The rake’s progress

With autumn on the horizon it’s time to start getting your lawn in order, writes David Overend.

It’s not exactly been a cracking summer and now autumn is getting ready to put in an appearance. So, as September usually brings with it a fall in temperature and more rainfall, it shouldn’t seem all that much different than what’s just gone. Unless you have a lawn, because somehow grass (and all plants) know when it’s time to slow down in preparation for winter hibernation.

The first lawn job to consider is to adjust the cutting height of the mower blades so the grass is left a little longer at each cut.

And before you mow next it’s a good idea to rake or scarify the whole lawn to pull out any dead material, called ‘thatch’, and lift up any grass runners so they can be trimmed by the mower.

A spring-tine rake is the ideal tool for the job and not only does it work wonders on the grass, it can benefit the gardener too – plenty of healthy exercise.

After that mowing, you are clear to aerate the surface allow air into the top few inches of soil. On heavy clay soils, professional groundsmen recommend you use a hollow-tine fork that removes cores of soil rather than simply driving holes into the surface with an ordinary garden fork. If you remove these cores and fill the holes with something like washed river sand, you’ll be doing a marvellous job on improving drainage while helping water get to the grass roots.

Following this latesummer renovation, think about treating your lawn with a special food to encourage a stronger root system and harden off growth so the grass is tougher and can withstand more extreme conditions.

There are plenty of proprietary products on the market and most should work wonders to help the grass withstand the winter. Many also contain a moss killer that will control the first infestations of this weed which spreads so easily in a cultivated lawn.

For smaller lawns, these can usually be applied through a hand-held spreader, but for larger areas it will probably pay to invest in a wheeled spreader.

However much work you do or don’t do, always ensure that the lawn edges are trimmed. It makes the world of difference.