Toby Buckland talks lawn nonsense on Gardeners World

I have been keeping a sneaky eye on Toby Buckland since he joined Gardeners World and I do get the feeling that there is still a touch of 'Toby who?' and continued surprise about his appointment.

I feel that the producers were in a no win situation (or at least one they had created for themselves) and needed to fill a spot that needed charisma and a photogenic face on the one hand, but yet retained horticulture understanding, skill and knowledge on the other.

Both Alan Titchmarsh and Monty Don came with mostly the right attributes to make for an entertaining show, although I did feel Monty Don was a little too polished in his television role and was always keen to look the part and relied heavily on his image to fill the gap that his horticulture knowledge might have left lacking.

On watching Toby's introduction show where he was tidying up the long border, TB came over as confident and quite polished, but not the kind of face that would stand out in the crowd; maybe that is the best way to be?

Seriously, Toby does look like we could all grow to like but will he ever match Percy Thrower, Geoff Hamilton, Alan Titchmarsh or Monty Don? - sadly, I think he has a little too much to try and live up to and I would have personally preferred Dan Pearson for his knowledge, passion and partnership with the television camera.

I have to reserve judgement on his horticulture qualifications but I cannot overlook the the rather inaccurate lawn advice that Toby has offered on his first Gardeners World blog - First Thoughts.

He quite rightly points out that after the filming schedule the lawn suffered very badly from the invasion of the filming crew "You could see all our footprints almost fossilised in the mud and track marks from the camera, like cat-scratches down a leather sofa."

The initial remedy of lightly spiking the surface with a fork is good but the second has probably made turf care professionals unhappy that once again, lawns and their care, have not been taken seriously in what is normally the hub of the garden and should be treated as the focal point.

I assume that Christopher Lloyd turned a blind eye out of ignorance rather than wishing to be prophetic?

"we used the old landscapers' trick of fighting water with water and hosed the mud from the sward. With a gentle rake it all comes away and you don't run the risk of the mud drying on the grass and killing patches of lawn."

TB may well be right in his observations about landscapers washing down turf when in a hurry and was probably referring to Ground Force and Alan Titchmarshsh's attempts at lawn care but the advice, if you really love your lawn is more damaging (at least when coupled with the 'Poaching' by the film crew) than the compaction caused by the feet on a wet lawn.

Can you imagine spending hours and hours on lawn maintenance and probably a considerable amount of money by scarifying, spiking, over seeding and then top dressing so that any previous bare areas are filled in and smoothed with the soil only to be brushed out in atrocious conditions?

What TB should be thinking about is waiting until there is a sufficiently dry day - preferably a late afternoon or early evening - and lightly brushing to encourage the mud to crumble away from the grass leaf blade.

With a good eye, it is possible to identify the worst areas and re-direct the displaced soil back to where it is needed most.

Look for the deepest heal marks and lift them up with a small border fork and then spike over the entire area that has received excessive wear (I would probably employ a mechanical spiker such as the excellent Groundsman).

Wait a few days for the air to breath new life into the root zone and then broadcast your preferred lawn seed making sure that some dribbles into the tine holes which should still be open if you have managed to stay off of the lawn.

Lay a scaffolding board out (you might need several end to end) so that your wheel barrow does not recreate the same problem that you are applying this remedy for. You may also need a large square section of plywood to rest your wheel barrow on or to tip the medium onto if the job is a big one.
The idea of the wood is to spread the weight and stop compaction where you are performing repetitive tasks.

Now, working at the furthest point from the access and where you would wheel heavy materials to, start to broadcast your preferred top dressing mixture over the surface - try to avoid a thick build up in any one place. Once the top dressing has been distributed - go for a cup of tea and let the breeze and sun dry out your compost and come back about half an hour later.

When you return the soil mixture should be dry and more importantly, workable. Using the back of a wooden hay rake or a lute, start to lightly caress the soil into all of the holes and dips. Be sure that you are careful to evenly distribute the soil and you do not end up pushing it all up into a heap.

The straight edge of the lute acts as a grading bar and will ensure that you cannot gouge out the low spots again. It is easier to use a drag mat on larger lawns or if you are working alone (this can be heavy work). Personally I like the lute method on a lawn but the drag mat is great on fine turf such as bowling or golf greens.

Either go for a cup of tea and repeat the process or tidy up and stay off of the lawn for now.

My advice to Gardeners World and Toby in particular is to lay sheets of plywood out for the crew and a scaffold board or Garden Track or Easy Roll along the borders edge where you are working to protect this area of the lawn

Border edges are especially prone to damage because of gardeners shuffling along whilst doing the weeding, overhanging plants weakening the grass by shutting out the light.

Probably the worst of all is insensitive use by lawn mower operatives who swivel the mower rather than attempting a three point turn. This practice wears the grass out and it is suggested that a three point turn is best practise to relive compaction and wear.