17 Chelsea Flower Show medal winners including Best in Show 2007 featured Rolawn's famous Medallion® Turf and Blended Loam™ Topsoil

Sunday, 06 July 2008

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Monday-Friday 08.00-17.30
(excluding Bank Holidays)

Preparation & Laying

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Shaded Lawns - Turf choice and maintenance

Maintaining a healthy green lawn requires an understanding of the environment in which it lives. This is due to the fact turf is subject to changes in the seasons, variations in weather and the specific conditions found in any one garden.

Shade is present in virtually all gardens to some extent, so understanding the theory of how shade impacts on turf will help you manage the shade within your garden. Turf grass plants, as a group, are not well adapted to shade, although some have a greater tolerance than others. In general, all will require some help.

Image of a shaded lawn
  1. The simplest remedy is to remove the cause of shade. With trees and foliage remove overhanging branches, prune back hedges and thin tree tops. Especially below a height of approximately 3 metres (9-10 feet).
  2. Reduce the amount of traffic on shaded areas.
  3. Overseed with shade tolerant grass types (fine fescues) as found in Rolawn Medallion® Premium Lawn Seed and Minster Pro™ Ornamental Lawn Seed.
  4. Consider relaying turf using a highly dynamic well balanced turf such as Rolawn Medallion® Turf for domestic lawns or Rolawn Minster Pro™ for luxury ornamental lawns.
  5. Raise mowing height to 30 - 40mm.
  6. NEVER remove more than 25% of the sward (grass blade) length.
  7. Alter mowing frequency to reflect growth.
  8. Fertilise with care to encourage root development and not top growth.
  9. Where moss has become established a regime of moss removal, scarification, dressing, and overseeding needs to be undertaken. Altering the other turf environment issues that caused the moss in the first place must be addressed to prevent the moss returning.

Rolawn Medallion® Turf is particularly dynamic and adaptable with a balanced cultivar mix. Consequently it is ideal for a wide variety of applications from sports pitches to show gardens at the RHS Chelsea flower show. Rolawn Minster Pro™ Ornamental Turf is sown using 100% fine fescue cultivars which will perform well in shade and drought conditions within a luxury formal garden.

For over seeding both Rolawn Medallion® and Minster Pro™ seed mixes are available, along with spring and autumn lawn food formulations.

Rolawn Play Grade Bark, a decorative pine bark, and Rolawn Landscaping Bark are excellent ground covering products, ideal for use in shady areas where an alternative to a lawn is necessary.