Seed mixtures for easy-to-maintain lawn turf

There are four grasses key to lawn seed mixtures.

• Dwarf ryegrass: fast to establish, tough and durable. Shallow rooting so best avoided on light, dry soils.
• Red fescue: beautiful fine leaved grasses, in two varieties, slender red fescue, which creeps when growing and chewings fescue which is noncreeping but just as attractive
• Smooth meadowgrass: fresh green in colour, tolerant to drought and slow growing. Has a creeping habit and tolerates shade.
• Bentgrass, or ’golf green’ grass: tolerates close mowing down to 5 mm. Fine  leaved, slow to start and delicate when young. Seldom used on its own.

Reassuringly Good Value
Around half the grass seed used in Britain is for amenity purposes, and there are many varieties to choose from. With lawn seed, you get what you pay for. Fortunately, the difference in price between the best and worst is not that great, so it is easy to justify using the best.

Growing a Great Lawn
There are some simple steps to getting a great lawn:

1. Control weeds and remove any large stones.
2. Prepare a seedbed with a tractor or by hand. Then roll to consolidate and level.
3. Rake or harrow to create a tilth
4. Spread seed by hand or machine.
5. Harrow or rake, then roll again to press the seed into the soil.
6. If warm and damp, germination occurs after just a few days. Longer if cold or dry.
7. Allow to grow to 2 or 3 inches before first mowing (just the top half inch) in dry weather. Then gradually reduce the mowing height.