I was crowned ‘Britain’s Best Lawn’ – my top tips to keep grass green and the £9 B&Q buy that kills moss instantly
A FORMER winner of Britain’s Best Lawn has shared his top tips to get grass looking its best this Spring/Summer.
Green-fingered Stuart Grindle, 81, trims his turf every other day and spends up to four hours watering it to get it looking perfect.
Stuart, from Tickhill in Doncaster, South Yorks, says it’s “been a full-time job” looking after his lawn.
But with just a few steps, gardeners up and down the country can get their patches of grass looking as good without tending to it as much as Stuart does.
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.
Cutting grass
Stuart said gardeners need to have a flexible mowing schedule.
He added: “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.”
Tackling moss
Stuart, who lives with his wife Anne, 80, explained how damp conditions are perfect for moss to grow.
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.”
Iron Sulphate can be purchased from any garden centre or online store.
B&Q sell Premium Iron Sulphate – Greens Grass and Hardens Turf Makes from £9.
It “helps to transform tired and worn looking grass, making it greener and healthier easily”.
Feeding the lawn
Stuart said that persistent wet conditions don’t have to spell disaster for gardeners.
He explained: “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.”
Astro-turf no-no
The OAP also weighed in on the debate over putting astroturf down on gardens.
Stuart told SWNS: “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.”