In February, the weather is often still unpredictable, and there's a significant difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures. Indeed, it can happen that during the day, it's mostly sunny, with temperatures very similar to springtime , while at night, temperatures drop dramatically, and frost and frost can still occur .
This climate can be dangerous for nature and for our garden , in fact we need to plan the activities in the right way trying not to further stress our green space as winter ends.
When it comes to lawns , it's usually still too early to sow (though each case must be evaluated individually; for example, in the south, where it's warmer, it's possible to sow a few weeks earlier than in northern Italy), but there may be other useful maintenance operations for your lawn.
For example, nitrogen fertilization to boost strength after a tough winter and a treatment with biostimulants to promote growth and disease resistance. These operations are clearly part of a lawn maintenance plan, but what if we wanted to create our garden from scratch or redo the old one ?
As we mentioned earlier, it may still be too early to start sowing, but right now we need to focus on the project and choosing the products to use.
The first question to ask yourself is: what type of lawn do I want to create?
We all know that we want our lawn to be green at any time of the year, but to achieve this we need to start from the basics, that is, choose a variety of seeds that are suited to four main factors:
- The climate
- The future lawn's exposure to sunlight (remember the importance of light on the lawn)
- The time we can dedicate to it (depending on this, there are lawns that require more or less maintenance)
- To our personal tastes (in the end the garden must please us and we know that the eye also wants its part)
Once we've analyzed these aspects, we can already get a rough idea of what we might need, but we still don't know what type of lawn is perfect for our needs. Let's go into more detail.
What are the types of lawn?
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Turf (English lawn)
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Flowery meadow
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Macrothermal meadow
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Rustic lawn
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Stable meadow
THE TURF
This is the typical turf, also known as "English lawn," used for decorative and recreational purposes. It is made primarily of microthermal species (i.e., those best suited to cold, humid climates) such as bentgrass, fescue, ryegrass, and Poa.
This type requires minimal routine maintenance such as mowing, watering, and fertilizing.
It's important to carefully choose the right seed mix (to be sown in spring) for your needs. How can you do this? There are many variables; let's look at them together:
If the lawn you are going to create will be in the shade , it is recommended to use a mixture with a high percentage of red fescue and Poa like this one.
If the new lawn will be in the sun or partial shade, it is recommended to use a mix with a high percentage of ryegrass and Poa like this one .
If you prefer a darker color , it is recommended to use American-made mixes like this one.
If you don't have an irrigation system and don't have much time for maintenance , a hardy fescue-based mix like this one is recommended.
If you prefer a high-quality lawn with fine leaves, it is recommended to use a mixture with a high percentage of Poa like this one.
THE FLOWERING MEADOW
A flowerbed is a lawn that requires very little maintenance and has an excellent aesthetic and ornamental appearance thanks to the presence of flowers.
Composed of grasses and flowering plants, both annual and perennial, it is a meadow that plays a very important role for the environment and in particular for bees, facilitating their pollination thanks to the large number of flowers.
It doesn't require frequent watering or pruning. Its characteristic is that it must remain tall enough (at least 10 cm) to allow the flowering plants to develop.
MACROTHERMAL MEADOW
This is a lawn that, unlike the first one we talked about, is created with macrothermal varieties (species suitable for warm and temperate climates) such as Couch Grass (Cynodon Dactylon), Paspalum and Zoysia.
It is mainly grown in southern Italy where the climate is favorable to the species just listed and where microthermal varieties would struggle to survive.
Lawns created with these varieties may have problems with temperatures below 20°C , in fact in winter they slow down their growth or may even go into vegetative dormancy and lose their green color.
This lawn grows laterally via stolons and rhizomes and requires good maintenance year-round. It has excellent vegetative recovery and is resistant to high temperatures.
RUSTIC LAWN
This lawn isn't all about aesthetics; it's used by those with limited time to dedicate to it, or on embankments and sloping terrain where its strong roots help mitigate erosion caused by rainfall. It's maintenance-free and highly durable , and is created primarily using fescue, ryegrass, and poa.
STABLE MEADOW
It is used in agriculture and not as an ornamental; it is intended for livestock feed through the production of forage . Highly productive single varieties, such as alfalfa, can be used , or specially created mixtures of grasses and legumes like this one. It doesn't require much maintenance, except for cutting at the right time.
I hope this article was helpful, let me know what you think in the comments , see you next time!
