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A closer look at the Japanese flowering lawn
If you like flowers and colour, the Japanese lawn is worth a look: a lawn dotted with dwarf flowers that changes its appearance week by week. It is not a lawn like any other, and that is exactly its appeal - provided you know what you are buying, particularly when it comes to how long it lasts.
What is a Japanese lawn?
A Japanese lawn is close to a flowering meadow. The difference between the two is height: where a flowering meadow combines tall grasses and wild flowers, a Japanese lawn stays low and uses only dwarf flowers, which do not exceed 20 to 30 cm.
The name has nothing botanical about it: it evokes the spirit of flower gardens, not a species or an origin. You will also find it sold as a flowering lawn or flower lawn. When the mixture contains only daisies, it is known as a Swiss lawn.
Among the most widely used varieties: nasturtium, daisy, cornflower, sweet pea, centaury, poppy, marigold, morning glory, phacelia, flax, gypsophila, violet, tulip, alyssum, pheasant's eye, daffodil, lupin, love-in-a-mist, everlasting and rose campion. Some ready-made mixtures bring together as many as thirty-five.
Is it perennial? The answer that avoids disappointment
This is the most frequently asked question, and the one your satisfaction depends on. The honest answer: most flowers in a Japanese lawn are annuals. Poppy, cornflower, marigold, phacelia and nasturtium complete their cycle in one season.
In practice, that does not mean everything disappears. Some species self-seed, and mixtures often include a few perennials - daisy, violet - along with bulbs such as tulip or daffodil. But the spectacular flowering of the first year is never quite reproduced as it was: the mixture drifts, some species dominate, others vanish.
The right habit: keep a sachet of flower mixture for Japanese lawns to hand and resow the thinning areas each spring. That is what separates a flowering lawn that lasts for years from a fond memory of a first season.
Composing your Japanese lawn
Start from the look you are aiming for. A lawn in blue tones, a carpet of daisies or a multicoloured patchwork do not call for the same varieties. Then set that plan against reality: some species suit your regional climate and soil better than others.
On proportions, the usual rule is roughly three quarters flowers to one quarter legumes and grasses. On the number of varieties, there is no limit: it is a matter of taste.
If you would rather not compose it yourself, ready-made mixtures settle the question. Some already contain the grass, others only the flowers - to be mixed then with a hardy grass.
| What you want | The right product | Area |
|---|---|---|
| To try it on a small area | Japanese lawn sachet, 4 sqm | 4 sqm |
| To flower a bed or a border | Japanese lawn sachet, 10 sqm | 10 sqm |
| To cover a real area | Japanese lawn, 500 g box | 20 sqm |
| To resow or enrich an existing lawn | Flower mixture for Japanese lawns | as per rate |
| A carpet of daisies only | Swiss lawn, 500 g | as per rate |
When and how to sow a Japanese lawn
Sowing takes place in spring, generally between April and May, once the soil has warmed and frosts have passed.
To cover 10 sqm, allow a 2 to 5 g packet of flower seed mixed with around 300 g of hardy grass. The ratio is surprising, but it is right: the grass provides the bulk and forms the mat, the flowers punctuate it. Flowers alone would give a sparse meadow, not a lawn.
For the base of the mixture, BHS Hardy grass is particularly suitable: perennial ryegrass, creeping red fescue and meadow grass, with good tolerance of partial shade and moderate drought. It forms a dense mat that sets the flowers off without smothering them.
Looking after a Japanese lawn
Maintenance is light, but it is not the same as neglect: left alone, a Japanese lawn becomes overgrown and then thins out.
After sowing, water regularly and always with a fine spray. The first seedlings appear after four to six weeks. Wait until they reach around ten centimetres for the first cut, mower on its highest setting: that cut strengthens the root system.
| Task | Ordinary lawn | Japanese lawn |
|---|---|---|
| Mowing | Weekly in full growth | A cut every two weeks, if needed |
| Cutting height | 4 to 5 cm | High, to preserve the flowers |
| Tool | Mower | Sickle, scythe or scythe mower, in sections |
| Watering | Regular | Regular in year one, then moderate |
| Resowing | Occasional | Each spring, to keep flower density |
Cut in sections rather than all at once: not every variety flowers at the same time, and cutting partially lets other species take over. That is the technique that creates the impression of continuous flowering.
Where to put it, and where not to
A Japanese lawn is not a working lawn. Its flower stems cope badly with repeated treading, and a close cut removes the whole point of it.
For the part of the garden that gets walked on, choose a resilient mixture: BHS High Resistance grass is formulated for play areas and paths. The full range is in the turf seeds category.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Japanese lawn come back every year? Partly. Species that self-seed return, annuals that did not self-seed disappear. Resowing each spring maintains the density.
Is it really maintenance-free? It needs far less mowing than an ordinary lawn, but it is not zero maintenance: without an occasional cut and resowing, it thins out within two or three seasons.
Can you walk on it? Occasionally, yes. Daily, no: the flower stems break and do not recover.
How does it differ from a flowering meadow? Height, essentially. A Japanese lawn uses dwarf flowers of 20 to 30 cm and is cut back; a flowering meadow grows far taller and is cut only once or twice a year.
Does it need fertiliser? Very little, and preferably low in nitrogen: soil that is too rich favours the grasses at the expense of the flowers. Our guide to lawn fertilisers covers the formulations and their effects.
In short
A Japanese lawn is an ornamental flowering lawn, made of dwarf flowers sown with a hardy grass. Sow it in spring, allow 2 to 5 g of flower seed to 300 g of grass per 10 sqm, cut in sections every two weeks, and above all resow each year to keep the flowering. It is a lawn you look at, not one you walk on.
Our mixtures are available as a sachet for 4 sqm, a sachet for 10 sqm and a 500 g box for 20 sqm, dispatched within 24 hours.
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