At All Year Round Turf, we want you always to have a healthy, green lawn, so read on to learn critical spring lawn care tips that will create a lush green lawn you can enjoy during spring and summer.
Dealing with Thatch?
Winter is a time when thatch starts to build upon your lawn, but what is thatch, and how can you control it? Thatch occurs when dead leaves, roots, and stems combine with living grass to form a dense, dead layer of organic material between your grass and soil.
Spotting thatch is easy because it shows as a brown patch surrounded by an otherwise healthy, green lawn. Crabgrass, dandelions and other weeds that thrive in compacted soil can accelerate the development of thatch, so be on the lookout for these pesky weeds.
It’s okay to have a little thatch because the dead material leaches nutrients into the soil as it decomposes. However, you don’t want too much as it can quickly overtake your lawn and become hard to control.
Here are a few tips for spring lawn care that will help you control thatch to create a healthy, green, and vibrant lawn for spring and summer.
Tidy Up Your Lawn
Part of your spring lawn care routine will involve removing thatch by raking dead leaves away regularly. You can use a standard metal pronged grass rake for this, but make sure you dig the rake in deeply as you remove the leaves because this will also dislodge any dead material.
A more efficient way to dethatch is with a dethatching rake because it has small metal teeth that scrape thatch and moss from your lawn.
Dethatching with a dethatching rake needs to be done every three to four years, or sooner if your grass is thick and thatch builds up quickly. The best time to dethatch your lawn is in the early autumn when growth has slowed because of the cooler weather.
Aerate the Soil
Enjoying your backyard has the unfortunate side effect of compacting your soil, which weeds love, but lawn grass does not. Wet Sydney winters where the ground is moist for days at a time can also increase soil compaction.
You can alleviate soil compaction by ensuring you aerate your lawn, which you can do by poking holes in the soil using a lawn aerating tool. Not only does aerating lawn help eliminate thatch, but it also improves drainage and promotes root growth.
Feed Your Lawn
The next step for spring lawn care involves fertilising. A good quality fertiliser provides the vital nutrition your lawn needs to recover from a cold Sydney winter and prepare it for the growing seasons of spring and summer. At All Year Round Turf, we recommend a variety of fertilisers, including:
- Environmentally friendly organic fertilisers
- Slow-Release fertilizers so you don’t have to worry about it for the rest of the growing season
- Liquid fertilisers to get nutrition to the roots as fast as possible
If you aren’t sure what type of fertiliser you need for your lawn variety, then be sure to ask turf supplier Sydney experts for professional advice and guidance.
How To Water Your Lawn for Best Results
To give your lawn the best chance, you need to be strategic about your watering. As the days heat up, watering in the morning for 15 minutes or so will give the moisture enough time to saturate the soil down to the roots. If sections of your lawn are doing better than others, then pay more attention to those areas.
You should only water when your lawn needs it. You can test your moisture levels with a simple finger test. Dig your finger into the soil, and don’t water if it feels damp. There are also moisture meters you can use for more accurate results.
Be on the Lookout for Weeds
Weeds will always find their way onto your lawn, so you need to remain vigilant and deal with them as soon as you notice them sprouting up. You can remove weeds manually, but if the problem is prevalent, an herbicide might be necessary to get them under control. Be careful about what herbicides you use, and always follow directions closely.
Mower Maintenance
Now that the growing season is upon us, a quick check of your lawnmower is in order. Make sure it’s serviced, and the blades are nice and sharp. Sharp blades make mowing easier but also reduce the amount of stress on your grass. Different types of lawns prefer to be kept at different lengths. Check with your turf supplier Sydney experts for information on what will work best for your new lawn.
