The temperature has dropped and the colder months are coming – here are some lawn care tips you can use make sure your lawn comes out on the other side of winter happy, healthy and ready for you and your family to enjoy!
Fertilising Tips for Autumn:
If you have chosen to fertilise your lawn once a year, the best time to apply fertiliser is in spring – but as landscape gardeners, we recommend fertilising your lawn twice a year, and spring and autumn are the best seasons.
Giving your lawn a boost in autumn is a great way to prepare it for the colder, harsher months of winter, keeping it in the best condition to resist damage due to frost, cold and sudden temperature changes.
Choose a liquid fertiliser which contains seaweed, fish, organic compounds and amino acids – it might not smell great but your lawn will love it!
Mowing Tips:
The colder months mean you don’t have to mow your lawns as frequently, as the rate of growth slows down significantly – less work for you or your gardener!
Mow your lawn every 3-5 weeks during autumn and winter, and do not cut the grass lower than 2.5 cm. If you cut it too short in the colder months, you can damage your lawns, resulting in browning and ‘scalping’. Repeatedly cutting your lawns too short can weaken your grass and leave it open to disease and weeds. If you aren’t too sure how often to mow your lawn, just mow whenever your grass is longer than 6cm.
While leaving leaves and grass clippings on your lawns during summer can help provide nutrients, we recommend removing them during colder months to allow your grass to get as much access to the sunlight and air as possible. If you have trees which are blocking all the sun, you may also want to prune them more in the colder months for the sake of your lawn.
Watering Tips:
Turn off your sprinklers! Keep an eye on the rainfall, but unless your grass looks and feels very dry and it hasn’t rained in a while, you do not need to water it in late autumn or winter. And if you do water it – only do so in the early morning so it has all day to absorb the water it needs and let the rest evaporate. If your lawn is too wet, it can become vulnerable to fungi or disease.
Perth has such hot, dry summers that autumn and winter are great opportunities for your lawns to regenerate, soaking up the extra water and growing stronger, healthier root systems that will keep them in better shape when the temperatures rise again.
Talk to your gardener to see what steps you can take now to look after your lawns – or give our team a call to book in our lawn care services, from fertilising to mowing, weeding and general garden care.