A former winner of 'Britain’s Best Lawn' has shared three top tips for keeping your grass healthy - as the country battles another sodden Spring. Stuart Grindle, 81, urged gardeners to keep the faith in their beloved turf while they endure the longest period of wet weather on record.
The green-fingered OAP said it was essential to be strategic with mowing schedules when faced with downpours - to give the grass time to dry between cuts. He also warned growers to be wary of moss buildup due to the damp conditions and offered suggestions on the best products to keep the scourge at bay.
Stuart even said there could be a silver lining to the prolonged sodden conditions as the wet soil will absorb nourishing plant foods quicker. But he commiserated with those feeling gloomy by their water-logged gardens, saying a prized lawn was the trickiest backyard feature to perfect.
Stuart said: “People used to say, ‘What’s the hardest plant in your garden you grow then, Mr Grindle?’ I’d say, ‘You are stood on it’. The grass is the hardest plant. It suffers from everything. It’s very hard to maintain.
“The wet weather is not helpful in any way, but there are things you can do - and it won’t be here forever.” When Stuart won his prize in 2017, he revealed how he had spent 60,000 hours tending to the plot at the back of his home in Tickhill in Doncaster, South Yorks.
This included mowing his lawn six times a week for 40 years to ensure it had a snooker table-top-like finish for when the judges came to examine it. In recent years, Stuart's ill health has reduced the amount of time he’s been able to spend on his garden - but his decades of knowledge remain invaluable
And when it comes to keeping up a luscious lawn under wet conditions, he said gardeners should start by having a flexible mowing schedule. He said: “Most people have a certain day when they are going to cut the lawn - well you’ve got to be a bit more loose.
"You’ve got to think well, that’s too wet – I’ll get on it tomorrow if it dries off. You don’t want to be overcutting at this time because all you’ll do is stress the lawn out and you’ll just get wear patches where you turn the mower.
“If it rains in the morning, leave it and cut it late on in the afternoon or early evening. And if it’s really soggy and wet, lift the mower to a height of probably 25mm to 30mm and just take the top off it.”
Stuart, who lives with his wife Anne, 80, also gave homeowners tips on how to manage moss build-up, which often appears in damp conditions. He said: “Moss is a problem this time of year.
“But it’s easily got rid of, all you need is to go to your local market gardeners and get a little box of iron sulphate, and it will tell you how to dilute that. That will kill the moss. It will turn black overnight.
“Then you’ve got to wait again for a dry day, and then you’ve got to scarify and break it all off, over-feed and you’re off again. It will kill the moss within hours.” Stuart said that persistent wet conditions did not always have to spell disaster for gardeners - and could even also offer some hidden gains.
He added: “One benefit with the wet weather is if you can get on and feed the lawns, they will then wash the food in, which will help growth and the look.” The OAP also weighed in on the debate over putting astroturf down on gardens - saying he would never use it but could see why it appealed to hard-working families.
Stuart went on: “To me, it’s a definite no-no. To me, the lawn is the nucleus of the garden. I plan everything around the shape of my lawn. “But if you have two children and you’re going out in the morning at 7am and you’re not getting back until 6pm – and you’ve got to take the kids to ballet or football, you’ve got to make life easy. And a lawn is not easy.”
