With the summer months coming to an end, it’s time to get familiar with how to care for your lawn once the temperature drops. With the high heat and lots of time spent outside in your yard, it’s in need of some serious TLC! It’s essential to take care of your grass leading up to the cooler months so that when it is dormant, it’s healthy and ready to bounce back for spring!
During summer, you most likely spend much more time hanging out on your lawn and entertaining friends and family in the sun. However, the intense Australian summer heat combined with heavy foot traffic can make your lawn quite compacted. Aerating your lawn during autumn can help with this by improving soil structure, giving your lawn time to bounce back before the heavy foot traffic starts again. You can use an aerator, a garden fork, or aerator sandals to aerate your lawn.
Fertilising your lawn helps it absorb essential nutrients to encourage growth and extend the life of your yard. Autumn fertilising will help your lawn recover from the hot summer quicker and get it looking lush again in no time.
Although your lawn becomes dormant and stops growing as much during the cooler weather, this, unfortunately, is not true for weeds! These pesky weeds continue to grow, and it’s important to keep them under control, so you don’t end up with a bigger problem on your hands. You can either apply the appropriate herbicide to your lawn or remove them by hand to get rid of them.
With less sunlight exposure for your lawn, ensuring you are giving it the best chance at soaking in that winter sun is vital. It is recommended that you regularly prune any bushes, trees and other foliage to ensure they aren’t covering up your lawn, reducing sunlight exposure. Also, if you have a lot of autumn leaves scattered on your property, it’s best to rake these up often so you don’t prevent sunlight from getting through to your grass.
Although you might be mowing less in the winter, you shouldn’t neglect your lawn entirely! When mowing, raise your mower height to give your lawn the best chance at absorbing sunlight and nutrients. If you’ve got a large property to cover, check out Gravely’s zero-turn mower range. With compact units for increased manoeuvrability in smaller gardens or larger units designed to cover tough terrain, Gravely’s got something for you. Mowing regularly and at a taller blade height means your leaves will be left longer, making them more likely to block out weeds and retain their green colour!
You won’t need to water your grass as often as during the summer; however, you should keep an eye on your lawn to see when it needs a drink. If your grass leaves are wilting or losing their colour, it’s time to give your yard the water it needs!
If you have any other questions about caring for your lawn during the autumn and winter months or would like to know more about our units, don’t hesitate to contact our team. We are dedicated to helping you get the unit you and your lawn deserve. Browse the full range today!
