Your lawn is a living thing, and like all living things, it will deteriorate as it gets older.
As with a car or a boiler, getting your lawn serviced on a regular basis keeps it in good condition and helps you to avoid big repair bills. Replacing a damaged lawn with new turf is expensive - it is much cheaper to look after what you have.
To help you maintain your lawn, here are some tips and rules from the team here at Lawn & Weed Expert.
Contents
- Rules for mowing
- Don't leave your lawn in the shade!
- Soil types
- How weather affects lawns
- Rules for watering your lawn
- A note about wetting agents
- Leaves and other debris
- Weeds and moss
- Seasonal lawn care
- Killing weeds
- Moss control
- Aeration and compaction
- Lawn diseases and pests
- Brown patches
- Top dressing and overseeding
- Growing grass from seed
Rules for mowing
- Mow your lawn regularly (once a week in spring and autumn, twice a week in summer).
- Never cut your grass shorter than 1 – 1.5 inches.
- Never remove more than 1/3 of its overall length in one go.
- Remove clippings.
- Do not scalp the grass, especially in dry weather.
- When grass is not growing quickly, just give it a light cut to tidy it up.
- Let the grass grow longer in very dry weather – it will become more drought tolerant.
READ MORE: Lawn Mowing Advice
Don't leave your lawn in the shade!
Grass needs a few hours of sunlight each day to grow correctly, so you may encounter problems if your lawn is constantly in the shade.
Lawns under shade and in sheltered positions also stay damper for longer, making them more vulnerable to moss.
If you can, cut back branches and shrubs to allow the sunlight and air to reach your lawn.
Shaded lawn care is a tad more difficult than caring for a lawn that gets good sunlight, but not impossible.
Soil types
Here in South Wales, most lawns tend to be on heavy clay soils that are poorly drained and hold water, encouraging dampness.
Thin sandy soils have the opposite problem: they drain too quickly, so the grass struggled to get the moisture it needs.
Clay soils need sand and sandy soils need organic matter added in order to retain moisture.
READ MORE: What Type of Soil Do I Have In My Garden?
How weather affects lawns
Grass thrives in periods of warm, wet weather - but it's a very hardy plant, and it can also tolerate cold/dry, cold/wet and hot/dry periods.
That said, periods of extreme weather will have a noticeable effect on your lawn. For example:
- Too much rain creates dampness and encourages moss.
- Periods of drought will cause the grass to become stressed through lack of moisture.
- Heavy snow can lead to lawn diseases.
We recommend that you avoid walking on your grass in heavy frosts and during periods of very dry weather.
Rules for watering your lawn
All living things require water. Grass can tolerate dry weather and will recover quickly when the rain returns, but prolonged periods of dry weather can damage the grass.
If we have more than 2 consecutive weeks of dry weather, you will need to water your lawn. It's easy to test whether your lawn needs to be watered: when you walk on your grass, it should spring back up again. If the grass stays flat, that means it's thirsty!
To water correctly, leave a jar with a line half an inch from the bottom under your sprinkler. When the water reaches the line, move the sprinkler and start again.
It is better to water heavily once a week than every night! Watering every night will encourage the roots to turn towards the damp surface, weakening your lawn. The dampness may also encourage moss growth.
A note about wetting agents
Wetting agents are often used by professionals on playing fields, golf courses, etc. While they are not a substitute for water, they do help the grass to make maximum use of the water that's available in the soil.
Once a wetting agent starts to work on the soil, water can move more readily and spread more easily. The lawn soil can now hold more water, with obvious benefits down and sideways in the soil profile. Run-off is reduced, and water penetrates deeper and gets where it needs to be more quickly. Wetting agents also stimulate root development.
The common misconception is that these products replace the need for watering. They don't! Water is still required, although the wetting agent will allow you to us less water.
Leaves and other debris
Try to remove fallen leaves from your lawn as soon as you can.
Leaving them where they are - even for just a few days - can weaken the grass, which needs sunlight and will die if covered up.
This rule also applies to anything else that might be left on top of your lawn.
Weeds and moss
Weed seeds and moss spores are carried on the wind, land randomly, and quickly establish themselves once they've arrived in your garden.
Weeds are easier to control - two applications of a professional herbicide will keep your lawn 90% weed free.
