Moorish lawn – man-made flowering meadow

Recommendation points

• Moorish lawn – general principles of the device
• What plants are used to build a Moorish lawn
• The main stages of creating a Moorish lawn
• Soil preparation
• Sowing mixture preparation
• Sowing a Moorish lawn
• Watering the sown lawn
• Moorish lawn care

Usually, at the mention of a Moorish lawn, the imagination draws something exotic, and meanwhile this type of lawn is the most natural and traditional design for a personal plot for our latitudes. The article is devoted to the device of such a lawn with your own hands and issues of caring for it.

Moorish lawn – general principles of the device

The modern Moorish lawn is often called the “lazy lawn”. It really doesn’t take a lot of effort to break down and is trimmed once or twice a year as needed..

Since various perennial and annual plants are used to create and maintain the picturesque appearance of the Moorish lawn, it will delight the eye from early spring to late autumn..

Another indisputable advantage of the Moorish lawn is the ability to lay it out in places where no other type of lawn can be arranged, for example:

• slopes that are difficult to access for a lawn mower;
• places near fences and barriers;
• tree trunks.

In addition, Moorish lawns provide an excellent backdrop for some types of hedges and mixborders. However, it should be remembered that most of the plants used for planting are photophilous and cannot tolerate thick dense shade – when sowing planting mixture near trees and fences, it is worth considering the degree of moisture and shade.

What plants are used to build a Moorish lawn

The basic composition of plants for a Mexican lawn is grasses and wildflowers. Recommended proportions for planting mixture: 5–20% flowering plants to 80–95% field cereals.

Such a glade can include both a large palette of colors, and can be sown in a mono color, which looks incredibly aesthetically pleasing and elegant. In the second case, the planting mixture should include cereal grasses and, for example, seeds of field cornflower and blue flax..

Advice!An interesting way of arranging a Moorish lawn is to evenly sow only cereals over the entire area, and flowering plants are sown in separate islands.

Grasses of the Moorish lawn:

1. Red fescue.
2. Slender bent.
3. Meadow bluegrass.
4. Timofeevka.
5. Pasture rightgrass.
6. Lagurus.
7. Zhitnyak.
8. Scented bison.

Flowering perennials for the Mauritanian lawn:

1. Tansy.
2. Different types of poppies.
3. Field chamomile.
4. Gentian.
5. Nemesia.
6. Echinacea.
7. Spinous Gaillardia.
8. Quaking grass.

Flowering annuals:

1. Carnation.
2. Forget-me-nots.
3. Daisy.
4. Blue linen.
5. Gypsophila.
6. Delphinium.
7. Two-horned matthiola.
8. Bell (campanula).
9. Catchment (eagle).
10. Toadflax.

In order for the lawn to look blooming, early flowering bulbous plants are planted in spring:

1. Tulips.
2. Daffodils.
3. Crocuses.
4. Cyclamens.

We should also highlight the meadow clover, which, being a flowering annual, will help create an even green base..

Usually producers indicate for which climatic zone the seed is adapted. Of course, preference should be given to a mixture containing plants traditional for the area..

Advice!The experience of the owners of Mauritanian lawns confirms that the use of domestic seed gives a smoother and more resilient Moorish lawn.

The main stages of creating a Moorish lawn

Soil preparation

Produced in autumn (late September – early October).

On the site chosen for laying out the lawn, it is necessary to remove all past plantings and weeds. On virgin soil, it makes sense to remove and remove the top layer of sod. The soil is carefully dug to a depth of 20-25 cm, all roots, stones and foreign objects are removed.

A layer of manure is applied (5 kg per 10 m²), depending on the composition of the soil, it is possible to add sand, humus or peat (10 m² Mauritanian lawn – 0.2 m³ sand and 0.08 m³ humus or peat). Re-digging is carried out with a shovel, or, if the soil is soft, with a pitchfork.

Sowing mixture preparation

In order to achieve good germination and rapid growth of lawn plants, it is necessary to add mineral fertilizers to the seed mixture. They are usually offered when purchasing seeds. They may include:

• ammophos;
• ammonium nitrate;
• potassium chloride.

Some manufacturers add starter fertilizers immediately to the mixture (you can find out by carefully reading the composition on the package).

Advice!For even dispersion, fine, sifted sand can be added to the grass mixture in a ratio of one part of the mixture to three parts of sand.

Sowing a Moorish lawn

Sowing is done by hand in dry, calm weather. To achieve maximum uniformity, it is worth dividing the mixture into two parts and first scattering along the width, and then along the length of the section.

The consumption of the finished grass mixture is indicated on the package..

Attention! You should not try to increase the specified number of seeds, this will not make the lawn thicker, but it can lead to slower plant growth and soil depletion..

After sowing, the topsoil is gently leveled with a French rake so that the seeds go deep into the soil by about 0.5 cm.

Watering the sown lawn

The lawn must be watered immediately after planting. To avoid washing out the seeds, use either a watering can or a fine-perforated hose attachment. The amount of water during the first watering should be moderate, the goal is to moisten the topsoil that the seeds have got into.

Moorish lawn care

Regular care of the Moorish lawn consists of regular watering as the soil dries up, using a fine spray on a watering can or hose. The soil should be moistened about 5-7 cm deep.

Seedlings usually appear 7-14 days after sowing.

If weeds appear on the lawn, they must be carefully removed.

During the summer season, in the first year of plant life, you need to add additional mineral fertilizing. In subsequent years, feeding can be carried out only as needed..

The overgrown Moorish lawn is cut twice per season:

• at the end of June (the time of ripening and screening of early flowering plants);
• at the end of September (when all other plants are eliminated).

Recommended height for mowing – 7-8 cm.

In the second year after planting the Mauritanian lawn, an “audit” is carried out, annuals are sown, the common carpet is leveled.

A well-rooted and overgrown Moorish lawn will cope with most weeds on its own and will require almost no maintenance.