Make yours a lazy lawn: Garden experts say letting it run wild with brown patches and overgrown weeds is the latest trend
- Royal Horticultural Society claims new trend is for ‘lazy lawns’ with weeds
- Lazy lawns are better for nature and are less work for the gardener
- RHS chief horticulturist Guy Barter compiled the annual gardening trends list
For anyone who has to be dragged kicking and screaming in to the garden to mow the lawn, there’s some news: Immaculate striped green grass is out of favour.
Instead, the trend is for ‘lazy lawns’ with brown patches and weeds, the Royal Horticultural Society claims.
Such gardens are better for nature, less work, and dry brown grass patches are better to sit on than damp wet grass.
RHS chief horticulturist Guy Barter compiled the annual gardening trends list based on feedback from RHS members and discussion with growers and retailers.
For anyone who has to be dragged kicking and screaming in to the garden to mow the lawn, there’s some news: Immaculate striped green grass is out of favour
Instead, the trend is for ‘lazy lawns’ with brown patches and weeds, the Royal Horticultural Society claims
He said the lazy lawn fits better with modern lifestyles and is ‘giving approval for a more environmentally friendly approach’. It is a sentiment echoed by Gardener’s World presenter Monty Don who last month suggested the urge to keep grass short is a masculine ‘obsession’. He said gardeners should keep their grass long to preserve local wildlife.
Mr Barter said: ‘By not watering your lawn massively, not feeding it massively and leaving some aside for wildlife, perhaps mowing paths through it, you can enjoy all the benefits of the lawn without tying yourself down.’
Alternatives to grass such as clovers which need much less water and do not need fertiliser are also expected to be more popular. Mr Barter said: ‘The immaculate, striped lawn has given way as gardeners come to accept the inevitable wear and tear and turn a blind eye to a bit of browning.
‘Some will seek out interesting and environmentally benign alternatives such as small leaved clovers which, usually mixed with grasses, will stay green without fertiliser and resist drought.’
Other predicted trends include a turn away from ‘modernist’ styles and ‘a return to the familiar and reassuring’. The RHS advises against buying seeds from abroad as this could risk introducing pests and diseases.
Ripe for a bouquet, the field of hyacinths
Basking among these multi-coloured hyacinths, Saffy Aguila made the most of the unseasonably warm weather yesterday as Britain celebrated the first day of April. In her flower crown, the five-year-old was a vision of spring as she took in the glorious scenes at a field in Cambridgeshire with her mother Linda.
The magnificent display comes courtesy of plant curator Alan Shipp who grows one of the world’s largest collections of hyacinth flowers.
Mr Shipp – who is said to be the country’s only hyacinth farmer – has spent weeks tending to the beautiful rainbow collection. His plot holds almost 250 cultivars from around the world and boasts some 100,000 flowers.
Basking among these multi-coloured hyacinths, Saffy Aguila (pictured) made the most of the unseasonably warm weather yesterday as Britain celebrated the first day of April
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