Winter Lawn Care Tips

While many people tend to forget about their lawn over the cooler months, a little TLC now will ensure that your lawn stays strong and green during Winter.

If you’ve had either a lot of traffic on your lawn or a lot of rain (or both) over the warmer months then now is the time to determine whether or not your lawn is suffering from soil compaction and get onto aerating it. Stick a garden fork into the ground – if the fork doesn’t go in at least halfway down the tines, your soil is compacted. To fix either use a garden fork to push holes into the lawn or hire a coring machines or power aerator to get the job done.

If your lawn is suffering from weeds it’s best to treat the problem now – before the dormant phase. Most weeds will continue to grow over the cooler months providing them the chance to invade and eventually dominate your lawn. If you only have a small number of weeds at the moment they can be removed by hand, but if you have a big weed problem or a really large area of lawn then a herbicide specific to your variety of lawn is your best bet.

An application of fertiliser now will help to give that last boost to your lawn’s growth before it goes into its dormant phase and will ensure it stays green and healthy over winter. We recommend a slow-release fertiliser at this time of year – the lawn will get that boost plus it will be fed over the coming weeks and months. If you’ve left fertilising a bit late or the lawn has almost stopped growing already then consider using a liquid fertiliser for faster results. Ensure any fertiliser is evenly distributed over the lawn and is watered in properly.

Right before winter is a great time to repair any patches or bald spots in your lawn. Scuff up the soil in the bare patch, plant some runners from the edge of the lawn and fertilise.

Before the lawn goes into its dormant phase ensure the any pest problems are taken care of. When your lawn isn’t growing it gives the pests a fantastic opportunity to take over and the lawn will be less likely to be able to self-repair. This issue is particularly important for lawn varieties such as Couch and Kikuyu.

For more lawn care tips – see our blogs here.