Autumn Lawn Renovation

With the winter fast approaching, September/October is the perfect time to do some renovation work to your lawn, while there is still some warmth in the soil temperatures, to aid recovery, and to get the plant as strong as possible to be able to survive the long winter months where the grass sits dormant. The following techniques will prepare your lawn for the months ahead.

Scarification.

This is the removal of any unwanted surface organic matter that has built up through the growing season, mainly consisting of dead plant material. Doing this will stop algae build up, which can affect water filtration, and will allow more air and light to the existing grass, which will in turn improve its health. This process can be done using a scarifying machine, but if this is not possible, using a spring tine rake can give good results. Aeration. Aerating a lawn is creating holes into the soil using either a machine, or just a simple garden fork. There are a number of benefits to this including relieving soil compaction, allowing oxygen into the soil profile, enables the roots to grow down into the channels, and allows quicker movement of water from the surface through the soil.

Seeding. Once the scarifying and aeration has been completed, there are likely to be some bare patches from the process, or just from general wear throughout the year. Sowing seed into these areas is essential as it will help thicken up the lawn, and reduce the invasion of weeds or moss.

Fertiliser. Applying a natural/organic fertiliser will help the plant recover from the works that have been done to the lawn, and speed up the germination and establishment of the new seed. Choosing a feed with a lower nitrogen and higher Phosphorus and Pottasium content, will strengthen the roots and harden the leaf ready for the winter. Over the following few weeks, the existing grass should recover and strengthen, the new seed should fill in any gaps and establish before the soil temperatures drop towards winter, and provide you with a healthy lawn that can survive through till spring.

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