In article , Jeff Layman
writes

The most sensible gardening presenter on TV.

No she's not; she's a silly old woman, but she is partly right in this
case.

Most people have no idea how to have a decent lawn - not an immaculate
bowling green but something pleasant to sit on, play games in, etc. They
scalp the grass to within an inch of its life with a cylinder mower,
pile the cuttings in a noisome heap or chuck them over a fence onto a
grass verge to rot, then buy expensive fertiliser to make it grow again.
(see the recent thread 'OT? - joke'. Spot on.)

Then as soon as there are a couple of days of dry weather they start
panicking and wasting valuable water by watering it; a process that is
quite unnecessary if the lawn is treated right. In any case, even if the
grass does go brown it will soon green up at the first lot of rain.

I use a hover mower which puts the clippings back on the ground as a
mulch. I have done this for years so the soil contains plenty of humus.
Treated this way the roots go down very deep so that even in the driest
weather the grass stays green. The only watering it ever gets is by
Mother Nature and any drippings from the clothes line. The only
treatment it has had is a light application of sulphate of iron last
year and this year to kill a very bad infestation of moss due to shading
by trees. Never, ever any fertiliser or weed killer.

The result is a pleasant area of green which as well as grass grows
daisies, dandelions and one or two other plants which are not affected
by the cutting. I have a huge vegetable garden and don't need to dig up
the lawn for any reason.

Talking of daises, we recently visited someone hosting an art exhibition
who asked everyone to keep off the grass because it had been sprayed to
kill the daisies.

Now there is a fool!

Roy.

--
Roy Bailey
West Berkshire.