Gardening tips for mid-November

Spiking the lawn while it’s damp and squashy is an easier feat than trying to get the fork through a thorough frost

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Lawn Hall
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Horticultural aide memoire

No.43: Spike the lawn

The lawn is typically damp and squashy now, ideal for spiking. Take a garden fork and push its tines vertically into the ground by standing on it, then work it back and forth a little. Withdraw it, step back 4in and repeat the exercise. Keep doing this until the whole lawn is covered in a regular pattern of holes. This is one of the most beneficial lawn improvements: the lawn will drain more freely in the winter, and the process punches through the dense mat of thatch at the base of the grass leaves, improving root growth.

Country Life
Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.

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