6 hours Ago By Angela Patrone
Lawns might have taken a bit of a beating over the colder seasons, particularly if they’ve been trampled on during frosty weather. This can result in bald or brown spots that are both annoying and unsightly. In a video for Waitrose and Partners , gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh shared his top tips for revitalising garden lawns with what he describes as an “easy” technique.
While reseeding is often the go-to solution for fixing bare patches on lawns, it requires time, patience, and care. Plus, the soil temperature has to be just right for the roots to take hold. But Alan proposes a simpler alternative that he says is “much easier”.
He said: “If you get bare patches in the middle of your lawn - where you’ve been hanging out the washing or a place that’s regularly trodden over and just worn out - then you can of course just prick it over with a fork and reseed it. “But in the middle of summer, the grass may take a while to grow and look unsightly. “It's much easier to replace it with a piece of turf - but how do you do it so the turf fits perfectly?” Alan’s advice for gardeners is to use a piece of turf that’s bigger than the patch you want to cover, lay it on top and then cut a shape from the centre.
He instructed: “You know this is going to be larger than that bare patch underneath. Cut right through this turf and through the grass below.” After cutting, Alan removed the surplus grass, leaving behind the neatly cut patch.
While working on the garden, Alan skilfully sliced a neat section out of the lawn. He then lifted this neatly carved piece from its original spot. To ensure a perfect match for the lawn, Alan suggested borrowing a piece of turf from another part of the garden.
He mentioned that this is particularly handy when creating a new border. “That’s great for patching because it’s exactly the same turf,” he explained. Although using fresh turf might mean the lawn doesn’t match immediately, over time, it will “meld in”, and the difference will become imperceptible to gardeners.
The next step is to ensure the new piece is level with the rest of the lawn. Alan watered the new section and recommended keeping foot traffic off it to allow it to settle. The gardening guru also remarked: “With a little nip and a tuck, you can stop it looking like the aftermath of a pop festival and turn it into something rather more refined.
” Alan completed the entire process in under two minutes, leaving the lawn looking significantly better..
