HORTICULTURAL experts at an Inverclyde garden centre have developed a new type of grass — that cuts itself!

The Tele can reveal that for the past 18 months, French scientists have been working with staff at Cardwell Garden Centre on a top-secret project that could revolutionise the gardening industry.

Thousands of attempts at seed cross-pollination have been made in a tiny laboratory tucked away at the back of the Gourock facility.

But in the past few days a new grass has been developed that disintegrates from the top when it reaches a certain height.

Bosses at Cardwell have been working on the project with Paris-based horticultural giants L’Organics Francais.

Paul Carmichael, the garden centre’s retail manager said: “Just think how many people there are who hate the chore of cutting their grass.

“Now with these seeds they can sit back in their garden chairs and literally watch the grass cut itself.”

Officials are now finalising worldwide patents before the new wonder seeds go into mass production.

The grass-that-cuts-itself discovery was made when a member of Cardwell staff accidentally left an ultra-violet light shining on a tray of turf being grown in the lab over a weekend.

Gardening boffins had been carefully measuring the length of blades of grass on a dozen similar trays on a daily basis. 

But when the grass on tray No. 1-04-17 — which had been left under the UV light — was measured they discovered the blades of grass had become shorter than before.

A source close to the project told the Tele: “We took cuttings from this grass and looked at them under a microscope.

“To our amazement we discovered that the closer to the tip of the grass, the less chlorophyll the plant contained.

“Chlorophyll is the chemical present in all plants that reacts with light to stimulate growth, but for some reason with the grass from these new seeds, the more light shining on them the less chlorophyll there is.

“The grass literally kills itself off after it has been growing for a short period of time and subjected to UV light.

“This same UV light is present in sunshine and has the same effect on the grass.”

Bosses from L’Organics Francais praised the team at the Lunderston Bay garden centre for their key role in developing the product.

Company spokeswoman Avril L’Une said: “This will revolutionise the gardening industry worldwide.

“We couldn’t have done this without the practical expertise of the staff at Cardwell — their knowledge of all things horticultural is outstanding.

“From the moment we contacted them they certainly didn’t let the grass grow under their feet.”