I’m a gardening pro – my £1 trick keeps grass green and lawns looking great all year round

THE solution for a healthy and lush lawn can already be found in your kitchen.

Garden experts have revealed a simple trick to keep your grass green while you prepare it for the year ahead.

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The Grass People shared the best way to promote green, healthy grass in your garden, reports the Daily Mail.

According to lawn experts, you can also take a number of steps in the fall to prepare your lawn for next year.

Given the milder weather conditions, this time of year is ideal to prepare your lawn for winter.

One of the most important steps to achieving this is sowing new seeds in your garden.

This will help you repair bald spots on your lawn.

Experts recommend using reflective items to keep birds and other animals out of your yard.

They suggested using aluminum foilavailable for £1 at Sainsbury’sor old CDs to perform this step.

“After you lay new seed, it is important to keep birds and other animals from eating the seed before it has a chance to germinate,” explains Chris McIlroy of The Grass People.

“While wildlife provides many benefits to gardens, they can also cause chaos, especially when it comes to laying a new lawn or filling in gaps in your lawn.”

He explained why your garden is so attractive to pests at this time of year.

“Grass seed is an accessible food source for birds, so the best thing you can do is scare them off with distracting sounds and images,” he says.

“Reflective objects create extra light that scares birds, especially if the objects are also moving.”

There are several ways you can use aluminum foil to keep birds off your lawn.

An example of this is cutting kitchen herbs into strips and burying them in the ground.

Seasonal Lawn Maintenance Schedule

Lawn maintenance varies by season. Some tasks stimulate growth and root development, while others help maintain soil quality.

Claire Baglin, Landscape Architecture Category Manager of Tool station shared lawn care tasks and tips for every season:

Spring (March, April, May)

• Start mowing the lawn every two weeks in March, when soil and air temperatures are generally above 6°C.
• Fertilize the lawn for the first time in March with a fast-acting fertilizer rich in nitrogen. This fertilizer promotes shoot growth.
• Scarify the lawn for the first time in April to remove moss and felt that can build up over the winter.
• Aerate the lawn in April by poking holes in the soil surface. This will help loosen the soil and promote growth.
• In April you can also sow to fill in thin or bare spots.

Summer (June, July, August)

• From June onwards, start mowing your lawn once a week – except in periods of extreme heat and drought. Raise the mowing height to protect the lawn from possible drought.
• Make sure you treat the lawn for weeds in June. You can do this manually for individual weeds or with a weed killer for larger clusters.
• Make sure to water the lawn at least once a week in July and August by letting it soak for 5 to 10 minutes.

Autumn (September, October, November)

• From September onwards, you can reduce the mowing frequency to once every two weeks and carry out the last mowing of the year in November.
• Fertilize the lawn for the second time in October with a slow-release fertilizer rich in phosphorus and potassium to strengthen the lawn.
• In October and November, remove all fallen leaves and other debris from the lawn.

Winter (December, January, February)

• Leave the lawn alone from December to the end of February. Grass usually does not grow in the colder winter temperatures.
• Winter is the ideal time of year to perform maintenance on your lawn mower, including checking the blades and filters.

This scares birds away because they don’t like the feeling of the foil in their beak.

You can also choose to hang strips of foil in high places in your garden.

This reflects sunlight, which irritates the birds’ eyes.

Chris suggested that in addition to laying down aluminum foil, you also make your own sticks to deter pests.

“A cost-effective way is to tie old CDs to bamboo poles and place them in your garden.”