Viral lawn stripe expert shares top tips for football pitch perfection
We’ve hit peak summer party and BBQ season, but does your lawn look the part?
Football groundsman, Joe Mecke-Davis, who has gone viral for his intricate and expert pitch designs, has teamed up with iconic lawn mower brand Flymo to share his top tips for keeping your lawn pretty:
1.Keep your blades sharp
“Regular mower maintenance is key to make sure you’re getting the cleanest cut you can.
“Imagine you’re cutting someone’s hair - you’d want the scissors or razor to be as precise as possible. It’s the same when it comes to mowing!
“Metal blades can be sharpened professionally or you can purchase new ones if you’d rather.
“If you’re mowing with a blunt blade, you’re at risk of tearing at the grass rather than slicing straight through it, which will leave your lawn looking untidy and could lead to the tips of the grass turning yellow.”
2.Aerate your lawn
“Getting hands-on to aerate the lawn will improve grass growth, ensuring a luscious lawn.
“Loosening the soil allows oxygen and microbes to circulate around the grass roots, promoting growth.
“Grab a standard garden fork to create small holes of around 2cm deep in your soil, focusing on compact areas.”
3.Opt for a mower with a roller
“We all love a perfectly striped lawn - it’s a classic sign that British summertime is here.
“A mower like the 36V EasiStore 340R makes it easy to achieve the classic striped look, without having to worry about a cable underfoot. After using a roller mower, aeration is important for grass health.
“If you’re looking to get inspired by my lawn art, a roller is a great and easy wait to make patterns in your garden.”
“When adding new stripes, try to overlap the previous stripe slightly. This will help ensure that you do not miss any patches of grass that may spoil the look of your lawn.
“Try and use the same overlap distance for each stripe to make sure your stripes are equal in width. Use something obvious as a guide!
“One common mistake to avoid if going over the same stripe frequently. To keep grass healthy it needs to be mown in different directions every month or so.
4.Don’t neglect your edges
“Keeping your edges tidy is a quick and easy way to make a big difference to the way your lawn looks - like making the bed to keep your bedroom looking pristine.
“Dusting off the trimmer is a great way to remain precise with the edge of your lawn, or select a mower that cuts closely along borders.
“If you’ve planted flowers as a border, make sure that you get a trimmer with a plant guard to make sure no petals get nicked while you’re trimming.”
5. Leave grass clippings on the lawn
“If you’re mowing the lawn regularly, up to once a week, then your grass clippings will be short enough to leave them on the lawn to break down and decompose.
“This adds natural nitrogen-rich fertiliser to your lawn without costing you a penny, and will keep your lawn a vibrant green.
“Plus, who doesn’t love that freshly mown grass smell that will be coming from your garden?”
6.Water every other day
“As long as you’re not in a hosepipe ban, watering your grass every other day will ensure it remains luscious without overwatering.
“If you water your lawn too frequently, you can create what we call lazy roots.
“The grass has a constant supply of water on the surface, but watering every other day will encourage grass roots to penetrate deeper into the ground to find moisture. Which in the long term means healthy grass!
“It depends on your water pressure, but giving your lawn 20 a minute water every other day should be enough.”
7.Don’t scalp your lawn!
“If we’re imagining mowing the lawn is like cutting hair, then it’s easy to remember that you shouldn’t be scalping your lawn.
“Only cut up to a third of the grass blade in a single mow and gradually trim the length over several weeks to reduce your chance of weed infestation and a wilted lawn.
“You might find that leaving it longer helps with grass health, as roots will grow deeper and weeds will be shaded out. An added benefit of longer grass is that it encourages biodiversity to your garden too, so look out for extra butterflies, bugs and bees that might make a new home in your green space.”
