Grow Along Live - Week 8

It's week eight of Grow Along Live and this week inspired by Wimbledon we are looking at lawns.

Our gardener Mark Lane has been helping us (and you!) grow your own produce over the past couple of months. From window boxes to raised beds, viewers all over the UK have been sharing their gardening progress. And we've loved watching it grow.

On the tennis courts at Wimbledon they use ryegrass and it is also a type of grass that is widely used for garden lawns, too

The reason perennial ryegrass is good for lawns is that it's hardy, germinates quickly from seed yet spreads slowly, and stands up well to wear and tear.

Perennial ryegrass seed is by far the most economical option for creating a lawn, but does take several months to establish into a usable lawn, whereas turf makes an instant transformation and can be used within a short time. Turf does cost more, though, and is a much bigger job to lay compared to sowing seed.

Mowing regularly is really important as it keeps the lawn growing and deters weed growth.

But in extreme heat, your grass won't grow as long as it sometimes does.

If you do fertilise now, do it evenly across the lawn, ideally in cool, moist conditions when rain is expected, or lightly water it in afterwards.

If you haven't got lots of time, just trim the edges of your lawn - you'll be amazed how much better it is.

If you want to enjoy the wildflowers that appear among the grass, you can take a break from mowing. You might have got involved in No Mow May and the good news is you could Make it No Mow May, June and July!

Just be mindful if you don't mow when the weather turns bad your grass will die back and you'll end up small rounded mounds of earth that will trash your lawn.

If a dog has weed on your lawn, get the watering can and water the area where they have weed on as soon as you can.

If you've missed it and the grass has turned yellow, try to water it anyway, and it will hopefully return to green.

In general, if your lawn is going brown because its very dry don't panic!

In a well-established lawn the underlying roots should still be alive, ready to send up fresh leaves once rain returns- and rain in the UK is never too far away!!

Generally you don't need to spend hours and hours watering the lawn because lawns are really hardy, they will bounce back as soon as it rains again.

Only water if absolutely necessary, for example if you laid or sowed a new lawn in spring – try and use grey water (basically washing up water) or stored rainwater, rather than mains water, for new grass where possible.

If you did mow the lawn you could let the clippings fall back into the grass to act as a nitrogen mulch and that will help hold in moisture.