Looking after your lawn in Winter

Try to rest the lawn as much as possible during winter. If practical keep off when wet or frosty, as the grass plants are not actively growing; they will not repair themselves if damaged until the spring.

Mowing

Only mow the lawn if necessary; this will depend upon weather conditions and temperatures at the time. Do not mow if heavy frosts are expected or if the ground is very wet.

Clear leaves and debris

Use a light rake or brush to keep the lawn free of leaves and debris. Specialist leaf sweepers and lawn vacuums are available for hire from local garden centres or DIY stores for larger lawns; although in winter it is better to keep off with heavier machines.

Aeration

Aerate consolidated areas of the lawn with a hand fork or with a spiking machine. These are available for hire from local garden centres or DIY stores for larger lawns. This will relieve compaction, improve drainage and allow more air into the root system leading to a healthier lawn.

Dealing with worms

Remember worms improve the nutrient content of a soil and are beneficial to the soil structure. Worm casts are best left to dry and then swept or brushed away with a stiff brush.

As leaves fall from the trees use a light rake or brush to keep the lawn free of leaves and debris.

Service mower

Service or replace your mower if necessary ready for the next growing season. As always make sure that the blades are in good condition and are sharp.

This advice is courtesy of Rolawn Direct

Related Articles

Autumn is an important season for taking care of your lawn. It is important to use the last months of the growing season to strengthen and prepare the lawn for the rigours of winter. The effort put into a lawn in autumn will improve the quality and health of the lawn right through into the [...]

Chafer grubs are the larvae of the chafer beetle. They can cause problems on any grassed area including lawns by feeding on the roots of grass plants. The adults range from 9 to 39 mm in length and have different coloured heads and wings cases. The adults emerge between the end of May and July depending on the weather conditions in spring. They may feed on shrubs and trees before laying the eggs into grassed areas.

Mowing As temperatures hot up and we move into summer the growth of your lawn may actually start to slow down, mow as and when necessary never taking more than one third of the length of the plant off in any one cut. As always a sharp mower is essential. If temperatures become very hot [...]

Rolawn TV - Helping you create a beautiful garden with our practical ‘How to’ videos. Rolawn Direct are one of the leading suppliers of lawn turf and lawn related products in the UK with their website offering lots of useful advice. Now they also have a number of informative videos to help you make the most [...]

Spring is a very important season for looking after your lawn. After the rigours of winter it needs careful attention as soon as the days start to lengthen and the grass starts to grow. Giving the lawn the care it needs now will ensure the best possible results throughout the year. Mowing As the grass [...]

A lush, well manicured, green lawn is most people’s idea of the perfect lawn but if you are looking for something a little easier to maintain or just fancy something a bit different then why not sow a wildflower or chamomile lawn? Creating a colourful wildflower area in your garden is extremely easy and your garden will soon become a natural haven for beneficial insects as well as various species of butterflies.

Even after following a strict maintenance programme you may find your lawn occasionally requires additional work or succumbs to pests or diseases.

Growing grass from seed costs a lot less than using turf but you can only really sow a lawn during April-May or September-early October. It takes 4-6 months before you have a usable lawn so it is usually best to sow during the Autumn.

Turf is pre-grown grass, which is cut from the ground ready for you to use as an instant lawn. There are two types of turf available, Cultivated and Meadow. Cultivated turf if the most expensive but it gives a good quality lawn. Meadow turf is cheaper but it may have weeds or bare patches so will require more initial maintenance.

Not everyone has the time to spend on a full year-round lawn maintenance routine, if this applies to you then here are a few easy jobs you can carry out which will make a difference to your lawn in a short space of time.

Find out how to look after your lawn month by month

The UK doesn’t often have long periods of hot weather but when it does, and when hose pipe bans are iminent, our lawns can soon begin looking dry or even dead.

If moss is a problem on your lawn you will need to scarify it out. You may also consider applying lawn sand or a weed and moss-killer product before scarifying. This will help to kill and remove more of the moss. Allow the moss to turn brown/black before scarifying

Mowing is the most important maintenance operation for any lawn. Before the first cut in spring, it is important to check the lawn and the mower. Debris, such as twigs and small branches, may have accumulated over the winter. These should be removed prior to making the first cut. Check the mower is in good order with sharp blades.

The mushrooms you find in your lawn are actually helping to decay dead and rotting matter beneath the surface of the lawn with most of the activity taking place under the turf.

Husqvarna, the global leader in outdoor powered products, released details of a global gardening trend report produced in conjunction with a leading trend forecasting agency, The Future Laboratory.