Depending on whether you think looking after lawns is just a necessary chore or an enjoyable way to walk round the garden, I’m in either the unlucky or lucky position to have over an acre of grass that needs cutting.
OK, most of the time I use a ride-on mower that takes a lot of the effort out of it but, on average, I wheel out my trusty old 30” cylinder machine and happily walk behind it for a couple of hours. To be absolutely fair, I do not have the grass collection box fitted or that would at least double the time taken.
The truth is that when it is cut, regardless of whether it is the ride-on or the cylinder, the lawns look attractive and lift the whole garden to a new level. It pulls everything together and, somehow, gives the whole garden a cared-for appearance, making the effort of mowing worthwhile.
We are beset with badgers that enjoy turning quite large areas of grass over to looking like a ploughed field and the cylinder machine cannot cope with that. But I believe we must look after our lawns because they are just so important to wild life and the environment.
There are 20 million + domestic garden lawns in Britain. Even at the most conservative estimate of size, that total is something like 780 square miles which is an area of grassland substantially larger than the South Downs National Park at a mere 627 square miles. Inevitably, the majority of these lawns are in urban and inner city areas where they perform an absolutely vital role for birds, wildlife and helping prevent flash flooding.
But our lawns are under threat from two main sources: hard landscaping , often to provide parking for cars and caravans, and the dreaded artificial turf – why would anyone want to carpet their garden?
If you read some gardening books they make the whole prospect of looking after a lawn sound quite daunting. But it need not be the case. Lawns are there to be enjoyed, walked on, for playing football and watching the birds and animals enjoy their little bit of countryside.
The first recorded evidence of a garden lawn is a ledger entry from the 13th century, so they have been integral to our gardens for a very long time. Let us all make sure they retain that vital position for at least another eight hundred years. They provide so many benefits and, with just a little TLC, will repay garden owners time and time again.
As Paskett PR we want to celebrate lawns and for 13 years have managed and run Britain’s Best Lawn.
If you think your lawns is potentially award winning take a look at britainsbestlawn.co.uk and you could win an EGO Power+ battery powered mower and multitool kit as well as extensive bragging rights!
Love your lawn.
Graham
paskettpr 