Growing Organic Plants

Grass in gardens
To most people, grass is 'outdoor carpet', as indispensable in the garden as wall-to-wall Wilton in the living room. Yes, fashions change and hard surfaces — paving, gravel and decking — are on the increase outdoors, in much the same way as seagrass matting, or polished wood floors, are indoors. But there are very few gardens that don't have at least a small patch of lawn.

Grass is still the cheapest and most traditional outdoor floor covering, particularly for large areas, so it's easy to take it for granted. But don't think of it as a self-renewing carpet; see it instead as thousands of tiny individual plants growing tightly packed together in each square metre of soil. It is not maintenance- free. Although grass doesn't take quite so much time and effort as a border, it still needs looking after.

Which grass?
When I was a lad, you had two sorts of grass. In the back garden, you had your everyday stuff dotted with springy heads of ryegrass that popped up from under the mower instead of being chopped off — just like that lump of hair on the back of your head that wouldn't lie down. Out front was the posh lawn that you kept
it was there to impress the neighbors. Both had the perfect stripes that were created by using a cylinder mower, and woe betide you if your lines were wavy.

Turf
Turf is pre-grown grass, which is cut from the ground ready for you to unroll as an instant lawn. Cultivated turf gives a good quality lawn, but meadow turf (possibly with weeds or bare patches) is cheaper. Once turf has rooted into your soil, you can treat it as a normal lawn. But, be prepared to water it, if the weather is dry. If you lay turf in early autumn, there should be plenty of rainfall to do the job for you.

You order turf by the square metre. It is delivered in strips measuring about 100 x 30cm (3 x 1ft), rolled up so that it's easier to handle. Arrange to have it delivered just before you want to lay it; if you can't get on with the job for two to three days, don't leave it rolled up. Unroll the turves and lay them flat, with the grass exposed to the light, and water them, if necessary. If you leave your turf rolled up, it will turn custard-yellow in a matter of days. It will look vile, be weakened as a result, and may die out in places.

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