Your lawn guide for autumn!
Now that summer is behind us, it's time to put your lawn in the autumn sunshine! And what's more handy than a monthly calendar with a plan of action and checklist! We tell you month by month what you can do to get your lawn ready for winter. That way, your pelouse will stay in top condition during autumn too!
Leave the lawn to rest through the winter in January. It is particularly important not to walk on the lawn during frosty weather. The blades of grass are very fragile at such times, meaning they can easily snap. What’s more, the lawn is also more susceptible to (fungal) diseases in winter, such as snow mould.
Has King Winter already left the country by February? Then you can start working on it, but take care! Good soil is the best foundation, so start by measuring your lawn’s pH level. The ideal pH level is between 6 and 6.7. Is the pH level below 6? Then your soil is (slightly) acidic. This is due to the acid rain that regularly falls on the lawn. Fortunately, you can quickly restore the pH level by spreading lime.
Tip from Marcel:
Choose lawn lime that also contains added magnesium. This gives your lawn that lovely deep green colour! If, on the other hand, the pH level is higher than 7, you’ll need peat to raise the acidity! A pH level that’s too high hinders the lawn’s ability to absorb nutrients.
Once your lawn has reached the perfect pH level, you can get started with your spring fertiliser! Do make sure to wait at least two weeks between liming and fertilising to ensure the fertiliser works as effectively as possible. Otherwise, the nutrients in your fertiliser won’t be absorbed properly, and that’s a waste of your product and money! February is the perfect month to give your lawn a growth boost with nitrogen-rich spring fertiliser. What’s more, the spring fertiliser also contains a dose of magnesium for that beautiful green colour! You can spread the lawn fertiliser quickly, easily and evenly using a fertiliser spreader.
During March, you can also take your lawnmower or robotic lawnmower out of winter storage! Wait until the temperature reaches between 7°C and 10°C. Let the mower ease back into action by mowing the lawn every two weeks. From April onwards, you can increase the mowing frequency to once a week. Your lawn will also benefit greatly from spring fertilisation in March!
After that long winter, your lawn could probably do with a bit of a refresh! Get rid of the dry winter thatch on your lawn and get the scarifier out! Always treat your lawn with an anti-moss product before scarifying! Moss is a spore-bearing plant and is only too happy to take over your lawn. By treating the moss first, you’ll avoid spreading it further whilst scarifying. Head to our blog "Scarify your lawn to health’ for more tips!".
Don’t be alarmed: after scarifying, your lawn won’t look its best! Fill in small bare patches with a repair mix. Are you struggling with large, patchy areas in your lawn? Then opt for a play and sports mix! This will prevent weeds or street grass from taking root in your lawn!
Give your lawn an extra boost after overseeding by fertilising it. However, don’t choose a nitrogen-rich fertiliser, as whilst this will give your lawn a growth spurt, it can also burn the seeds and young blades of grass! A recovery fertiliser, on the other hand, provides the perfect germination environment for the grass seeds, such as Viano Recovery fertiliser or DCM Lawn Food Recovery.
The garden is getting greener and coming to life, but unfortunately so are the weeds! Weed your lawn and garden regularly. A weed puller will save your back and make it easy to pull out the weeds.
The mowing season really gets underway in May – unless, of course, you’re taking part in ‘Don’t Mow in May’! The lawn can now be mowed once or twice a week, but don’t cut it too short to prevent scorching now that the sun is making more frequent appearances! What’s more, a lawn used for playing has to put up with a lot, so leave the blades of grass about 4 cm long. Vary the direction you mow in so that the blades of grass don’t all lie completely flat to one side.
A robotic lawnmower immediately turns the clippings into mulch, which means your soil is also fertilised whilst you’re mowing – that’s handy!
From May onwards, the cockchafer will once again be flitting about happily. You’re most likely to spot them just before sunset when they take flight from the lawn. That’s where they lay their eggs, which hatch 4 to 6 weeks later. It’s these larvae, better known as grubs, that cause a great deal of damage underground! The larvae feed on the roots of your lawn, leaving it dry and with bare patches. You can, of course, control these grubs using nematodes. Read more about this in our blog "Three ways to tackle grubs in your lawn’".
Summer’s here! It’s the time of year when we enjoy our garden the most, but when the lawn has to endure a bit more. Extreme drought, plenty of sun and heavy foot traffic put your lawn to the test. The spring fertiliser has long since worn off, so the grass could do with a fresh boost from some summer fertiliser.
Weeds are also still popping up amongst your blades of grass, so keep weeding regularly! This will prevent the weeds from taking over your lawn, especially as there are no longer any selective weedkillers on the market.
It’s best to water your lawn in the early morning. The sun isn’t at its peak yet, so the water evaporates less – and that way you won’t have to brave the scorching heat either! You can water by hand or with a oscillating sprinkler; the latter distributes the water evenly across your lawn. You can also install an underground drip irrigation system and set the watering schedule on a smart device. That way, your lawn will be watered automatically!
September is a busy month for lawn lovers. There is a lot on the agenda to give your lawn a green makeover after the hot summer.
