TLC for your Lawn All Year

There’s something so satisfying about tending to your garden. While you might take pride in your home’s interior, the exterior is there for the world to see. Your hard work can’t help but show itself off to your neighbours and passers-by! It’s natural then that we might feel a little envious if next door has a greener lawn, or the house across the road has a beautiful display of flowers in every colour.

According to one study, 42% of gardeners are envious of their neighbour’s garden. But a little competition is a good thing, right? It’ll motivate you to keep your garden looking grand! You don’t need to struggle alone with maintaining a lawn for the world to admire. We’ve enlisted the expert help of quality compost bag retailer, Compost Direct, to give you an easy full-year plan to look after your lawn.

Winter Winning

Winter is always a tough time for your garden, but don’t give up just because of the cold air! With our help, weathering the winter will be easy. Now let us take a look on a month by month basis.

December

Christmas brings garden debris, so pop out to pick it up as and when needed as such things can damage your plants. Though your flowers aren’t likely to be sporting colours, you can add a touch of festivity with a few garden decorations!

January

Keep on top of any debris in your garden and be sure to remove it — you don’t want it damaging your garden so soon in the year! Your lawn might be a little chilly during January, so avoid walking on it as this can shatter the frozen blades of grass. You could maybe pop a sign up to stop the postman trooping over the frosty lawn.

February

Love is in the air for the Valentine month, so be sure to show your lawn extra love. It’s now midwinter, so keep up the work from January as the cold weather continues. Finish up any turfing you might have started last year and give your lawn a look over to see what might need addressing. Now’s a good time to check your lawn mower too; clean it, tune it up, or maybe replace it if you need to!

Spring Success

Spring is a great time to get the bulbs planted and begin tidying up in the garden:

March

For most gardeners, March is the start of the year. Your lawn should be thawed out by now, and you can start in earnest.

If you’ve been keeping up with debris-removal over the winter, your garden in spring will be a perfect canvas. Now it’s time to give your lawn a little more attention; trim it down if it’s gone a little winter-wild — but be sure not to make your lawn too short. Due to the change in weather, your grass might be a little “groggy” and not grow very fast just yet. Is your lawn looking a little mossy? Give it some treatment for that now, or you can wait till the weather pick up.

April

April is very much the same as March — maintenance, and light trimming. If March was a little mossy and you did opt to treat your lawn, pop a spring fertiliser down now to help growth. A fertiliser with lots of nitrogen is a great choice for this.

May

May will bring warmer weather for the UK, so you can cut your lawn shorter if you want. Keep a close eye on any weeds sprouting up for the sun, as the good weather can make them grow quickly.

Summer Smash

Summer is the prime season for gardeners, and with parties around the corner, you’ll want to keep you lawn pristine:

June

June lets you ramp up your mowing, but you also need to get a good watering in during the morning or the evening to keep your lawn happy in the heat. A little spiking of your grass can help with water absorption, but this isn’t vital. Weeds will be enjoying the summer weather now too, so don’t let the take over your lawn.

July

As always, keep your lawn nice and trim throughout July. Weeds can sometimes avoid sprays and pulling, so keep reapplying weed-killer to protect your garden from their snare. Watering your lawn is vital during the summer months, so don’t forget to give your lawn a feed.

August

August is the final month of the year to use fertiliser or weed killer on your lawn. Make sure to get that all sorted before September rolls around, and keep your lawn trimmed and healthy.

Autumn

Green fades to orange and then to brown in the autumn, but your lawn can stay green with the right work:

September

Rake the lawn to remove any thatch that might have accrued on your lawn, as well as removing any dead organic matter.

Coring your lawn prevents compaction, so spike 10cm deep holes in your lawn in a square pattern to help. You’ll want to over-seed your lawn now to bolster any patchiness in preparation of winter.

Give your lawn a top dressing to even it out, encourage good draining, and offer drought resistance and healthy lawn growth. You could also put down a low-to-no nitrogen autumn fertiliser to guard it from the colder weather.

October

It’s time to stop mowing your lawn in order to give it its best chance through the coming winter. Iron-based products should be used now to boost your lawn’s health before the winter cold sets in — keep this up regularly by doing this every six weeks.

November

You can turf your garden in November if you need to, but other than that, November is the time to let your lawn grow as much as possible for the winter.

Addressing Patches

It’s natural for parts of your lawn to fall behind. If your lawn is suffering from patchiness, here’s some solutions to try:

All year: weeds, weeds, weeds

They seem to crop up everywhere, even while you’re out pulling the things! Lawns tend to house weeds like dandelions, buttercups, clovers, daisies, and types of coarse leaves.

You can deal with them naturally or chemically, it’s up to you. For a natural solution, you can remove weeds by hand or with a hand fork. Raking your lawn before you mow can also get rid of creeping weeds, along with regular feeding and aerating and scarifying to battle back weeds.

Obviously, weed-killer is the chemical solution to the problem. Just be sure to check the label if you have pets.

Summer/Autumn: rust disease

If your lawn is looking more yellow than green in the summer or autumn time, then you might have a rust disease to contend with. This is pretty common, and the main sign is discoloured plants or grass.

Treat the trouble with a regular lawn feeding, and avoid high-nitrogen fertiliser in the autumn months. This is because more growth will only be more susceptible to the disease. Mow your lawn and trim away any diseased area to keep spreading to a minimum. Finally, remember this is a temporary issue and your lawn will bounce back. Don’t go looking for a chemical solution!

All year: dead patches

A dead patch in your lawn can really be a dampener, especially after all that hard work through the year. If these dead spots have shown up during hot weather, water your lawn and aerate it to give it its best chance through the dry weather.

If you’ve just fed your lawn and it’s showing dead areas or striping, check to make sure you’re giving your lawn the right amount of fertiliser and that you are applying it evenly. Give your lawn a water after feeding it too.

Dead patches on a new lawn can be solved by sorting out any compaction issues, then overseeding, reseeding, or relaying.

Author & Sources:

Compost Direct is a leading UK based online supplier of quality compost, topsoil, bark, turf and blends. They supply a simple and concise range of popular landscaping materials which have been developed and refined over a number of years.