AS AUTUMN approaches and the leaves begin to fall, it’s a good time to give your lawn some attention so that you have a strong, healthy green sward next year.
Customers are asking us almost daily how they can deal with the problems created by this year’s unusually high levels of rainfall, so this month we’re offering some effective ways that will help your lawn over winter and be ready for 2025.
Aerate the lawn
Aerating the soil in autumn relieves compaction but, with such high levels of moisture for much of this year, any traffic on lawns will have exaggerated the compaction, making aeration even more important.
Aeration is simply the process of creating small holes in the soil to allow water, nutrients and air to penetrate and more effectively reach the grass roots – and of course it also helps with drainage.
At its simplest, you can use a garden fork to create the holes, but a hollow-tine fork will extract small cores of soil, offering greater relief of compaction.
For larger areas, you might consider hiring a powered hollow-tine machine – you might have noticed greenkeepers using them on bowling greens, putting greens or golf courses.
Top dressing
After aerating the soil, most greenkeepers recommend lightly brushing in a top dressing so the holes are filled but not packed.
Top dressing is generally a mix of topsoil, compost and sand, as this will help the soil structure and aid drainage.
Relieve waterlogging
For many gardens, simply creating a change of level between the lawn and the surrounding beds is enough to allow the lawn to drain.
However, in more extreme cases, you may need to resort to installing a drainage system such as a soak-away trench under or alongside the turf.
If there’s no obvious outlet for the drainage system, you might consider diverting the water to one area and create a ‘bog garden’ filled with plants that enjoy damp conditions.
Remove thatch & moss
Moss tends to build up quickly when water levels are high and thatch tends to accumulate as a result of loose grass cuttings.
If you enjoy a workout, a grass rake to remove the thatch and moss will certainly provide good exercise!
For a deeper treatment, a scarifying rake which has stronger blades will penetrate further and remove thatch to a greater depth, opening the soil to helping water, nutrients and air into the root systems.
Of course, you can always hire a power scarifier and, whilst it will no doubt do an excellent job, it won’t burn up quite as many calories!
Good strong roots
This is particularly important in the winter.
Although the grass is almost dormant in winter months, it still needs moisture.
Good strong roots are essential for absorbing moisture and greatly help your lawn spring into life next year when the temperatures begin to rise.
Where summer lawn food helps the develop the grass sward, autumn lawn feed is designed primarily to provide the essential nutrients for strengthening roots and keeping your lawn healthy through winter.
Clear fallen leaves
Because grass becomes virtually dormant during the winter months, it’s important to keep it clear so that any sunlight available reaches the lawn.
Fallen leaves have fungal spores on their surface – that’s how they decompose – but this can also lead to mould and disease in the lawn.
Collect up the leaves and put them into your compost bin – that way, you’re helping the grass stay healthy and creating lovely compost that you can use in the borders next year – it’s a win-win!
If you need any more information, check out our website at merryhatton.co.uk
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