Autumn lawn care.......

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R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

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So we've had our lawn in for about a year and a half now and I'm thinking it could do with a spruce up in prep of the winter.

Is there a "best order" to doing autumn lawn care tasks?

Its not a large lawn at about 28 SQM so shouldn't take too much work but in my head I was thinking of doing the following (in the following order)....

1. Mow on lowest setting (or down to lowest setting)
2. Scarify the lawn
3. Aerate with hollow tune aerator
4. Fertilise and treat?!
4. Overseed
5. Apply top dressing

Does that sound about right? Was contemplating using one of those lawn packs you can get that give you everything you need like lawn treatment, ferts, seed and other gubbins but not sure if that's overkill!?
 
I don't think you're supposed to cut too low down for autumn.

link

I did the same thing this weekend and followed as you said, I just took it up a notch or two on the usual mowing height.
 
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My lawn is the same age, I have been thinking of giving it a treat before winter. Low nitrogen, high iron and magnesium feed?

I have only ever gone down to no.5 on my Bosch cable rotary mower cutting depth.
I have been pulling clover from a 1m Sq. patch which appeared and grew this summer.
What top dressing to use?
Is the last mow without a grass box a good idea?
 
Can anyone recommend some fertilisers?
Hagar said:
My lawn is the same age, I have been thinking of giving it a treat before winter. Low nitrogen, high iron and magnesium feed?

I have only ever gone down to no.5 on my Bosch cable rotary mower cutting depth.
I have been pulling clover from a 1m Sq. patch which appeared and grew this summer.
What top dressing to use?
Is the last mow without a grass box a good idea?
Click to expand...
I think any 70/30 mix is good enough for top dressing.
 
Been thinking to buy a scarifier for a while. Do they also reduce weeds in the lawn? Our lawn is mainly daisies, dandelions, clover, mint, moss, plantain, and some grass.
 
Following as my lawn is a state - mostly weeds and nasty spiky grass outcrops. Made an effort at feeding and tidying it this spring but ultimately not much progress. Good time to do a feed/weed killer before growth stops?
 
Not sure how I missed this :confused:

Still early Autumn so a renovation isn't an issue if ground temps are going to remain above 10oC.

It all depends on the state of the lawn to begin with. If it's got big dips and humps and full of weeds and just crap, you are best to nuke it in the Spring and start again as doing it now is going to take you in mid/late Sept and the new seed may not establish well enough for the Winter. Again, it's dependant.on the temps and weather so, generally, the further South you are, the longer your growing season.

Essentially tho it's:

1. This step is only required if you want a full clean slate like described above - Spray with a non selective herbicide e.g Glyphosate around end of March/start of April. The timing should be about 3-4 weeks prior to you reseeding to give it time to kill off the old grass and weeds and then for the weedkiller to decompose so it won't affect new seed

<4 weeks later>

2. Scalp the lawn and make sure it's all lifted (bagged mower)

3. Scarify on multiple passes to remove all the dead growth and bag it all (you can use your mower again to help lift the hidden debris once you have raked it all up)

4. Apply topsoil and level out to remove all the dips. Any high spots can be dug out if necessary. You want a nice level seed bed

5. Overseed with your grass seed

6. Top dress with compost (not 70/30). 70/30 is ok for levelling but contains very little nutrients and doesn't hold moisture as it's mostly sand. Using compost provides nutrients into the seed bed for when the seed germinates and also holds moisture better to keep the seed bed moist.

7. Optionally you can fleece the seed but it's only really needed if the ground is cold for heat retention and if you have a a bird issue eating your seed.

8. Water in. Ideally you would 3-4 times a day for the first 7-10 days. Little and often - the idea is to keep the seed moist but not soaked. The seed will absorb the moisture and with the heat from the ground, swell and burst letting the seedling germinate .. if it's kept wet, you have the potential of the seed rotting away.



If your lawn is decent enough and just needs a mini renovation (you're happy enough with the level and the weed count so doesn't need nuked) then you can follow the above but miss out steps 1 and 4.


There's a good few videos on YouTube that demonstrates a lot of it. Try Daniel Hilbert Lawn Expert

I'll warn you though - lawncare can be a right rabbit hole. If you're not careful, it can become an obsession and an expensive one at that :cry:
 
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Somehow you've made that less daunting even though I'd watched a few videos of the same technique!

I think the main thing is not to be too scared of getting stuck in with a nuke. It gives me the chance to level the ground, ours is incredibly humpy bumpy and has a big verge to one side.
 
Richie said:
Not sure how I missed this :confused:

Still early Autumn so a renovation isn't an issue if ground temps are going to remain above 10oC.

It all depends on the state of the lawn to begin with. If it's got big dips and humps and full of weeds and just crap, you are best to nuke it in the Spring and start again as doing it now is going to take you in mid/late Sept and the new seed may not establish well enough for the Winter. Again, it's dependant.on the temps and weather so, generally, the further South you are, the longer your growing season.

Essentially tho it's:

1. This step is only required if you want a full clean slate like described above - Spray with a non selective herbicide e.g Glyphosate around end of March/start of April. The timing should be about 3-4 weeks prior to you reseeding to give it time to kill off the old grass and weeds and then for the weedkiller to decompose so it won't affect new seed

<4 weeks later>

2. Scalp the lawn and make sure it's all lifted (bagged mower)

3. Scarify on multiple passes to remove all the dead growth and bag it all (you can use your mower again to help lift the hidden debris once you have raked it all up)

4. Apply topsoil and level out to remove all the dips. Any high spots can be dug out if necessary. You want a nice level seed bed

5. Overseed with your grass seed

6. Top dress with compost (not 70/30). 70/30 is ok for levelling but contains very little nutrients and doesn't hold moisture as it's mostly sand. Using compost provides nutrients into the seed bed for when the seed germinates and also holds moisture better to keep the seed bed moist.

