How to improve your lawn this Spring

[Jason]

Many lawns across the country are suffering after a long winter. Fortunately, a little care at this time of year can see the grass flourishing again in no time, whether its weeding, feeding and/or aerating.  

This week I'd love to tap into the knowledge of the Workshop community so we can all get our lawns looking great ahead of the warmer weather.

What are your top tips for improving your lawn this Spring?

And if your lawn is struggling, feel free to ask your questions below and I'm sure Workshop community members will be happy to help.

Jason

[fedecz]

Hi there everyone, thanks for all the good tips found here, 

i’d like to share an image of my small lawn with some annotations I’ve made. 
Pre-COVID , I found tons of black beetles Which I treated successfully (A couple of times per instructions) as I haven’t seen any more ever since. However there are some serious patches to remind me of that. And I’ve got something else growing instead.
Three quarters of the lawn are mostly shaded during autumn-winter, which makes the soil very wet and never dries completely. 
The red area is a high traffic one with us walking over there a lot, which I know doesn’t help with the situation.

by reading previous answers in this post, I’ve noted:

- weed and feed during this time of the year (never done that before)
- seasoil does not replace feed.
- slow release feed is preferable 

- rake it

- don’t mown too low.

Any other advice? 
cheers!!

[MitchellMc]

Hi @fedecz,

There is some great advice in this thread and it's fantastic to see you've taken the time to read through it. To mirror some of it, you should start by giving the area a good rake over to remove any thatched lawn.

Next, you should remove cores with a Cyclone Tubular Steel Lawn Aerator. Do this when it is somewhat dry or the lawn might turn to mud. Spread Bastion 20kg River Sand over the area and rake it in so it fills the cored holes. This will allow surface water to drain down and hopefully keep the sogginess of the lawn to a minimum. If this is a continuing issue you might like to consider adding some agricultural drainage line and gravel next to the path to divert trapped water from the area.

To finish you can add 5 -10mm of Hortico 25l Lawn Top Dress Mix over the area and disperse Scotts Lawn Builder 8kg All Purpose Fertiliser with a fertiliser spreader. Coming into next spring if you don't see the lawn filling back in, it might be worth re-seeding with the type of lawn you currently have or a lawn repair formula.

Please let me know if you would like further information or had any questions.

Mitchell

[Akanksha]

How are everyone's lawns looking this spring?

Reviving this thread as it contains many handy tips and suggestions on lawn maintenance shared by our helpful Workshop community members. 

I'm planning on giving my lawn a weed and feed this weekend.  

Let us know if you need further tips on improving your lawn. We'd be happy to help. 

Akanksha 

[CSParnell]

I so need to follow this.

[Remarka6le]

@Akanksha Lawn is super green, QLD had a very forgiving winter this year, though the extra rain and two Rottweilers have given us a dog path along the fence that I'll need to repair. Spring is probably the perfect time for this, we'll be getting another massive wet season come Summer 😕 . Would be interested in any tips on how to control snails (control, not get rid of, we have a good amount of birds who go to town on them but they don't get nearly enough), we've got tons of them roaming on the floor and it makes mowing the grass a bullet storm 😂 

[Akanksha]

Great to hear your lawn's doing well, @Remarka6le, thanks for sharing. In comparison, it has been a long and harsh winter here in Melbourne (according to me at least), so our lawn isn't in the best condition right now. 

Sorry to hear about your snail manifestation. Have you read this article on keeping snails out of the garden? It might help. 

Let me also tag our garden experts @Adam_W and @Noelle for any further tips. 

Akanksha 

[Remarka6le]

Hey @Akanksha , 

That article is one of the first I came across. The issue isn't in our gardens (which they stay away from because the birds get them), it's literally the lawn. Minding that it's only an issue while mowing, the damage those deceptively strong shells can do is pretty big (they've made me bleed multiple times), so placing multiple beers in containers around the yard, crushing egg shells for the entirety of the lawn or going through and picking them out isn't practical, and salting would kill the lawn. 

Dogs are absolutely no help either 😑

[Akanksha]

Thanks for sharing, @Remarka6le. We've now got a better idea of the issues you're dealing with. Sorry to hear most of those common solutions haven't worked.

Let me also tag @EricL, who should be able to help when he's online later in the day. 

Akanksha 

[EricL]

Hi @Remarka6le

Snails often look for two things food and shelter. If you have a large lush lawn or vegetable garden nearby you can guarantee that these critters will make their way towards it. They multiply fast and are difficult to keep out and control. Aside from beer and bait the other thing you can do to defend your garden is to set up barriers in your garden. 

You've mentioned eggshells but one other material that will slow them down is lava rocks and coffee grounds. The caffeine in the coffee grounds is a natural deterrent to snails and they will not cross it. The ultimate defence you can install is getting some chickens or ducks these are the natural predators of snails. The bonus of course is that you get free eggs and fertilizer when you have these pets.

Eric

[Remarka6le]

Thank you for the suggestions @EricL , I'll have to investigate the coffee grounds. I'd love to get some ducks or chickens, I just don't know how the house warden would go with them in his backyard