How to Care for Your Lawn in Spring

Lawns can struggle through the winter period as they aren't able to grow quick enough to deal with the damage occurring from football practice or the like. So, spring is a great time to restore the lawn with a renovation.

Compacted soil limits the amount of nutrients and water that can penetrate the grass roots. By aerating an established lawn, it can loosen the soil and allow water, nutrients and air to be absorbed more deeply. This allows for deeper root development and a healthier more drought tolerant lawn. Aeration can be completed using a mechanical or inexpensive hand corer. Hand corers are great for small lightly compacted areas, but it is highly recommended to use mechanical methods for areas that are large or heavily compacted. Mechanical corers can be hired, or a contractor organised to do the job. Cores should be made every 2.5 X 5 cm.

Following an aeration, it is good to top dress the lawn to level out any low areas and then fertilise to encourage new blades of grass through the topdressing. Be sure to use a fine material for topdressing to ensure it filters through as the leaf pokes through.

Early spring is a great time to fix damaged lawns, because new grass seedlings will have time to establish before the hot weather arrives.

Before planting new seeds, remove any dead grass and loosen the soil. Lay a layer of turf starter fertiliser such as Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Lawn Food then scatter Yates Lawn Seed Repair. This premium blend of grasses has a built-in slow release lawn fertiliser specially formulated to repair bare or patchy lawn areas.

Water thoroughly and regularly for a few weeks until grass is established. Make sure you don't let the seed dry out.

Ideally you used a weedkiller in the winter months to kill weeds. It's ok if you forgot, it's not too late, but make sure you move fast as many weeds will be starting to flower, set seed and these will germinate in your lawn next autumn. Yates range of Lawn Weed Control products can help control various weeds growing in the lawn and are available in granular, ready-to-use spray and hose-on formulas to suit your lifestyle. Yates Weed'n'Feed and Yates Buffalo PRO® Weed'n'Feed will get rid of weeds as well as giving your lawn an extra dose of nutrients to promote healthy green growth.

Grass needs a readily available fertiliser during late winter or early spring to break it out of dormancy and begin the growing season. A healthy lawn won't need feeding again until late Spring but if you have started the season off with your lawn in a below average condition, a second application can be made 8 weeks after the first. Yates Dynamic Lifter Reduced Odour Concentrated Lawn Food is a concentrated lawn fertiliser that provides both fast acting nutrients and slow release organics and will set your spring grass up for strong green growth as the weather starts to warm up.

Curl Grubs are common lawn pests that often arrive during mid-spring and summer. They damage the lawn by eating the roots just below the soil surface. This creates brown patches and eventually grass can start rolling back like a carpet. Monitor your lawn for curl grubs and take note if large birds such as magpies are pecking at the ground. Yates Grub Kill & Protect for Lawns can give up to six months protection against Curl Grubs, as well as control other common lawn pests such as Argentinian Scarab larvae and Lawn Armyworm. Curl Grubs are the larvae of African Black Beetles, however, if you notice the adult beetles, you will need to use Yates Advanced Lawn Insect Killer to control them.

For the first mow of the spring, make sure your mower has sharp blades, to give your turf an even, crisp cut. If your lawn has grown long over the winter, don't cut it extra short just because it's spring; this can damage the grass and make it turn brown and patchy. Wait until the soil has warmed up and grass is noticeably growing before you cut it. For the first cut, don't cut more than a third off its length. For cool season grasses such as Bent and Fine Fescue, aim for around 2-3 cm, and for warm season grasses such as Couch, Kikuyu and Buffalo, cut to around 4 cm.

If it's been a dry winter, it's important to get plenty of water into your soil during the spring so your lawn has enough resources for a dry summer. To ensure water penetrates the soil properly so the grass roots can absorb it, add a soil wetting agent such as Yates WaterWise Soil Wetter Concentrated. This will help break down the waxy, water repellent soil layer and make the most of any rainfall or watering. Applying this at the same time as watering in your fertiliser can aid nutrient uptake and the combination can really boost your lawn. Now is the time to start training your soil for the hot summer ahead. During spring the lawn is producing roots, it knows based on the soil temperature what is coming for it, the summer heat. Keep watering to deep infrequent soaks so that the lawn's roots develop as it chases the moisture, setting it up to get through the summer months.