lawns

Yellow rattle feeds off grass roots and thins the sward so wildflowers can compete. Sow fresh seed on bare soil from August to November; it needs winter cold to germinate.

Scarifying, aerating, overseeding and autumn feed — when each is worth doing, when it isn't, and the 7°C soil rule for sowing grass seed in October.

Most lawns grow fine without feeding. When a feed does help, spring and autumn feeds do different jobs — here's when to use each, how much, and the mistake that invites disease.

How to repair a bald patch, a broken edge or a bump in the lawn — when to do it, how to prepare the soil, how much seed to sow, and when to mow the new grass.

Daisies, dandelions, clover and plantain — which to dig out, which to leave for bees, how to make grass outcompete them, and what to know before you reach for a weedkiller.

Yellow patches and birds or badgers tearing at the turf usually mean grubs. How to confirm them, when nematodes work (and the soil temperatures they need), and how to repair the damage.

Seed is cheaper with more choice; turf is instant. When to sow and when to lay, how to prepare the ground, laying turf like brickwork, and when you can first mow and walk on it.

Moss is a symptom of shade, compaction, wet soil or close mowing. How to rake it out, when to scarify, what the RHS says about iron sulphate — and when to stop fighting it.

How high to cut, how often, and why you should never take more than a third off. Plus mowing in drought, the first cut of spring, and why a brown lawn isn't a dead one.