Segment: Lawns. The Good. The Bad. The Facts.
Episode: Autumn 2020, Ep 1
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
TX Date: 22 February 2020

Trev explains how lawns are great for your gardens, their benefits, and why there should be more of them.

• The main reason is that lush green lawns are usually only that way because of the amount of water they get, and purists have argued that lawns should be banned as they suck up way too much moisture.
• Lawns won’t stop a fire, but they will slow it down, making grass between houses and buildings, vitally important.
• It’s not always possible to keep them green if water is in short supply but there are other ways to water lawns, including watering with recycled grey or black water, or wastewater.
• The great thing about grass is its ability to absorb excess nutrients and impurities cleaning the environment whilst cooling it!
• The aesthetic appeal of lush green lawn isn’t the only great thing, but there is a lot of evidence which suggests that walking barefoot on a lawn grounds, relaxes and reduces hypertension in individuals.
• The best grasses for warm climates are varieties like Kikuyu from Africa, or Cooch, a running grass.
• It’s vitally important to prepare the soil before you roll lawns out. Adding a clay to sandy soils, and organics to heavy soils will get better performance with all turf varieties subsurface irrigation will reduce evaporation dramatically.
• Did you know 6m2 of grass provides enough oxygen for a person to breathe for a day!?