How to Prepare Your Lawn for Summer in 6 Simple Steps

No matter how much effort you put into your garden, it just won’t look good if your grass is brown, patchy and infested with weeds. But it doesn’t have to be – you can get it looking thick, lush and green in no time. Here are our top and most cost-effective tactics to get and keep your lawn perfect this summer.

1: Clean

Walk over your lawn and gather any twigs, branches or other debris that has appeared over winter.

Spring is one of the most important times to perform maintenance to your lawn. By following these 5 steps you can help prevent your beautiful lawn from being overtaken with weeds or becoming stressed by drought, and heat.

2: Cut

After cleaning the first step would be to cut your grass. In spring/early spring grass can grow faster and there might be more leaf development. It’s also important to remove the thatch or mat layer. You can do this by mowing more than once a week, but do not severely cut the lawn. Just take the ‘top’ off. Also keep your mower blades sharp!

3: Aerate and scarify

Next up is aerating and/or scarifying . Outside of cutting, removing much of the thatch and moss that has developed is vital. Extreme layers of thatch can limit movement of water, air, fertiliser and other nutrients the grass relies on. It’s not only extremely beneficial for your lawn in the long term, but essential lawn maintenance task.

This can be done by using a fork or a spike roller to create holes of at least 20cm deep into the soil. Scarifying is the more invasive, mechanical raking of the lawn. It thins out the thatch that has developed within in the lawn. Most lawns have to be scarified at least once a year. Spring is the ideal time as the grass is actively growing and can recover from the process.

4: The Top Dressing (Feeding)

Feeding the lawn is a vital step in the process. Adding a top coat can help prevent weeds, keep soil moist and increase growth. This also helps your lawn retain water in the warmer summer months.

Consider one of the following fertilisers:

• 2:3:2 Fertilizer – help your grass create a well-established root system. We apply this twice a year – January and August. It’s also well suited to all general purposes – so if you have left there’s lots you can do with it.
• L.A.N – A mix of Limestone Ammonium Nitrate that’s a good source of nitrogen, calcium and magnesium. Nitrogen is one of the main nutrients your grass needs. It stimulates growth and promotes that evergreen colour in . Repeat in about 6-8 weeks.
• Lawn Dressing – If your grass is not level – add lawn dressing – especially in areas grass growth is thinner. It’s a light compost that always deliver great results.

Top Tip! Beware of too much manure. It’s good for the grass, but to much of it can cause weeds to overgrow.

5. Watch the weeds

August is the month that we find the most weeds in and on our lawn. The best antidote is to make sure your lawn is fertilised with the right composts and fertilisers. If the grass is growing strong no weeds will survive. If you find patches with overly weed growth, use a weed killer like ‘Superlawnweeder’

6. Irrigate 

Our tried and tested method of watering: slowly, deeply, infrequently. Irrigate  thoroughly at least twice a week – rather than a bit every day. If your lawn gets water every day creates a ‘wet feet’ problem that makes the grass more susceptible to diseases. Fair amounts of water once/twice a week enables the roots to grow strong.

Getting your lawn ready can be a process that tests your patience! But once you have that lush green lawn for summer it will so be worth it! It’s also good to remember that regular maintenance is the best way to approach a lawn.

Not sure where to start? Contact our team!