Top tips for keeping your lawn looking great during the Spring

After the wet winter months, your lawn may have taken a beating and it now needs a little time to bounce back.

It’s only natural to want to get out and mow your lawn as soon as spring arrives, but the best thing you can do is to encourage nourishment with plenty of TLC and some good feed, which all goes towards putting vital energy and nutrients back into the soil and helps to fight off disease, ensuring your lawn is full of luxurious vitality for the summer months ahead.

HCT Turf have devised some helpful tips for those of you ready to get your lawns in order this spring.

Mowing

With the sun making an appearance at this time of year, it easy to think I’ll jump in the garden and give the grass a mow to get it ready for the Spring. And while it is a very important job to do, caution is required. Grass leaves have a lot of work to do at this time of year as they are storing any available nourishment and sending what they can down into their roots to enable new growth to form on the surface, as well as trying to stave off diseases. Therefore, mowing too early will cut off any vital nutrients that they need.

For the first mowing in spring, set the cutting height to the highest setting. Thereafter, gradually reduce the height of cut until the desired height is reached. The general guideline is never remove more than one-third of the leaf in any one mow. A little and often approach is better in spring; think, once a week in spring time but never when it is wet or frosty.

Aerate

From March onwards a key part of looking after your lawn is to aerate it. It is an often overlooked part of lawn care but is well needed after the impact of winter which can lead to compacted soil and also sometimes very wet grass – conditions not conducive to spring growth! Aeration allows air into the soil enabling better root growth and absorption of more nutrients from the soil, allowing it to breathe again. This can be done with a hand-held aerating tool or a powered aerator.

Scarifying or raking, is a really useful thing to do in the spring and the autumn. You can easily hire a machine, which makes it simple to do. Scarifying prevents too much thatch from accumulating by removing the build-up of dead vegetation. This ensures that air and water can permeate into the soil and it discourages moss from spreading too. Of course to keep cost down, a hand held spring-tine rake can be used. Vigorously pull the rake through the grass sward to remove dead grass, roots and moss.

Moss and weed removal

After the winter you may see lots of moss and weeds in your turf, they’ll be competing with the grass for nutrients and moisture and need to be dealt with. An all in one lawn feed, weed and moss killer is ideal to increase the nutrient levels of the grass and kill off the moss at the same time. Or for a less chemical approach, Scarifying or raking, as described above can really help. It’s a good idea to wait at least until April or May to use weed killer. But manual weeding can be done earlier. Not all weeds are created equal!

Also, the presence of moss, could be a sign of compacted soil if your lawn has been subject to high levels of traffic. Aeration is the best remedy to rectify it, but this kind of solution is best kept until the autumn.

Once moss has been removed you may have to consider over-seeding to cover up bare patches or even out the whole lawn with the appropriate grass seed and then add fertiliser for optimal growth.

Over-seeding

If your lawn is plagued with bare patches due to heavy traffic, pet activity or neglect or it suffered from the ravages of an excessively wet winter, you may need to apply grass seed to fill in the gaps. Spring is a great time to over-seed your lawn after any winter damage. It’s easy and quick, just sprinkle where needed. April to September is the ideal time to over-seed.

Feeding your lawn

To establish lawn health, spring is one of the optimal times to feed your lawn. In fact it’s ideal to feed it up to 6 times a year and helps prevent weeds and moss forming

Summary

Feed your lawn regularly with all-in-one feed, weed and moss killer, especially in Spring and Autumn
Set the mower blades high for the first mow in Spring and don’t remove more than one third of the leaf at a time
Aeration helps a compacted lawn to thrive better
Scarifying removes dead vegetation to encourage grass growth
Moss and weeds can be removed with chemicals or manually
Over seed bare patches left by moss and weeds between April and September

If you would like further advice on lawn care or would like to place an order contact HCT Turf on 01392 231040 or email sales@wesellturf.com or visit https://wesellturf.com