How to look after your lawn in Autumn:
To help keep your lawn in great condition over Autumn read on for our top tips and advice.
1. Nutrition
A healthy grass plant needs a wide range of nutrients. A balanced lawn feed for the time of year, taking into account the weather, grass condition and soil type/moisture levels is key. Get this right and the lawn will look great. For Autumn we focus on nutrition to make the grass healthy and lush green, rather than encourage it to grow too much. We focus on a semi-organic treatment that will boost the overall grass plant and soil health plus encourage root development. We will soon be visiting customers for our Autumn lawn treatment (feed, weed and moss control). Book yours now if you are not yet a customer.
2. Mowing in Autumn
With the temperatures and sunlight dropping, the grass will not need cutting so often as Spring/Summer. You can switch from a weekly cut to every 2-3 weeks. Remember that regular mowing is essential for a good lawn (as are sharp mower blades). It will allow the grass to thicken up naturally. Don’t worry about the time of year – If your lawn is growing it will need cutting in Autumn and early Winter. Take no more than 1/3 off the grass height each cut. Raise the mower height a setting or two as you need to keep the grass longer when there is less sunlight. Don’t cut the lawn short thinking you won’t need to mow for a longer period this time of year. Remember if you cut it too short you will encourage moss to take hold and weaken the grass until next Spring.
3. Shade – the enemy of grass
Shade will limit grass growth, cause thinning out of the lawn, encouraging moss and weeds. Where possible cut back overhanging vegetation, particularly along borders, to increase sunlight to the lawn. Under trees you may find the grass becomes sparse and moss builds up. Having the right type of grass in such areas is key. In Spring or early August we can repair or renovate those areas with the best quality shade tolerant seed to help maintain a lush green coverage longer term.
4. Clear those leaves!
Once you see leaves falling it’s a sure sign Autumn in underway. However, leaves are the enemy of lawns so make sure you regularly clear them. If left in place for a few days the grass will be starved of light and the grass will weaken, thin out and eventually die. This will make your lawn patchy and bare, needing repairs in Spring. It will also allow moss and weeds and lawn diseases to take hold easily. It’s simple to sort. go over with a mower on a high setting if the ground is not to wet or frosty. Otherwise use a blower or rake. Place the collected leaves in a compost pile as they will break down to form a beneficial compost for other areas of your garden.
4. Worm Casts
It’s normal to have worm casts appear on lawns once we get more rainfall. The worms are great for your lawn and naturally aerate it. The soil they deposit on the surface is nutrient rich. The down side is the casts can smear and kill off the grass over Winter. There are no treatments to stop the worm casts so we recommend using a plastic leaf rake on the casts to break up the mounds of soil. Best done when the soil has dried slightly. It can be frustrating but the lawn is likely to bounce back once the spring growth starts.
6. Mushrooms
The warm wet weather and good soil temperatures in Autumn mean you are likely to find patches of mushrooms in your lawn. This is nothing to be concerned about as they typically indicate your soil has healthy natural microbes that are essential for a good lawn. There is no treatment to stop them appearing so we suggest letting them break down naturally, pick off with gloves or mow over them.
7. Aeration – let your lawn breath
Aeration is needed at least once annually and will provide long lasting benefits. It will promote good soil oxygen levels, create air spaces for grass roots to grow, allow water and nutrients to reach the roots and improve surface water drainage (reduces moss too). This all helps improve microbial activity in the soil that’s vital for turning nutrients into food for healthy green grass. We schedule our customer’s aerations from mid November over Winter. If you do not have an aeration service in your lawn care plan, please get in touch for a quote to book that in.
8. Soil Health – essential for a good lawn
We are passionate about improving soil health as it will result in a more healthy grass plant and a beautiful lawn. Aeration (Autumn) is one process, as is scarification (Spring/Early Autumn) to help the soil. We can also offer a natural soil improver treatment for any soil type that’s perfect for applying this Autumn with ideal ground conditions. It’s great for clay soils that have low organic matter which make the soil particles so tightly packed together that air and water cannot penetrate. Leading to water logging and soil compaction. Our soil improver treatment will:
- Enhance the already beneficial lawn fertiliser treatments.
- Improve the soil structure by increasing natural aeration, availability of nutrients and enhance the soil’s natural ecosystem. Help loosen up compacted, hard soils and clay soils, plus release locked up nutrients. It’s great on clay as repeat applications reduce the “claggyness” of the soil when it’s wet.
