play lawns ornamental lawns

Play Lawns to Ornamental Lawns

Matching use to seed type is critical. There are play lawns, ornamental lawns, and plenty in between so we try to make the choice as simple as possible

There are three main blends of grass seeds that will cover your requirements for looks and usability. They are readily available as grass seed but you may only find two available as turf. If your lawn has to cope with dry or shady conditions see the next post.

The Family, Utility or Play Lawn

Usually, a predominantly rye grass seed or turf mixture for utility areas, play lawns, high-use areas and for people who want their lawn care ‘as easy as possible’. See Lawnsmith EASYGREEN.

Ups

  • Apart from mowing and feeding, this has a few demands
  • Extremely tolerant of use and abuse from kids, dogs and summer BBQ parties!
  • It’s the quickest to establish and easiest to repair
  • It is not the finest of leaves but has a lovely dark green colour and stripes up a treat if you’re using a mower with a roller

Downs

It will stand up to the British summer just fine, but if your soil or location is very dry and you still want an ‘easy’ lawn, then a mixture with Rhizomatous Tall Fescue such as Lawnsmith STAYGREEN would be better. Ryegrass doesn’t like salt or is extremely wet either, so once again, try a mixture with Tall Fescue – see the Drought Tolerant Lawn on the next page for both situations.

Summary

For a no-fuss, easy-repair, hard-wearing good, looking lawn, this is it!

The Gardeners' or Landscapers Lawn

This lawn ticks all the right boxes, from beauty to useability. So, if you enjoy the garden and don’t mind a little effort in the lawn care department, this mixture will satisfy the proudest gardener. See Lawnsmith CLASSIC Grass Seed

Gardeners or landscapers lawn.

Ups

  • Usually, a mixture of 5 or 6 grasses enables good growth in most conditions
  • If you don’t mind a little dwarf ryegrass (I love it) as part of the mixture, then this makes it a fantastic-looking lawn
  • Modest demands. Apart from mowing and at least one feed, it will only need raking or scarifying perhaps once in every 2 to 3 years
  • Similar to mixtures sold as Canada Green Grass Seed, it is more suited to the UK climate
  • A strong lawn that will handle regular use and recover well

Downs

Apart from not being a ‘very fine’ leaved lawn there isn’t one – it’s that good!

Summary

If you want a beautiful, medium-fine lawn that allows regular use without the demands of a ‘bowling green,’ this is it.

The ‘Enthusiasts’ Lawn

This is generally sold as ‘luxury grass seed’ or ‘luxury garden turf’, leading you to believe you’re buying a quality seed or turf for a superior lawn. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with quality but refers purely and simply to the type of grass, which, in this case, would be ‘fescues’, the fine bristle-like grasses that are used extensively as bowling and golf course grass seed. See Lawnsmith ORNAMENTAL Grass Seed.

The enthusiasts lawn.

It makes a cracking good lawn, but………

Ups

  • Fine bristle grasses for that close-mown appeal
  • In the right hands, it can look magnificent
  • For the enthusiast whose hobby is the lawn

Downs

  • Though this grass grows slowly, it is a heavy-maintenance lawn
  • Needs scarifying at least once a year and monthly aeration if used
  • Best mown every few days with a cylinder mowing
  • Will show up any lapse in care
  • Can suffer on clay or alkaline soils
  • Will not tolerate high use on loam or clay soils
  • Requires constant hand-picking of invading ‘weed’ grasses to maintain looks
  • Feed little and often. This means seasonal feeding at the lower end of the recommended fertiliser application rate

Summary

If you have the time, money, machinery and dedication, there isn’t anything better.