Top Tips for Caring for Your Grass This Autumn

Autumn is the perfect time for carrying out final garden maintenance tasks, such as applying autumn lawn fertilisers, before the winter months arrive. There may also be necessary repairs that need to be made from the summertime wear and tear the grass has experienced – especially after a drought. These tasks are best carried out now before temperatures fall and growth stops.

Autumn Lawn Care Treatments

There are a few jobs that should be looked at over the course of the next few weeks to keep your grass in top condition or reclaim some ‘green’ back from the drought stricken brown area that was once a lawn..!

Fertilise

Applying an autumn/winter fertiliser is vital at this time of year. It will help your turf withstand the poor and harsh conditions that are to come in the winter months. In addition, it provides essential nutrients needed to strengthen grass roots and leaf blades. Slow release fertilisers will have the most prolonged benefit now and into next year.
For more information on autumn lawn fertilisers, take a look at our article here.

Seeding

Following moss treatments, scarification and drought, the application of grass seed is often a necessity to fill in gaps in the turf. A reasonable amount of growth can be made before extremely cold weather hits later in winter and it decreases the establishment of weeds in spring if the grass is knitted together growing well. Many different types of grass are available to suit different conditions; shade, dry, slow growing and the new Winter Amenity seed is particularly suitable to sow late in the year, since it germinates even in low temperatures.

Moss Treatment

Moss thrives in wet, damp and shady conditions. Often compacted soils can make the moss situation worse (see Aeration, below) but it does need attention or it can easily swamp poor growing or sparse turf. Several options are available as a combination ‘all-in-one' product with fertiliser, in liquid or granule format or as a straight product just for moss, such as lawn sand or Sul-Fe. Apply in quantity and moss will start to die within an hour but leave for several days to properly blacken before raking or scarifying – then re-seeding (see below). There is also a product that will now kill moss but NOT blacken lawns – sometimes useful for public areas: MossOff Lawn.

Scarification

Thatch (dead grass stems, dead moss and other debris) can build up over the course of the growing season. If left, it can harbour disease spores and restrict the absorption of rainfall into the soil and roots. Thatch can be removed by scarifying (raking vigorously) with a spring-tined rake or a powered machine and should be followed by feeding with fertiliser as turf could be damaged if scarified too deeply and still weak after summer.

Aeration

After heavy use over summer months, the soil beneath your turf can become compacted resulting in poor (anaerobic) growing conditions. This is because the compacted soil starves the grass roots of any air or moisture. Aeration can be carried out by using either a garden fork or hollow tine aeration machine to remove plugs of soil followed by a top dressing of soil/ sand – commonly called 70/30 mix. This creates pathways for nutrients and air to reach the turf roots. On top of this, aeration will help to improve drainage of the area.