The sting of summer seems to have finally left, so here are 3 simple autumn lawn care tips to best prepare your lawn for the cooler months ahead. Don’t be left starting from scratch in spring, keep your lawn looking great all year round!
1. Shorter days, longer grass
With summer still fresh in our minds it is easy to forget that the days will now slowly get shorter. In mid-March we have already lost 2 hours of sunlight compared to the longest summer days, and we will lose another hour and half by the middle of winter. With higher fences and bigger houses our lawns are already losing out on precious sunlight, so the shorter days spell trouble for the health of your lawn.
As the days get shorter a great autumn lawn care tip is to raise your mowing height. Leaving your grass a little longer as the days get shorter give your lawn a greater surface area. This allows your lawn to get more energy despite the shrinking available sunlight. So as those days get shorter, let your grass get longer!
2. Lawns last supper (till spring)
With the dormant season of winter just around the corner, our next autumn lawn care tip is to give your lawn its last big feed. While a lot of people remember to fertilise at the start of the growing season in spring, one last good feed before winter is possibly even more important for a healthy lawn. By giving your lawn a good feed in autumn you build up nutrients before the leaner winter months.
You can take feeding your lawn to the next level by aerating your lawn. Your lawn needs oxygen at its roots to thrive, and with your soil under your lawn compacting over time it is important to loosen up the soil. To get all the details on lawn aeration you can read our earlier blog post It’s time to help your lawn breathe.
3. Prepare for weed warfare
The scourge of winter lawns is winter weeds, so our final autumn lawn care is to prepare for the winter weed warfare to come. With the growing cycle of lawns slowing down during the cooler months weeds get a chance to take over and thrive if untreated.
You need to take both a preventative as well as remedial approach to your lawn to really stay on top of winter weeds. A healthy lawn will always starve off weeds, so the preventative approach is to keep your lawn nice and healthy leading into winter. Following step 1 and 2 of these autumn lawn care tips will definitely ensure you are on the right preventative path.
Once winter arrives it is time for a remedial approach, autumn is a great time to get prepared to get all remedial. You always want pull out the weeds that can be hand weeded at first sight, so now as the weather cools it is important to be extra vigilant. Many weeds require a chemical intervention to control them. You can find an extended guide to winter weeds in our blog. It is always good to ensure you have the right chemical for the job as well. So use this early autumn period to check the range of weed control products somewhere like Bunnings to see which products are suitable for your lawn. You can also find some great Facebook groups like Australian Lawn Fanatics which can give you some great peer to peer advice on the best products for both your lawn and the environment.
To get more advice on autumn lawn care or to order a new lawn call our team on (07) 3114 8281. You can also to pop in and order in person at our sales office on 1/243 Bradman Street, Acacia Ridge. The office opens Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm and Saturday 7am to 12pm.
For more great turf, tips keep an eye on our website and all our social media channels.
