Lawn Care

Not sure which scarifier to buy? BBC Garden Rescue presenter Lee Burkhill reviews the best UK lawn scarifiers for every lawn size and budget, from the Darlac DP888 manual rake to the Bosch UniversalVerticut and Hyundai petrol models. Includes a lawn size guide, hire vs buy costs, and honest opinions on which machines are actually worth the money.

The result is the same in both cases: a lawn that limps through spring looking pale and thin, struggles to resist weeds and moss, and never quite achieves the lush, thick sward that every UK gardener is hoping for. I want to change that for you with this complete guide to lawn feeding. This guide […]

Lee Burkhill’s complete guide to autumn lawn renovation in the UK. The correct order for scarifying, aerating, overseeding and top dressing, with timings, aftercare and common mistakes to avoid.

I started recommending spreaders to every client asking about lawn care about ten years ago, after watching too many autumn lawn renovation projects produce disappointing results when clients were scarifying or de-mossing their lawns but not overseeding. Once I made a spreader part of the standard recommendation alongside the seed and feed, the difference was […]

I have been top dressing lawns as part of the autumn renovation programme since early in my career, both in my own garden and on client projects. The first time I top dressed my own lawn properly, I remember standing back afterwards thinking it looked absolutely dreadful! See below! The grass was barely visible through […]

Quick Answer The Hayter Osprey 46 is one of the best petrol lawn mowers for medium-sized UK gardens up to 500m². Built in Britain with a steel deck, Briggs and Stratton engine, and Hayter’s excellent Easy-Wash system, it delivers a sharp, consistent cut. The Autodrive version is the one to buy: the fixed 2mph drive […]

Quick Answer Lawn edging is a strip of metal, plastic, brick, or timber that creates a permanent barrier between your lawn and flower beds. Installed correctly to a depth of 10–15cm, it prevents grass creeping into borders, eliminates the need for a half-moon edger, and allows a mower to pass over the top without strimming. […]

After twenty years of designing gardens professionally and working on everything from inner-city courtyard lawns to large estate turf, I have seen every cause of yellow and patchy grass the UK climate can throw at a lawn. This guide runs through all of them, shows you how to identify which one is affecting your lawn, […]

Here’s the thing about lawn weeds that drives most gardeners completely bonkers: you can’t treat what you can’t identify as a lawn weed. I’ve lost count of how many times clients have told me they’ve been battling “that yellow flowery thing” or “the spreading green stuff” with completely the wrong treatment. It’s like trying to […]

Quick Answer Scarify your lawn in early autumn (September to October) once the grass is growing well but weed pressure is falling. Mow short first, set blades 2 to 3mm into the soil, make two passes at 45 degrees to each other, then overseed immediately at 15 to 35 grams per square metre and water […]