Gardening: How to create the perfect lawn... with a bit of a twist | Brian Kidd

A vigorous sweep can be followed by mowing and we can then give the lawn a feed using a ready-prepared spring feed mix.

If you would just like to buck the lawn up and don’t want to spend any money, use one part urine to 30 parts water but it needs to be applied evenly otherwise the grass grows well only on the area treated.

A very cheap – but not the best alternative to those already mentioned – is to use one tablespoon of sulphate of ammonia in two gallons of water applied through a rose on the watering can. This is best applied using strings a yard apart so the application is as even as possible. The grass will grow like mad two weeks later and will be a good green colour.

If there is a patch on the edge of the grass or a badly broken edge, cut out a piece of turf three feet by one foot and an inch thick and relay the turf so the new straight edge is where the broken part was. Scatter a little seed compost over the damaged area and add some grass seed. In about six weeks all will look well.

If the lawn is patchy here is a quick method of improving it.

You will need half an ounce of best-quality grass seed to each square yard. Measure the lawn and calculate the amount required. Add 1lb of grass seed to 10lb John Innes seed compost and mix it thoroughly. Put this into a large black polythene bag and put it into the shed for 10 days.

Now prick over the grass with a digging fork inserting the prongs to about an inch all over the lawn.

Once you see the seeds in the mixture chitting (showing little roots), scatter the mix over the lawn and water afterwards. The grass will look like a lawn four weeks later. The grass seeds will have fallen into the little holes out of the way of birds.

To treat moss, use one part sulphate of iron to seven parts of DRY potting sand. Mix well using gloves.

Find an old paint tin with a handle, knock lots of holes in the base with a five-inch nail, fill it with the mixture and apply it like pepper and salt, evenly over the lawn walking backwards. This will prevent footprints.

The lawn will look a bit odd for a few days and the moss will turn black, but it’s cheap and it works.

A word to the wise: Don’t walk on carpets wearing the gardening shoes you’ve worn for this job. The iron stains carpets. If you do, you might feel like flying off on that besom broom!

The edge of the lawn is very important. This is the best time use a half-moon grass edger to form a new edge. Esure you have a defined edge, push the half-moon into the turf and use your foot to press down and cut through the turf. Go along just a couple of metres and then lift the area treated to remove the tatty edge.

If you are a keen gardener, put the edgings into an old compost bag and let it to rot for three months. It can then be mixed with peat substitute and sharp sand to pot up pot plants.

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