UNSIGHTLY patches in your lawn? Fear not, a gardener has shared his tips to repair them.
Content creator Orpheus Alexander is rapidly becoming one of TikTok’s best-loved gardeners.
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And while he regularly shares ways to improve your outdoor space and how to encourage wildlife, the gardening whizz has also shared his fool-proof method for getting a beautiful lawn.
Orpheus admitted he has tried “many different techniques” over the years, but his easy-to-follow method will work every time “without fail”.
In a recent TikTok video, he explained the steps he took to repair the lawn patch.
He said: “The first thing I do is get a bucket and fill it with some compost.”
As for what compost he uses, he replied to someone in the comments section and revealed: “Hey Mike! First off make sure it’s peat free, it depends what you’re using it for but yes mushroom is great.
“I also really like horse manure, you can get bags of the well rotted stuff and it’s great.”
Using a box of everyday multipurpose grass seed, he then sprinkled the seeds into the compost before spending a couple of minutes mixing it well.
The gardener demonstrated: “Then I just take my mix and patch up the hole.”
He was seen adding handfuls to the bare patch and gently pressing it down to make contact with the ground.
“Give it a little tap down,” he added, “then water”.
“Which I know is ridiculous because we’ve had so much rain, but it will help settle it,” Orpheus said.
Someone commented: “Can’t do this in summer though”, and the gardener replied: “You can! Just keep it well watered.”
Another wondered: “Do the birds come for the seed? I am surrounded by birds which I love but…..they are greedy.”
He said: “This way there is enough seed buried under the compost that even if they munch the patch will still get covered.”
Someone else wondered: “Half my lawn died because of the rain can I do this all over or do I need turf?”
Orpheus shared his expert advice: “If it’s dying because of rain you’ve got a draining problem, grass can usually survive a lot of rain. I’d fix that before you reseed anything.”
For those who are tempted to try this method, you are in luck as you can currently pick up all the materials you will need for less than a tenner.
This is because Wickes has a 50L bag of Miracle-Gro Peat Free All purpose Compost for £5 online and in stores right now.
Meanwhile, you can pick up a 390g box of Gro Sure Fast Acting Lawn Seed from Tesco for only £5.
Who said gardening had to be backbreaking work?
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May gardening jobs
The Sun’s Gardening Editor, Veronica Lorraine, has shared the tasks you need to crack on with in May.
GARDEN growth can go from nought to ninety in May, depending on the weather. The last UK frosts are generally seen at the beginning of the month, so all of a sudden there’s so much more to do and grow.
Plant out dahlia tubers
It’s a joy to finally plant out your dahlia tubers. Remember how big they can get – and space accordingly – anything up to half a metre apart.
It’s a good idea to put your support stakes in now instead of trying to work around them.
And make sure you include lots of well rotted manure or decent compost to feed it and then mulch to keep it moist and suppress weeds. They generally start blooming in July.
Final feed to Spring flowers
You can give a cheeky feed to all your remaining tulips and daffodils.
Although the majority of bulbs aren’t guaranteed to come back year after year any more, as long as you’ve left them to die back naturally there’s a good chance they’ll have stored enough energy to come back again. Tomato feed is fine.
Tie up climbers
Your clematis, honeysuckle and rambling roses should be well on their way by now – try to use plastic free string to tie them back into their support, or tuck them round each other to make sure they don’t sprout off in crazy directions.
Feed the lawn
It’s not too late to give your lawn a good feed.
Whether you use granular or liquid, it can give it a good boost to see it through the harsher summer months.
While mowing, don’t go too low with your cut length yet and never take more than a third off the grass height.
Get creative
It’s also time to get creative with hanging baskets and pots.
Trailing pelargoniums, which a lot of people call geraniums, and Begonias are a good, low cost way of getting lovely returning blooms throughout the summer in your baskets.
And pots can be planted with spring bulbs.
Don’t forget the greenhouse!
Give your greenhouse a good tidy and clean the glass inside and out.
The improved light will help plants grow quicker inside and tidying is good for the soul.
You can just use a household white wine vinegar and water solution – or even neat if you’re feeling spendy – which gives a really good shine.