The Grass is Not Always Greener But Does It Have To Be?

Wimbledon has come round again and with it the discussions about whether there will be enough strawberries to keep the spectators going (apparently the British strawberry growers have had a bad season), what fruit should be added to the perfect Pimms and questions as to if Murray is British or just a Scot. The last point depends on how far he progresses through the championship. 

As the years have gone by the televised coverage has become more detailed with more cameras beaming the action in HD and even to some lucky households 3D, so the sweat from the players flies out of the TV and hits you in the face.

 

This improving technology has allowed for more scrutiny of arguably the most important aspect of he whole Wimbledon experience, the grass. What an amazing challenge the grounds keepers have to face each year. The grass is lush, weed free and always the perfect colour green. The stripes are exactly the same width and not a blade is out of place. The length of grass is kept to a precise eight millimetres high, something that cant be done with a flymo!

According to a Reuters news report the grass is 100% ryegrass with a magic combination of Pontiac, Melborne and Venice strains. If only my own lawn could be as magical. My front lawn is currently 30% ryegrass, 20% moss, 40% clover and 10% assorted weeds.

There was once a time when I obsessed about the lawn and it's perfection, so much so that my wife purchased a fantastic book to help me with this never ending quest.

For a couple of years I followed the advice using lawn sand, fertilisers and top soil. I aerated, removed weeds by hand and cut it religiously. It looked good, not a weed in sight. No one was allowed to walk on it. Then came a dry summer where the grass was scorched dry and turned brown and crispy, this was followed by a wet cold winter, the moss set in. I didn't deal with the moss quick enough and now my grass is not good enough to handle a swingball knockabout let alone a ATP ranking event.

 

However in my research, I discovered a few things about the Wimbledon grass that have made me feel better. Firstly they have 35 grounds staff looking after the courts, whereas I have just two occasional helpers who would rather be watching the TV. More shockingly, most of Wimbledon's grass appears to start its life in Holland, with approximately 9 tonnes being imported. Mine is grown from seed bought from the local DIY store. What hope is there?

I've come to realise that a perfect lawn does not need to be green, green grass. In fact the weeds provide colour interest and more importantly biodiversity. Maybe I will just let it grow and mature, I've always wanted a wild flower meadow.