Ideal Lawn for the Dacha: Instructions + Tips

A lawn is an expensive pleasure: you need to invest a lot of time, effort, and money to grow a beautiful lawn, and then constantly take care of it. That's why the area of lawns on dacha plots is often reduced in favor of flower beds, vegetable patches, and fruit trees. This looks more attractive and is easier to maintain.

However, a well-maintained beautiful lawn is a trend that never goes out of style. Together with our experts, let's find out how to avoid mistakes and create the ideal lawn on a dacha plot.

Irina Lukyanova, Landscape Designer. She believes that every garden is a separate story.

Lubov Kvazhnina, Art Director, DEREVO PARK Studio.

Preparation

Preparing the soil is a very important step in creating a lawn. If there are weeds on the plot, it should be pre-treated with herbicides such as «Roundup», «Tornado», or «Hurricane» to completely get rid of vegetation.

Plan the slope of the lawn so that water flows away in spring and doesn't accumulate on the site.

At least 15–20 cm of compacted soil will be needed under the lawn. Often, people suggest leaving only 10 cm, but that won't last long: nutrients in the soil will quickly run out, and the lawn will start dying. In addition, a thin layer of soil won't retain moisture well, and the lawn will need to be watered constantly.

What Soil to Choose?

For a lawn, you need good field soil that retains surface moisture.

Mainly, peat-sandy mixtures and drainage in the form of a sand layer are used so that water doesn't accumulate and the lawn doesn't become waterlogged.

After spreading the soil across the plot, the ground is compacted with a special roller to make it firm and free of holes. Then the soil needs to be loosened so there are no clumps or lumps. If it's a seeded lawn, the soil layer after compaction should be 1–2 cm lower than the level of walkways.

The highest germination rate occurs when you follow the method: roller, seeding, dusting seeds with loose soil by hand. Unlike mixing the soil with seeds.

You Will Need:

Garden and lawn soil, 50 liters
Universal soil «Simple», 50 liters
Universal soil, 5200 liters
Geolia «Universal» soil, 50 liters

Is Geotextile Needed Under the Lawn?

Geotextile is needed under a sand layer on peat or clayey soil to prevent layers from mixing. However, it shouldn't be laid under the soil.

It's also a misconception that geotextile prevents weed growth. Weeds arrive by wind or with imported soil and grow well in lawns.

The main function of geotextile is to help with drainage. If you have clayey soil — lay the geotextile first, then a layer of coarse sand, and only then a fertile soil layer.

Sowing

What kind of plot do you have — sunny, shaded, dry, or wet? You must choose grass seeds strictly based on these conditions.

Depending on the lawn’s purpose, different percentages of grasses are used in mixtures — this determines how it will grow. For example, if there are pine trees on the plot, choose a lawn with clover added. It will create a denser layer and prevent patches.

Before sowing, the soil is raked with fan-shaped rakes. Seeds are distributed over the surface of the soil using a seeder or by hand. The amount of seeds typically varies from 30 to 50 grams per square meter. Then the seeds are covered with fan-shaped rakes. If the soil is very loose, you can pass over it with a roller once more—but only in dry weather.

It's important to make a level layer of soil — if the soil has lumps, the lawn mower will cut unevenly.

You Will Need:

Dacha lawn Geolia, 3 kg
Manual lawn roller, 50 liters
Landscape geotextile, 50 m
Green manure fertilizer «Vika-Wheat», 0.5 kg

Watering

The best solution is to install an automatic irrigation system on the plot before sowing the lawn.

It's important to water the lawn in the morning and evening, preferably from walkways to avoid walking on the seedlings. The watering should be even, strictly at 6 AM and 11 PM when evaporation from the ground is minimal. To avoid a strong jet from the hose, use a spray nozzle.

The watering rate is 300 liters per hundred square meters to thoroughly water the area. If the plot is small, you can cover the seedlings with protective material like lutrasil to prevent them from drying out. This creates a special microclimate under the covering material that promotes faster germination. In addition, it protects against birds that may peck at some seeds.

On average, the lawn germinates in about two weeks.

You Will Need:

Garden pump Sterwins
Watering hose Geolia Classic, 25 m
Watering pistol Cellfast Economic
Impulse sprinkler on stand Gardena Premium

Lawn Mowing

As soon as you forget about mowing, the lawn begins to deteriorate.

Once the lawn has fully germinated and grown to 9–10 cm, it should be mowed. Subsequently, mowing must be regular — you shouldn't let the lawn grow too tall. The frequency of mowing depends on weather and the growth rate of the sown grasses. Usually, this is once or twice a week.

Grass height should not be less than 4 cm. No more than 3–4 cm of grass is cut per mowing. If the plot is heavily overgrown, mowing should be done several times with intervals of a few days, gradually reaching the desired height. Cutting more than that can cause the lawn to yellow and take a long time to recover and regain its rich green color.

• mow the lawn when the soil and grass are dry;
• lift flattened grass with rakes before mowing;
• subsequent mowing should be done across from the previous or diagonally — to prevent uneven compaction of the soil.

Lawn mowers with mulching function are better to buy — when the grass is chopped up and evenly distributed over the lawn, there's no need to manually collect it with rakes.

In autumn, all fallen leaves should also be removed from the lawn to prevent pests from accumulating in them and ensure the lawn remains green in spring.

You Will Need:

Electric lawn mower AL-KO Comfort 40E
Sandals for lawn aeration Greenworks, 32 cm
Electric lawn scarifier 1300 W, 32 cm

Seasonal Activities

In spring — raking and aeration using special mechanical or electric rollers, as well as devices that are worn on the feet to puncture the soil. On larger plots, verticillators and scarifiers are used for aeration and collecting yellowed grass on the lawn.

In autumn — collecting fallen leaves and fertilizing with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, in summer — weeding. To achieve the perfect lawn, herbicides with selective action (Lontrel or Linthur) are necessary — these eliminate weeds without harming lawn grasses. Unlike broad-spectrum herbicides mentioned above, they only target weeds.

Granular fertilizers are better to use, which should be broadcast over the soil surface by hand or with a seeder, followed by watering. Liquid fertilizers must be diluted in water and only applied to the lawn. This is inconvenient because watering with a hose will take a lot of time.

The first feeding should be done with complex fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium right after the snow melts. Then, until mid-summer, nitrogen-based fertilizers are sufficient. Bright green grass color and the absence of moss on the lawn are ensured by treating with iron sulfate.

Rolled Lawn

The main advantage of such a lawn is that it doesn't need to be raked and waited for the grasses to gain strength and look good.

Rolled lawn is sold as a dense sod of a certain width, length, and thickness that has been mowed several times.

It is laid on a previously prepared and compacted surface. The only difference from seeded lawns is in the thickness of the soil. Compared to walkways, the soil should be formed 4–5 cm lower, as the lawn itself is 3–4 cm thick.

It's very important to water the rolled lawn thoroughly immediately after laying. Unlike seeded lawns, the volume of water should be greater to keep the soil under the root system of the lawn moist. Heavy watering is necessary for a month to encourage root growth.

Rolled lawn should not be stored on the plot — it must be laid out immediately on the day it arrives. Therefore, you need to plan your strength and buy only as much lawn as you can lay in one day.

You Will Need:

Rolled lawn «Universal Classic», 0.8 m2
Plastic lawn grid for parking on the lawn
Gardena Classic Cut battery-powered lawn shears
Weed killer «BIS-300»