So there are a lot of "snags" like grubs and leatherjackets that plague your lawn. You can recognise grubs by their curly posture. The fat larvae have a yellowish-white colour and feast on the root system of your lawn. Leatherjackets, on the other hand, do not eat the roots, but the grass itself. However, the result is the same: a bare & damaged lawn. Thanks to nematodes, you can control the undercreepers naturally. Read more about it here.
From mid-August, all grubs' eggs hatch, so the autumn treatment should not be missed! This treatment ensures that you get rid of the small larvae. Attention: to keep the nematodes alive, the soil temperature should be min. 12°C. Is the soil still warm enough in September and October? Then feel free to still treat the lawn with nematodes! Even a rainy week is ideal to tackle your lawn as the nematodes need a lot of moisture to penetrate the soil.
Are you not bothered by hungry larvae, but rather by a dry and yellow lawn? Then give your pelouse an airy haircut by ridding it of its thatch layer, which consists of weeds, moss and dead grass. After scarifying, your lawn can breathe again! Learn the tricks of the trade here. Remember to treat your lawn with an antimoss product, such as Bio-press or Moscide, before scarifying, otherwise you will spread the moss further during scarification. t is important that the soil temperature is at least 15°C for these products to work.
If you want to be pretty, you have to suffer. Although the grass does not suffer from scarification, it is not a pretty picture to see afterwards. Fill the small bald spots with repair lawn. Large bald spots can be sown with the rock-solid Ultra Resist or Bar Power RPR grass seed. Want to enjoy a full & green lawn right away? Then now is the time to lay grass mats. Do you want to roll up your sleeves yourself? Then click here for our step-by-step plan for laying turf or sowing a lawn yourself!
View our full range of grass seeds here
Thanks to lawn lime, you can neutralise acidic soil and prevent moss growth. Boost your lawn with potassium-rich autumn fertiliser so that your pelouse survives autumn and winter well. This way, the grass is more resistant to the cold and weeds cannot nestle between the lawn. Read more about the benefits of lawn fertiliser in our blog. Always wait 2 weeks to fertilise your lawn after liming. After scarifying & re-seeding, Recovery fertiliser is then again recommended for good rooting.
Leatherjackets, the larvae of the crane fly, also continue for a while in October. The larvae are still small now, so this is the perfect time to tackle them with nematodes. Would you like to read more about how nematodes work? Then visit our blog here! Again, a soil temperature of min 12°C is essential. Usually, you can treat the lawn until mid-October, after which it gets too cold. However, this is only a general guideline because it is the soil temperature that counts!
The first leaves are getting an orange glow and letting go of the trees. Better get out that leaf rake and rake the leaves together so you are not left with a mottled lawn, or even worse: a lawn suffocated by foliage!
The leaves whirl down from the trees in droves now, and lay a golden blanket over your lawn. So keep raking!
Don't throw away the "green waste" though, because the foliage is precious mulch for your borders! This mulch forms a protective layer against the upcoming (freezing) cold. Moreover, the foliage contains a lot of nutrients that are released to the soil during the digestion process. To speed up that process, you can finely shred the leaves. The extra layer also means less weeding and is the perfect hiding place for many garden animals that are hibernating. Definitely do it! (Psst, want more tips on how to help garden animals through the winter? Then be sure to click here!).
Keep mowing the lawn until the temperature dips below 5°C, when the grass stops growing. Usually, the lawnmower may leave the garden shed for the last time at the end of November. During the last mowing, don't weed your lawn too short and raise the lawn mower one setting to 5 cm.
All that rain in the autumn can cause your lawn to become quite acidic. As a result, your lawn will no longer be able to absorb certain nutrients properly. To prevent acidification, you can lime your lawn. The winter months are ideal for this. This gives the lime time to work its way into the soil and restore the pH level. It also ensures that the nutrients in your fertiliser are absorbed more effectively and helps to limit weed and moss growth in the spring. Always check the pH level of your lawn first before applying lime. Is it below 5.5? If so, it’s advisable to apply lime!
Not sure which type of lime to choose? We’ve listed the different types below:
- Lawn lime: for a deep green lawn
This lime is enriched with magnesium, a nutrient that helps give your grass its beautiful, deep green colour. - Granulated lime: easy to spread
This lime consists of small, uniform granules of ground limestone. This makes it easy to spread across your lawn and other parts of your garden. - Seaweed lime: naturally rich in calcium
This type of lime is made from fossilised coccoliths. It is therefore naturally rich in calcium and all sorts of trace elements that help produce stronger plants.
Time for your robotic lawnmower or regular lawn mower to go into winter storage, but not without another thorough maintenance! Give the grass robot a good polish and replace blunt blades with new sharp ones.
By the way, did you know that how quickly your blades become blunt also depends on the type of lawn you have in your garden? For instance, a rougher & firm lawn, like Water Saver, will cause you to need to replace the blades faster.
Store the robotic mower and charging station in a frost-free & dry place. Thanks to our handy wall brackets, you can easily hang the grass robot on the wall, saving you a lot of space in your garden shed. Also protect the ends of the connectors from winter weather with a special cable protector.
