Repair Your Own Lawn

Areas that receive constant wear, such as under children's play equipment or at the bottom of steps on to a lawn, need to be reinforced if they are going to cope. If the lawn is used as a shortcut to another part of the garden consider incorporating stepping stones to take the impact. Where children's play equipment cannot be moved to spread the wear and tear around, reinforce the grass with heavy duty plastic mesh. Cut the grass short, and then peg the mesh down over the area so that it is held completely flat. Allow the grass to grow up through the mesh over the winter.

When you come to mow next spring, the mesh will be hidden from sight, well below mower blade height so that you can mow straight over the top. Isolated broken edges on lawns, perhaps caused by careless heel or spade, are easy to repair. Use a sharp spade or half moon edging tool to cut out a square at the edge of the lawn that encloses the damaged area. Undercut the turf and then turn it around 180 degrees so that the broken area is within the lawn and the straight part aligns with the edge of the lawn.

Top off the damaged area with sieved garden soil if necessary, then level and firm with the back of a soil rake. Reseed as described for bare patches. If the lawn is broken and uneven all along the edge of a border it is worth re cutting to improve the appearance of your garden. Mark out when you will re cut, using a board as a guide for straight edges or a length of garden hose for curved ones. Insert a sharp spade or half moon edging tool into the soil. Lever back the handle and push the soil forwards to form a gulley with one vertical side against the lawn and one curved side against the border.

Remove any unwanted grass to prevent it rooting into the border and becoming a weed problem. Repairing any broken edges will give your beds and borders a neat finish, essential when the impact of your garden design relies on straight lines. Use a half moon edging tool or a spade to cut a rectangle around the affected area. Push a spade under the rectangle, starting from the broken edge. Keep the thickness of the slice of grass as even as possible. A good quality lawn invites you into the garden, leading the eye smoothly to beds and borders. If your lawn is in very bad condition, it is worth considering starting from scratch and sowing seed or laying turf to get the effect you want.