7. Optionally you can fleece the seed but it's only really needed if the ground is cold for heat retention and if you have a a bird issue eating your seed.

8. Water in. Ideally you would 3-4 times a day for the first 7-10 days. Little and often - the idea is to keep the seed moist but not soaked. The seed will absorb the moisture and with the heat from the ground, swell and burst letting the seedling germinate .. if it's kept wet, you have the potential of the seed rotting away.



If your lawn is decent enough and just needs a mini renovation (you're happy enough with the level and the weed count so doesn't need nuked) then you can follow the above but miss out steps 1 and 4.


There's a good few videos on YouTube that demonstrates a lot of it. Try Daniel Hilbert Lawn Expert

I'll warn you though - lawncare can be a right rabbit hole. If you're not careful, it can become an obsession and an expensive one at that :cry:
Click to expand...
Do you want to come to Northern Ireland and do mine? There's a pint of Guinness in it for you.

Ours didn't need the tractor and flail running up and down our lawn a few days after a heavy downpour :(
There is so much work needed to be done to fix it.
 
LuckyBenski said:
Somehow you've made that less daunting even though I'd watched a few videos of the same technique!
Click to expand...

It does seem daunting the first time you do it but the tips I can give is
  1. Take your time. If it takes more than 1 day to do it all then that is fine. It takes as long as it takes and it doesnt matter if it takes you 1, 2 or even more days. The only part you want to really do in the same day is from point 5 onwards i.e. sowing the seed, top dress and fleece (optional) then water in.... The prior steps can be stretched over however long you want. Better to do that than rush it and be unhappy with the results after.

  2. Trust the process... Even if you dont kill off the existing area and simply scarify 2-3 passes, by the time you have done everything, you will think it looks like you've ruined your lawn.. DO NOT STRESS. If you follow the steps then the grass will germinate and come back over the following 2-3 weeks and, after about 5-6 weeks it will look great (over and above the bare patches you sometimes get which need reseeded again)

LuckyBenski said:
I think the main thing is not to be too scared of getting stuck in with a nuke. It gives me the chance to level the ground, ours is incredibly humpy bumpy and has a big verge to one side
Click to expand...

In this case I would nuke and start again. Take your time getting the seedbed as you want it then do the steps 5 onwards from there.


BUDFORCE said:
I find putting down some lawn feed/moss killer around the end of October makes a big difference.
Click to expand...

On an established lawn you are not killing off, yes, but if you plan on killing it off then you're just wasting money as the weedkiller in the Spring will kill everything including the moss.


Blackvault said:
Ours didn't need the tractor and flail running up and down our lawn a few days after a heavy downpour :(
There is so much work needed to be done to fix it.
Click to expand...

Ouch... There will be some deep ruts in there from the tractor so, if it was me, I would do a full kill off just to get rid of all the weeds etc and then level some topsoil all over the ground and go from there... Of course, the bigger the size = the bigger the cost as topsoil is not cheap :(
 
Great info here and good thread. Thinking of doing similar, albeit our lawn is flat enough and it's about removing moss / other things and getting more grass in there.

I haven't really done anything with it in the last 3 years except nuking the leatherjackets that were covering it when we moved in.

I've got about 300sqm to sort so wondering whether buying an affordable scarifier machine is a sensible move and if so what would work well. I'm thinking in a couple of years I'd have spent similar hiring one.

Cheers.
 
taB said:
Great info here and good thread. Thinking of doing similar, albeit our lawn is flat enough and it's about removing moss / other things and getting more grass in there.

I haven't really done anything with it in the last 3 years except nuking the leatherjackets that were covering it when we moved in.

I've got about 300sqm to sort so wondering whether buying an affordable scarifier machine is a sensible move and if so what would work well. I'm thinking in a couple of years I'd have spent similar hiring one.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

300m2 is a good size... Mine is only 65m2 so I get away with the little £80 Screwfix electric scarifier and its brilliant. Not sure how it would do for 300m2 so a petrol one might be better?

TBH, it sounds like you just need to scarify, overseed and topdress on yours. Perhaps throw some iron sulphate down (the 4-in-1 stuff will do the same) about 2 weeks before you scarify to kill off the moss (turns black) and it will help pull the moss out.


The key - as in anything gardening I have found, is patience and taking your time... Proper prep will get better results with anything in the garden than rushing through it. You just need to be patient and let the grass/plants etc do their thing. I learnt this with my wildflower bit - the first year was ok but this year the thing came alive and really filled out.
 
Great advice. Thanks @Richie
We have an area at the back of the house where I plan to lower the ground level. Once I dig all the soil out, do you think I can sieve it (using a large power sieve) to remove stones and debris, then use as top soil on the lawn to fill dips?
 
rangor gubbins said:
Great advice. Thanks @Richie
We have an area at the back of the house where I plan to lower the ground level. Once I dig all the soil out, do you think I can sieve it (using a large power sieve) to remove stones and debris, then use as top soil on the lawn to fill dips?
Click to expand...

No reason why not. It'll certainly be lower cost than new Topsoil albeit it will cost you in time (not sure how quick power sieves do their job :confused:)
 
Would you recommend using a Lawn Lute with top soil to level, after killing off existing lawn/weeds?

We had soil put in last November, this spring/summer it's been about 60% grass, 40% weeds and lumpy as anything.

I fancy the idea of making it my next project.
 
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