Getting read for Spring – the lawn
This is a good time to go shopping for your lawn! Because retailers are always a little ahead of demand, think how they put out Christmas decorations in October, spring lawn care supplies are available now. If you shop early, you have the best selection to choose from. Look for a spring lawn fertiliser that's not too heavy in nitrogen so that you don't encourage crazy top growth at the expense of your lawn's roots. And even if you're not planting a new lawn, pick up some grass seed so you'll be prepared to fill in spots that may have been damaged over the winter.
Wet lawns are extremely sensitive to foot traffic. Too much trampling will damage roots and seriously affect re-growth, so note where those bald patches are and remember to put down a wooden plank next winter, to spread the load over the area that gets walked on too much.
If your lawn has yellow and brown patches, and you don’t locate insect pests like leatherjackets it may me you have a lawn fungus disease, especially if rains have been frequent. Check the grass blades - if they appear to be rotting off where they're attached to the stem, fungus disease is a good possibility. Buy a fungal treatment and follow the label directions carefully to ensure you don’t poison household pets.
A rainy summer means sunlight may have been scarce and this is a common cause of stress in lawn grass. Many people have shady spots where the lawn only grows thinly. Unfortunately, there's no grass based solution to this problem. Either consider switching to a lawn type that requires less sunlight, or find a way to make that part of the garden grass-fee. One alternative is to let that section of the garden accumulate natural leaf mulch from the trees as the groundcover. This can sometimes look very natural and attractive. You can add a bag of bark chippings to the area and plant spring bulbs through it too.
Lawn photograph by Nimram, used under a creative commons attribution licence
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