Getting Autumn Lawn Care Right

Until more recent years, autumn lawn care wasn’t considered to be important. However, as we all know, prevention is the best method of remedy. Rather than letting your lawn get ill and fixing the problems in spring, it’s best to keep your lawn as healthy as possible throughout winter. The solution to this: good autumn lawn care.

Mowing

Throughout autumn, you should slowly raise your mowing height so that once you reach winter, it’s sitting at the tallest height that is practical for you and the grass variety. This will protect the roots from any harsh extremes, such as frost, and will feel more comfortable underfoot.

You should also start to use a catcher on your mower if you haven’t been already. While letting your clippings stay on the lawn in warmer months has a lot of benefits, it gets a bit risky throughout the cooler months. Clippings will start to decompose slower and you’ll have a higher risk of fungal diseases developing.

Fertiliser

In order to get autumn lawn care right, you must use a slow release fertiliser. Applied before winter, this will provide your lawn with vital nutrients gradually through the cooler months. This will also allow your lawn to have some energy reserves that will help it adjust to shorter daylight hours and cooler temperatures.

Weeds

Again, the best way to care for your lawn is to prevent problems. This goes for weeds as well. A healthy, thriving lawn will out-compete weeds. However, as winter starts to set in and your lawn goes into semi-hibernation, this may get difficult. You can apply Oxafert, a pre-emergent herbicide, now so that any dormant seeds in your soil can’t germinate. You should also keep an eye out for any weeds that pop up and hand pull them. This is easiest just after rain as the soil will be looser.

Watering

Now is the time to adjust your sprinkler and watering pattern. If it’s particularly dry, your lawn will still need watering but quite often, rain will be enough during the cooler months.

Your lawn will give you signs of what it needs. A spongey feeling means it is getting too much water, whereas a footprint remaining after you walk on it means it isn’t getting enough.

You should also avoid watering in the afternoons and evenings as moisture can remain on the grass for too long. This can encourage fungal problems to develop.

Autumn lawn care isn’t difficult and will usually only take a couple of hours but is crucial in keeping your lawn as healthy as possible through winter.