Stuart Grindle gets his mower out twice a day, three times a week to keep the grass exactly 5mm long.
But you may only admire from afar – as even his nearest and dearest are discouraged from trampling on the treasured turf. The retired joiner clocks up 30 hours a week tending the grass and the dazzling displays in his flower beds.
And he reckons he has spent 40,000 hours over 30 years creating the garden paradise in Tickhill, Doncaster, South Yorks.He said: “The lawn is my pride and joy. Most people probably only get the lawnmower out once a week but I cut my lawn twice a day three times a week.
“People think it’s astroturf because it’s cut to exactly 5mm long and in such good condition. That’s down to watering it and cutting it often.
He spends so long in the garden his wife Anne has a bell to ring for him at meal times. She says “Stuart is obsessed with the garden but at least he lets me walk on it. When our son Jonathan was a boy he was banned from playing on it – he was sent to play football and cricket on pitches nearby. It’s a wonder he doesn’t have a phobia about grass and the colour green.”
But kind-hearted Stuart recently put aside his Keep Off The Grass rule when he threw the garden open for charity. It broke his heart to see visitors lolloping on his lovely lawn, but he raised more than £1,200 for good causes.
Stuart’s lawnmower is a push 14-blade 1947 Ransome Certes that was formerly used by a groundsman at a bowling green.