Moss is a bigger problem for most lawns and must be treated every year to avoid causing serious damage. A good moss control product turns the moss black. Be careful not to apply too much or you may scorch your lawn.
Dead moss must be raked out once you've dealt with it. Sow fresh grass seed on any bare patches of your lawn.
Seasonal lawn care
Your lawn's needs change with the seasons. Here are some rules for treating your lawn at different times of year:
🌱 Late winter / early spring
Apply a fertiliser that's high in nitrogen to give your grass the nutrients it needs to grow in wet, warm spring conditions. Combine the fertiliser with an application of herbicide to control weeds.
Do not use total weed killers on your lawn - they kill grass as well! Instead, use a selective weed killer to combat weeds and leave your grass alive. Do not apply too much as you could scorch your lawn.
☀️ Late spring / early summer
Apply a fertiliser with low nitrogen content but high phosphorous and potassium content. These two nutrients are critical for root development (whereas too much nitrogen will create an unhealthy amount of top growth). Combine the feed with a second application of herbicide to control more difficult clovers and weeds that appear later in the year.
Be careful: some lawn care companies use only high-nitrogen feeds that will green up your lawn in the short term but will eventually produce too much growth and create an overcrowded, spongy lawn with a lot of thatch. Check what they are using and insist they use the correct range of nutrients - after all, it's your lawn not theirs!
🍂 Late summer / early autumn
To prepare your lawn for the autumn months, apply a fertiliser with high potassium and phosphorous content, combined with a dose of moss control.
Moss should turn dark when it dies. Any dead moss will need to be raked out for the grass to grow.
❄️ Late autumn / early winter
Apply a very heavy dose of moss control and iron to improve your lawn's colour and toughen up the grass in preparation for winter. Consider aerating the lawn to improve drainage.
Killing weeds
Weeds can be controlled using herbicides. The weeds need to be growing to die off effectively. Controlling weeds in cold weather, or in very hot and dry weather, tends to be a much slower process as the plant's metabolism will be far slower.
Weeds are 70% water and decompose quickly, usually wilting 10 – 21 days after treatmeant in normal conditions. They may take longer if the weather is cold or dry.
Moss control
Moss can be controlled at almost any time of year, but it does not decompose easily and the dead moss carcass may just sit on the surface of the soil, blocking any new grass growth.
Dead moss should be raked out from the lawn. The mechanical process of raking out dead moss and thatch is called scarifying – it is brutal and can leave your lawn looking bare and untidy, in which case the lawn may require top dressing and overseeding to recover.
It's best to schedule scarifying just before a period of warm, wet weather that will help the lawn to make a full recovery. Do not scarify in extreme temperatures as your lawn may not recover for several months.
Aeration and compaction
With wear, soil becomes compacted over time. What this means is that the soil particles are pushed closer together, reducing the amount of space between them. This prevents oxygen and moisture from moving through the soil.
Aeration and spiking is a process that involves punching holes into the soil to improve aeration. Cores pulled out of the soil should be collected and removed, not left on the surface.
Note that aeration improves surface drainage – it does not improve overall soil drainage.
Lawn diseases and pests
There are a number of diseases and insects that can damage your lawn. Inspect your lawn regularly and look out for symptoms such as:
- Discoloured grass
- Bare patches
- Excessive weed and moss growth
These things may be a sign of lawn disease, or they could indicate that some unwelcome pests have made their home in your garden!
Brown patches
There are a number of possible reasons for brown patches on your lawn. For example...
- Insects such as leatherjackets can cause serious damage in a few days.
- Animal urine will create dark green patches that can turn into scorch marks.
- Petrol or chemical spills can also cause scorch marks.
- Walking on your lawn when it is frozen or covered in snow can cause brown marks to appear later in the year.
Top dressing and overseeding
Top dressing involves spreading a mixture of sand and soil over your lawn's surface to improve drainage and irritate / impede moss growth.
The idea is to gradually create a layer of sandy, well-drained soil on the surface and even out any undulations.
You can also add seed to thicken up the lawn - this is called overseeding.
READ MORE: Overseeding Tips & Advice
Growing grass from seed
Grass seed requires three things to germinate: warmth, moisture and good soil contact. If it is too dry, too cold or even too hot, your seeds will not germinate.
The best times to sow grass seed are early spring and late summer / early autumn.
We hope this guide has been helpful! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
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