Hartley Magazine

All the latest news, hints, tips and advice from our experts

Create extra growing space by downsizing lawn

Downsizing the lawn might be a good idea for garden and greenhouse experts looking to create extra growing space and reduce the effort they have to put in to keep their grass looking great.

According to the Times Standard, cutting the size of the lawn by between 20 and 30 per cent can make a huge difference to the amount of mowing, watering and feeding needed.

It also gives more room that can be dedicated to growing flowers, shrubs or vegetables.

The best way to turn a lawn into soil is to rent a sod cutter, which chops into the soil an inch or two below the surface.

Gardeners can then either turn the top layer upside down or roll it up and place it on the compost heap.

A two-inch layer of compost and some slow release organic fertiliser should then be added to the exposed earth and covered with weed fabric for winter.

By spring, the area should be ripe for planting, allowing gardeners to relax over winter knowing they will have more space to experiment with in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Chattanooga Times Free Press recently gave garden and greenhouse owners some advice on indoor container gardening.