Autumn Lawn Care

Put in the hard work now to prepare your lawn for the winter ahead. Just like the springtime, autumn is an extremely important time of year for your lawn. The time, care and effort you put into your lawn now will leave you in good stead from the colder months ahead and give you the best chance to keep your lawn healthy through the winter until next spring. Read on to learn more about autumn lawn care.

Fertilising

Autumn is the perfect time to be fertilising your lawn to build up a healthy root system before winter sets in. The best type of fertilisers to use for autumn lawn care would be controlled-released, as the nutrients are released slowly and continually.

This in turn allows the grass to take up the nutrients as it needs them, and they are less likely to leach in runoff into local native bushland or waterways.

If possible, use a fertiliser spreader. Generally, you can pick one up for a small sum, and they will ensure the fertiliser is distributed at the correct rate. In some cases, over fertilising is worse than not fertilising at all!

The best time to fertilise is early in the morning when there may still be dew or moisture in the lawn to help the activation process, or before a rain shower. You don’t really want to be fertilising before a big storm, as more often than not, your fertiliser will wash away with the overland flow than properly absorb into your soil.

Mowing

As the weather cools, grass growth will slow, and your mowing frequency will reduce. It is best to keep your lawn slightly longer through the cooler months so it’s better equipped for photosynthesis and weed suppression. In saying that, you don’t want to let your lawn get too long!

It is very easy to allow the lawn to grow out so you can mow less, but as a general rule, try to mow when your lawn is looking “shaggy”. If you allow your lawn to get too long between haircuts you run the risk of stress and scalping. Remove no more then a third of the green leaf blade.

Damaged grass is far more susceptible to pests and disease, so it is important to make sure it is being cut cleanly rather than “chewed”. Keep your mower blades sharp! 

Lawn Grubs

The dreaded lawn grub (read more here) is out in force through the autumn. Lawn grubs such as army worm, cutworm and sod webworm can cause serious damage to your lawn unless you keep a keen eye out. Even turning your back for a week or two can end in tears for the avid green keeper.

Keep your eyes peeled for any sign of these nasty pests and treat as soon as possible with grub control chemicals. If you need some more specific advice on this kind of autumn lawn care, please give us a call on 07 3373 4999, 7 days a week!