The Lawn Debate: Is Turf Unfashionable or Essential for Your UK Garden?
It’s an observation that’s hard to ignore, especially if you spend any time poring over the designs of high-end horticulture. The garden lawn, that quintessential feature of the British home, has become something of a ghost at the biggest annual party on the gardening calendar: the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Cast your eye over the plans for next year’s show gardens and you’ll struggle to find a significant patch of finely mown grass. The rare exceptions, like the inclusion of a turf area in Monty Don’s recent ‘Dog Garden’, become notable simply because they are exceptions. It’s almost as if garden designers, in their valiant efforts to demonstrate that a garden can be so much more than a rectangle of green fringed by a thin, lonely border, have collectively declared the lawn unfashionable.
You can see for yourself on the RHS website; the sheer diversity and ambitious hard-landscaping of the show gardens often leave no space for turf. To see examples of gardens without lawns, you can visit the RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gardens page. It begs the question: is the lawn truly obsolete, or has high horticulture simply moved on to a different, more complicated aesthetic?
The Allure of the Green Carpet
For two centuries, the ability to maintain a pristine, verdant lawn has been a subtle but powerful status symbol in the UK. It speaks of either the knowledge and ability (and time) of the homeowner, or the wealth to employ someone to manage it. It is, undeniably, the element of the garden that people instantly recognise, connect with, and desire.
And why shouldn’t they?
A lawn is a wonderful thing. It’s a patch of personal Wembley or Wimbledon, a space to spread out and play, to feel the grass through your toes, and watch a family come together. For an open, usable play space, I honestly don’t think there is a better option. It offers a soft, quiet surface that anchors a garden, giving the eye a necessary moment of rest amidst the exuberant complexity of planting.
This enduring emotional connection is why, despite the best efforts of the design world, I still receive more requests for installing and maintaining lawns than almost any other work.
The Perils of Low Maintenance
Sadly, the powerful desire for a patch of perfect green has recently been preyed upon by another, far less honest, commercial influence: the artificial lawn companies.
They promise a plastic, “low maintenance” alternative that, while initially tidy, inevitably looks ragged, collects debris, and, let’s be frank, often starts to smell faintly of fox piss after a few months. This is not gardening. This is an outdoor carpet, and a poor one at that.
A real lawn, however, is achievable and, with the right preparation, sustainable. Just last week, we were delighted to lay a new lawn for a client using excellent, locally sourced turf from Sovereign Turf in Sidcup. Starting with good materials is half the battle won.
Finding the Balance
The ultimate goal of a thoughtful garden designer is not to abolish the lawn, but to find its proper place.
The real magic happens when we manage to balance that family-friendly expanse of grass with inspiring planting, textural borders, and the majestic structure of trees. This is the work that elevates a garden from a neglected space of maintenance-dread to the true heart of the family home. It’s about integration, not elimination.
If you’d like help to improve the health of your existing lawn, or if you need to reshape the garden to enable the trees, shrubs, and plants to truly compete and complement the grass, don’t hesitate to contact The Lewisham Garden Company Ltd. We can help you achieve a beautiful, functioning garden that delivers both play space and planting inspiration.
