The green green grass of winter

It seems there is a positive side to the cold weather I have been moaning about. According to today's Telegraph newspaper, freezing temperatures are good for lawns:

A cold winter leads to a better crop of summer grass, says a study that has examined the effects of one of the world's major climate patterns on one of the world's oldest experimental plots in Hertfordshire.

Peter Kettlewell, of Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, reports the discovery with colleagues today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences.

Which is good, as you'd realise if you saw the state of my lawn. "Ragged" doesn't do it credit. I can't remember where I read it, but I take comfort from a piece on organic gardening and lawns that said it's fine to have moss, clover and various other non-grassy ground cover in your lawn, as it was a more diverse and hardy environment.

Comments

[Patrick Vickery]

The grass has started to grow, here in the Scottish Highlands. Must get the lawn mower serviced. Extraordinary, eh?

[Violet]

The grass grows like crazy here in the Pacific Northwest whether the winter is cold or not.

[Jess]

Looks like the down side to all this cold weather is the continuing lack of rain. South east reservoirs all desperately low. Already Southern Water is saying that water restrictions are guaranteed in the summer, and the London area will certainly get them too. Bad, bad news for allotmenteers.

Suggestion: when choosing your veg varieties this year, try to hunt out 'drought-resistant' varieties?? I'm certainly growing Desiree potatoes this year, for this precise reason...

[Jane Perrone]

That's a great idea Jess. I think about disease resistance but not drought resistance. Given how much to ing and froing with a can is involved on my allotment I should be looking at that when perusing seed catalogues!