Prepare Your Lawn This Autumn For Winter

Start preparing your lawn for winter in October - November. Clearing any fallen leaves off the lawn. If needed give it a cut, keep the blades high, just trimming the tops off. If left too long light will be blocked from the base of the grass stems and it will likely turn yellow. Still occasionally cut the lawn throughout the winter on a high setting, never in the frost or below 0 degrees!

Spike or aerate

Spike the grass with a garden fork to increase drainage and get some air to the roots. If you have the time - and energy - it is best to brush some sand or horticultural grit into the holes to prevent them from closing up again. Hollow tine aerators are quite useful as they remove a plug of soil with each hole.

Use an autumn lawn feed

Now you’re ready to use some special autumn lawn food which will help strengthen roots and kill moss leaving you a beautifully green and lush lawn come spring. You can usually find a product that comes in a ready to use spreader pack, or if you have a big lawn it may be worth investing in a wheeled lawn spreader, not only more accurate but far quicker! If you do kill the moss make sure you rake it out after it has turned black. Never rake live moss, this simply spreads the spores and will give you more of a moss problem.

Treat bare lawn patches

Patches are caused by summer weather and activities or the removal of moss, now is the time to treat them. You can get special patching kits which have all you need in to do the job, such as compost, seed and fertiliser, or you can buy a bag of good quality topsoil and some grass seed and simply follow the instructions on the seed pack to ensure you get the right coverage and don’t over apply the seed, as this can cause weak growth.

Keep pets away

Try to keep people, and pets, off the area until the new grass has established. You probably won’t need to water much as moisture levels are usually higher at this time of year, but keep an eye on it and water if it looks like it may dry out. Now just sit back and watch as over the winter your lawn will remain strong and come the springtime you will have a lovely lush green lawn growing back with no patches!

Have a Great Autumn! It will soon be Christmas and time to check back here for some winter lawn care tips.