Help & advice to bring your autumn lawn back to life.

Here we are again in October, and our thoughts turn to how we can care for our lawns over the autumn and prepare them for the winter ahead. How can we make lacklustre lawns, damaged by both hot summer weather and recent heavy rain, look better and get them ready for the approaching chill?
Work done on your lawn now can give you a head start in the spring when you begin to get your lawn in top condition for the year ahead. If your lawn is in relatively good condition you may not need to do very much at all, although all lawns will benefit from a targeted fertiliser treatment, but if your lawn has really suffered over the past few months you might want to go a step further and consider some more wide-ranging treatments. First things first though, what can you do to help your lawn.

Keep it clear

One of the best, and thankfully simplest, things you can do for your lawn at this time of year is to keep it clear of falling leaves and branches. Letting leaves remain on your grass can encourage disease, as well as damaging your lawn. Make sure you rake leaves up regularly, and take this opportunity to trim back overhanging trees and bushes to reduce the amounts of leaves that fall on your lawn.

Slow the mow

Depending on the weather, and we know how unpredictable that can be, you may still need to mow your lawn. However, the grass won’t need cutting as often as in the warmer months. If you do need to mow raise the blades of your mower as the grass will not need to be kept as short. And remember, avoid mowing your lawn if it is very wet.

Trim your edges

After you’ve mowed your lawn, take the opportunity to tidy the edges. Trim any overhanging grass with long-handled edging shears, then use an edging tool, or a sharp knife, to cut redefine your lawn edges.

Check for bald patches

As the growth of your lawn slows you may start to notice areas of thin or bald grass. You can carry out patch repairs yourself using grass seed, but it’s important that you determine what has caused the grass to thin. It may just be wear, but it could equally be due to pests or disease. So, if you’re not sure, speak to a professional.

Call in the professionals

Fertiliser & weed treatments

The autumn fertilisers that All Green use focus on strengthening the roots of your grass in order to prepare your lawn for the winter. Even if you think that your lawn looks healthy, it can benefit with an extra boost in the autumn. If you’re not sure, why not contact us to request a free lawn analysis. It won’t cost you a penny and we won’t carry out any work unless you agree to it.

We also take this opportunity to carry out spot treatments of any weeds that are present. This can quickly and simply improve the look of your lawn.

Tackle the pests

Remember those bald patches? Often these are caused by the presence of chafer grubs, and by the action of creatures such as birds that dig of the grass in order to eat the grubs. You may also notice yellow patches on your lawn.

All Green treat these pests using nematodes, a biological pest control method that has the benefit of being harmless to pets or other wildlife. These nematodes attack and kill the chafer grub larvae, and work within a few days of application.

Scarification & Aeration

In normal circumstances All Green recommend that scarification and aeration are carried out in the early spring. However, if your lawn is in particularly poor condition, we would recommend that you carry out these treatments before the winter sets in.

Scarification is the process of removing any heavy thatch using either a rake or a mechanical scarifier. It will also remove any moss that you may have in your lawn, which may be a particular problem if your lawn has become waterlogged.

Our petrol scarifiers are professional, heavy duty machines that provide a more reliable result than either raking by hand or using a less powerful ‘domestic’ model.

Aeration reduces soil compaction in your lawn by making thousands of small holes in the surface. This allows air and nutrients to travel more efficiently to the grass roots. In addition, aeration will improve your lawn’s drainage.

If your garden is in an area with a heavy clay soil, then the soil tends to be more susceptible to compaction. You may have noticed that in the hot summer months your lawn seemed very hard, and you may even have seen cracks in the soil; this generally indicates a clay soil. Once the weather gets wetter, you will see puddles on the lawn, indicating that the drainage is poor.

Don’t ignore your lawn this Autumn

Why wait until spring to start the work if your lawn is looking particularly tired? Contact All Green Lawn Treatments today and see how we can act now to prepare your lawn and ensure you have a great lawn for next spring and summer.