Learn to Love Your Lawn; How to Get the Best out of Garden Grass

Walking barefoot on a soft, green lawn is one of life's simple pleasures and there's nothing like a well maintained lawn to set off the natural beauty of the garden as a whole, providing a wonderful foil to flowers and foliage .Not only can garden landscaping help you beautify your home, but it can also provide a source of satisfying exercise in the fresh air ( who needs an expensive gym membership when you've got a garden!) . Don't despair if your grass appears beyond repair. Now's the time to start again and make a new lawn in plenty of time for the summer.

1. To create a flat, weed-free, lush green carpet give your lawn a bit of care and attention now. Improve drainage by spiking it, applying a weed & feed, and give it a good raking to get rid of all the dead leaves that have built up during the winter months . 

2.Mowing is the key to having a wonderful-looking lawn but before you shudder at the thought of extra work just think about how fit you could be with a little light exercise. And remember that gardening, especially lawn mowing, is one of the best stress-busting hobbies you can do. It helps reduces the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. With minimal effort, you can transform the tattiest patch of grass into a glorious green carpet.

3. Just like lawns , hedges can make or break a garden.So before you get planting decide what's suitable for your needs, whether you're looking for privacy or just plain enjoyment.  A hedge is a much better boundary divider than a wall or fence and  It will attract birds to its thick bushes and provide a great backdrop for plants and blooms.

3. From the delicate scent of lily-of-the-valley and lavender to the heady aroma of wisteria and the soothing smell of jasmine -  remember to plant the sweetest smelling varieties near windows and doors. Their magnificent perfume will waft into bedrooms and kitchens and make your garden really come alive. Since a focal point tends to define  the garden, a single feature plant (or what landscape designers call a specimen plant) needs to be carefully selected. Two trees that lend themselves well to such a location are the romantic weeping cherry and the classical, sentinel-like gingko tree.

4. For an added dash of drama, add garden to non-garden items, such a water feature, lamp post or wind chime. Surround these items with flowers planted to take advantage of the earliest to the latest flowerings. You could have white snowdrops, purple and gold crocus, blue hyacinths,  roses and various colored tulips.

5. Simple, but effective weed control can be achieved on your lawn by mowing often during spring. This will prevent dandelions spreading by eliminating the yellow blossoms and preventing seed formation. I try to avoid chemical weedkillers, but during this season there is not enough available time to do it all by hand. For difficult to control weeds such as dandelions, nettles and bindweed you need to kill the leaves and the roots, so a systemic herbicide containing glyphosate is the solution. Mow high during late spring and early summer. This will allow grass blades to shade the ground, and will help prevent weeds from sprouting.

6. Plan your landscape around different blooming times. Different plants flower during different seasons. If all of the plants in your garden are at their most attractive all at the same time, then your yard will look beautiful for a few weeks each year, but quite dull the rest of the year. One way to help avoid this is to choose attractive bushes and shrubs that look good green, but also have some sort flower.