How to make a lawn in the country with your own hands, what kind of seeds to choose, you will learn from the information below. It does not need special agronomic knowledge or sophisticated sowing technology. If you follow practical tips, show a little effort, you can also enjoy the neat green carpet near your home. A well-groomed green lawn looks aesthetically pleasing, modern, today more and more cottage owners are following these fashionable trends.
In addition to its attractive appearance, the green lawn absorbs dust, increases air humidity. Thus, the owners of the site will breathe cleaner air, as well as easier to tolerate the heat in the summer. If you properly prepare the soil and sow, subsequent care will not be difficult, burdensome.
Which lawn is best planted in the country
Before you get down to business, you need to decide why you need a lawn. A green carpet can be used simply to admire its beauty, to determine the playing place for children or the sports area. In accordance with the requirements, a separate grade of grass or lawn mixture is selected. There are basic types of plants for lawns, their characteristics are always indicated on the product packaging.
What lawn is best planted in the country, consider in more detail.
- The sports lawn is intended for those places where active movements are planned: pets walk, children frolic, gatherings with friends are held. The composition of these mixtures includes “strong” herbs, which are not afraid of trampling. Such a lawn will be dense, stiff.
- It is the easiest to make a lawn and garden lawn, its seeds sprout excellently on barren land, the grass itself is unpretentious, and works equally well in the sun or in the shade. Such a green carpet is well suited for recreation areas, picnics, areas near pools or barbecue.
- Ground lawn (English) is more suitable for eye delight, incoming herbs are very delicate, make high demands on care. Such a lawn in the country will require you to regularly mow, it cannot be actively trampled on it. Ground grass reveals its potential in sunny places (does not like shade). These green carpets are designed exclusively for decoration; they are the most expensive of all available options.
- The Moorish lawn (meadow) is very beautiful, plays with different colors, pleases the eye with a variety of meadow flowers. They mow it very rarely - in order to remove faded plants or make way for new ones. Mixture of seeds includes plants that harmoniously grow next to each other, vary in bright colors. The compositions of these lawns can be mixed to achieve continuous flowering throughout the summer. It is not recommended to actively run on it, so as not to crush the grass, which you usually have no more than 10 cm. Such a lawn looks very naturalistic and is great for decorating the territory - get a romantic or rustic style.
- A universal lawn is created quickly, since it is sold ready-made - packed roll strips. It adapts very well, includes tough, unpretentious grasses that are not afraid of active actions or trampling. With it, you can equip any territory intended both for recreation and for active children’s games. This type of lawn requires preliminary soil preparation, as well as laying skills of such roll strips. At a cost, it will come out slightly more expensive than a conventional seed analog.
If you get lost, you can’t make your choice, you want your green carpet to be both attractive, resistant to trampling, as well as undemanding for maintenance and care, then feel free to choose the Liliput herbal mixture. This is the most unpretentious lawn for the garden, combining different breeding species of grass. Such a site will look very aesthetically pleasing, while combining the best qualities of sports and English options.
This herb mix is the result of the long work of Asian and European breeders. It has a high “survival” in terms of complexity of conditions, normally tolerates frosts, heat, wind gusts, sudden temperature changes. In addition, the Liliput mixture has a high resistance to mechanical damage, active trampling, which makes it relevant for sowing in any terrain. It grows well in the shade, retains softness, brightness of the cover, requires minimal care, and he will need a haircut only in the second year of life.
The only "drawback" of this universal mixture is its cost, however, as they say, the end justifies the means. “Liliput” grows slowly, mowing is done when the stems reach 10 cm in length (3 cm are left). Further, it will be enough to mow several times during the whole season. Fertilizers for this mixture are introduced before sowing, then along with watering after the first mowing. Considering all the characteristics and qualities of the Liliput grass mixtures, we can confidently say that it is the most unpretentious.
Lawns with their own hands in the country, photo:
Choosing a place for the lawn
Deciding on the type of lawn is only half the battle. It is important to consider whether it will grow well in the place you choose. When dividing a site for planting plants, and especially lawn grasses, you must adhere to certain zoning rules. For example, an English lawn will need an open area where there will be no shading. For any kind of grass, it is undesirable to have a constant shadow (near buildings), it will grow poorly, have a pale color.
Also, do not sow lawn grass mixtures close to fruit or ornamental trees. Since the root system of large stands sucks out all the useful resources from the soil, plus the permanent presence of shade from the crown prevents the penetration of sunlight.
If your summer cottage is located in lowland where constant humidity is present, this will not have the best effect on the state of the grass mixture, its roots. Lawns do not like excessive moisture, and their root system can begin to rot. Drainage can partially solve this problem. If the landscape of the site has elevation differences, then you have to smooth the slopes, additionally reinforce the transition points with a special grid to support the ground or geogrid. In this case, the difference should not exceed 30˚.
It’s definitely not worth sowing the lawn where cars regularly leave or leave, and people constantly go (for example, from the gate to the house). Here, the soil is constantly compacted, the grass does not receive oxygen, and as a result it dies. Even universal or sports mixtures with hard grass do not solve this problem, the output will be laid decorative tiles at the place of constant walking, and any grass mix can be sown around.
