Five ways to prepare your lawn for autumn

As autumn approaches, it's a great time to think about rejuvenating your lawn after the long, dry, hot summer.

Summer cricket matches, the drought and water restrictions, plus general wear and tear can also wreak havoc on your lawn. 

1. Feed your lawn

Feeding your lawn now helps with both summer recovery and winter preparedness. Put simply, right now your lawn is wanting to repair and prepare. As the days are getting shorter this becomes more difficult for your lawn as it needs sunlight to generate and store energy. Feeding allows your lawn to create energy more efficiently, it gives it the extra boost to both recover and to build its winter resilience.

2. Let there be light

You need to maximise your lawns exposure to sunlight so keep any falling leaves at bay and keep an eye on any overgrown shrubs that may be shading your lawn too. Try running your mower over your lawn at a setting higher than your normal mowing height. Your mower will act like a vacuum cleaner. And all those leaves you catch? They make great garden mulch. Or better yet, use a leaf blower for a fast and easy tidy-up! 

3. Aerate, aerate, aerate

At this time of year you may also notice bare patches in your lawn where soil is compacted. The quick and easy way to combat this is to use a garden fork to aerate. Drive the fork in a few centimetres and rock gently back and forth. Repeat over the entire area at roughly 5cm spacing before finally raking some dry, clean river sand over the area to fill the holes and keep them open for air and water circulation.

4. Keep mowing as required

It’s important to give your lawn a light trim this time of year. While advice on correct lawn cutting height has often been a complex and confusing area with different recommendations based on time of year, the fact of the matter is it’s important to find the right height and just stick with it year-round. The actual height will vary with your lawn type, but I like to aim for what is known as ‘foot feel’ - walk on your lawn barefoot and it should be nice and comfy. Not too hard or too spongy.

5. Make the most of water

If conditions have been dry, you can reduce the loss of water by applying a quality soil wetter – this will help ensure any rainfall is soaking in and not running off.

Source - Homebeautiful.com.au