live in the soil, leaving their nesting and feeding sites untouched.
Wildflower lawns
Consider transforming part of your lawn into a wildflower lawn. It doesn’t mean letting it grow out of control, but you can let it grow longer and allow any wildflowers to blossom. Plant some wildflower plug plants into the area and let them establish. Great plants to choose are bird’s foot trefoil (see main image), self-heal, red and white clover, knapweed, buttercups and daisies. These will tolerate gentle mowing, not too short, and flower through the summer.
If you have the space you can build on your wildflower lawn and grow it into a meadow by planting taller species of wildflowers as plug plants, things like scabious, campion, yarrow, ox eye daisies, wild orchids, knapweed and more. Mow a path through a wildflower lawn or meadow area and allow the rest to grow. See what flowers, you might be surprised. If it starts to get out of hand then cut back a third of it and let the rest remain, then cut another third in about 4-6 weeks. Leave the cuttings to drop their seeds and then remove gently. Don’t forget seed heads are food for the seed eating birds and that many insects nest in hollow stems.
Plastic is not fantastic
Please don’t be tempted to put in artificial grass. Even if you are struggling to maintain your garden, plastic grass is not the solution. It suffocates the soils, puts a barrier between the soil and the environment preventing soil microbes and mini-beasts from moving freely. It degrades into micro-plastics into the environment and cannot be recycled. Please think more than twice before you consider artificial grass. Instead, why not get someone in to help you with your lawn, it will look better, be kinder to nature and offer someone some work, saving you the time and effort but resulting in a more beautiful garden.
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