Level your lawn

Fill those pesky holes and improve soil structure and microbial activity by top-dressing your lawn with compost. PHIL DUDMAN shows you how to give your lawn the perfect spring pamper.

With the catcher attached, mow the grass fairly short. This makes it easier to spread the compost

Aerate heavy clay soils or areas of compaction. Deeply plunge a garden fork repeatedly across the area. For large areas, you may want to hire a coring machine.

Create small piles of finely sieved compost ready for spreading. Most reputable landscape suppliers will stock a suitable compost product. Use a plastic leaf rake to spread it evenly across the lawn. Don’t bury the grass or it will struggle to regrow. The compost layer should be no deeper than 10mm.

If you have a lot of small bumps and indentations that you want to level out, consider hiring a lawn levelling tool. The wide metal frame skims across the high points, pushing compost into the low points.

To finish, water in the compost, then apply an organic fertiliser or a slow-release lawn product.