Lawn fast fixes

Get your grass looking summer-ready

1 WEED

As lawns thin out a little in winter, weeds such as clover and bindii can invade the gaps and settle in. Treat them in spring with a selective lawn herbicide, available in both spray-pack and concentrate forms. TIP: If your lawn is a buffalo variety, make sure you choose a buffalo-friendly herbicide.

2 FEED

Apply a granular lawn fertiliser at this time of year and water it in well. The controlled release varieties offer the benefit of longterm feeding, so they save you maintenance time during the spring season. Later in the year, if your lawn needs a quick green-up, follow up with one of the hose-on lawn foods.

3 PATCH

If there are bare patches in your lawn, now is the perfect time to repair them. For running grasses such as buffalo, kikuyu and couch, just dig up runners from elsewhere in the garden and replant them. Alternatively, use a lawn-patch product. In both cases, water in well and keep moist for a week or two.

4 CHECK

After feeding your lawn, if it continues to look a little dull and lacklustre, the reason might be the soil ph. Over time, lawn fertilisers tend to leave soils too acidic, so buy a soil ph test-kit and check a soil sample. A ph of 6.5–7 is ideal for grass, so if it’s lower (more acidic), apply a handful of dolomite per square metre and water it in well.

Shake off the winter blues with a dose of the spring greens