Photo of a summer house with beds and a lawn:
Grass for lawns to give, how to sow
It is necessary to start sowing at the beginning of spring, while all of the above factors should be taken into account and worked out. In spring, the lawn mixes take root well, at this time the soil is saturated with moisture, and the sun's rays are not as scorching as in summer. If suddenly for some reason you miss the sowing time, then do not do this in the summer, wait for the onset of autumn rains and get down to business. At this time, the soil is reliably warmed up and already has the necessary humidity. Please note that this should not be late autumn, since before the onset of winter cold you will need to have time to mow the lawn a couple of times.
How to make a lawn in the country - recommendations for planting:
- The site is cleared of all kinds of garbage, weeds, stones, existing stumps are being uprooted. Weeds are destroyed by weeding, in some cases, chemical soil treatment is used. After using chemicals, you need to wait at least 7-10 days, with manual weeding, you can immediately proceed to the next step. It is worth clarifying that chemical treatment is best done in advance - in the fall, then the weeds will be destroyed, and the drug itself will have time to decay into harmless components.
- If a variety of lawn grass requires the preliminary application of mineral fertilizing, then we do this after the destruction of weeds. If, as already mentioned above, the site is located in a lowland, then the arrangement of drainage should be mandatory. To do this, mark the places of the greatest accumulation of water after rain, dig deep holes there (about 1 meter). Then cover the bottom with stones or chipped bricks, cover with coarse gravel, and lay a thick layer of sand on top. Soil is laid on top of the sand, and its thickness should be at least 50 cm. Thus, during rains, in problem areas, moisture will seep through the ground and go through a layer of soil into the recesses with drainage.
- If the landscape requires it, then it is pre-aligned, and then dug up. Existing pits are covered with earth, slides and bumps are cut off. If the earth is sandy, then peat or chernozem is added to it, sand is added to the greasy soil.
- Before sowing seeds, the earth must be well tamped. There are several options - either bypass the entire plot in small steps, not missing even 10 cm, or use a wide board. The board is laid on the ground, and then jump on it until the soil settles. Gradually, she moves throughout the territory until the job is done. Some for this purpose roll a log, someone uses a skating rink, in any case, the soil under your feet should not be soft.
- If you have a manual seeder, this is very good, if it is not, then for an even concentration of seeds the seed mixture is best diluted with a similar volume of fine sand. In this case, the lawn will be even, the distribution of seeds uniform. Before sowing, it is recommended that the rammed earth (its upper thin layer) be carefully loosened with a rake. Experienced gardeners are advised to first sow the mixture along the site, and then across.
- After sowing seeds on top, we lay a thin layer (1.5-2 cm) of peat mix or ordinary earth, and then roll it again with a roller or log. Next comes the first watering. Water should be supplied to the soil in the form of fine spray. The pressure should be weak so that the crops are not washed out by the stream. Such gentle watering is done daily.
- About a week later you will see the first shoots, at which time it will become clear in what places the so-called corrective “regrowth” is required. Do not put off this business “for later”, but correct the gaps immediately.
How to care for the lawn in the country
How to make a lawn in a summer cottage? Whatever variety you choose, try not to walk too actively on the grass in the first year of the lawn's life. The root system of plants should be strengthened. Now you have to regularly clean the lawn from weeds, to master the wisdom of the correct mowing. At the very first mowing, you should not cut more than 1 cm. Subsequently, such haircuts should become regular. However, the stems do not need to be cut more than one third of their length. With frequent rains, the weed is cut once every 5 days. In arid summer, shear 1 time in 8-10 days. Garden and lawn mowing once a week, while leaving the height of the stems about 5 cm. In general, the height and frequency of mowing directly depend on the variety of lawn grass, the degree of its growth. Experienced gardeners recommend mowing the lawn in different directions.
Sometimes a grass carpet loses its bright colors, loses its attractive appearance. The reason for this may be a violation of natural aeration. This is the case when the growth of grass is clogged by organic waste - dead plants, crop residues, overgrown moss. All these unnecessary elements do not allow the lawn to breathe, they prevent the penetration of moisture, nutrients to its root system. In such cases, aeration helps a lot. In other words, it is piercing the soil of the lawn with the help of special needle nozzles on shoes or a mechanical (or automatic) aerator. After carrying out a similar procedure, your green carpet will need to be properly watered.
Feed should also be given taking into account the requirements, the characteristics of the variety of grass mixtures. In the spring, nitrogen fertilizers are appropriate for stimulating growth, in the summer, to increase resistance to drought - a special lawn top dressing, for example, Kemira. In autumn, it is advisable to fertilize the lawn with potassium-phosphorus compounds, they will give it strength and help increase frost resistance. The latest fertilizer is recommended no later than September.
Given the above information, now you will know how to make a lawn in the country with your own hands. Observing the basic recommendations for sowing and caring for the green carpet, you can also create an atmosphere of comfort and aesthetics that will give only positive emotions.