The grass can be greener on the other side

Western Australian summers are hot, but with autumn right around the corner, cooler weather will hopefully follow – not only giving us a break but our lawns too.

Lawns take a beating over the hot summer months, so autumn presents a great time for some aftercare.

“In many respects your lawn is in survival mode across summer,” Horticulturalist and Victa Ambassador Adam Woodhams said.

“It’s coping with the heat, and the dry, long days, as well as the extra wear and tear from use over the holidays.

“Autumn is like a wind-down and recovery time for your lawn, and this makes it a very important time to lavish it with some tender love and care.

“Right now it needs to be doing two things – repairing damage from a hot, harsh summer and storing energy to help it over winter.”

Mr Woodhams said while not everyone thought of autumn as an important time in lawn maintenance, it was one of the most important.

“In autumn the days are getting shorter, so your lawn’s ability to create and store energy slowly drops,” he said.

“This means it needs a ready supply of nutrients to make its energy production as efficient as possible.

“It’s this extra energy it creates now, and stores for use over winter, which create a quality winter lawn and one which bounces back faster come spring.”

Mr Woodhams recommended mowing as required, using a quality slow-release fertiliser and keeping the lawn tidy of external objects, as you want to achieve maximum sunlight.

“An easy way to pick up leaves is to run your mower over the lawn set a little higher than you would to mow,” he said. “This way the mower works like a vacuum cleaner.”

If your lawn has any bad patches where soil is compacted, Mr Woodhams recommended using a garden fork to aerate.

“Just drive the fork in a few centimetres and rock gently back and forth,” he said.

“Repeat over the entire area at 5cm spacings. Then rake some dry, clean river sand over the area. This fills the holes and keeps them open for air and water circulation.”

To keep your grass on the greener side, there is no better time than autumn to get on the front foot.

“A little work now will bring you great results,” Mr Woodhams said. “Your lawn will look great through winter and rather than coming into spring looking sad and patchy, it will be ready to go.”