Published : 06/01/2020

Lawn care: everything you need to know about your grass

Categories : Advice

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There is no secret to a good lawn: it needs looking after through the year. But the point is not to do a great deal - it is to do the right job at the right time. Scarifying in a heatwave damages a lawn; overseeding at the wrong moment wastes the seed. Here is the calendar, season by season.

The calendar at a glance

If you take away one thing from this article, take this table. The jobs are few; it is their placement in the year that makes the difference.

Season	The jobs that matter	What not to do
Late winter, February-March	Correct defects, sharpen blades, treat moss	Mow: the growth is too short
Spring, April-May	Scarify, overseed, growth fertiliser, weed	Mow too short
Summer, June-August	Mow high, space out cuts, water if you can	Scarify, force fertiliser, cut close
Autumn, September-October	The best window: scarify, overseed, top dress	Neglect leaf clearing
Winter, November-January	Clear debris, avoid walking on frozen ground	Mow, sow, scarify

Late winter: correct the defects first

Before the first cut of spring, walk your lawn. This is when defects show up most clearly, and when correcting them costs least.

Water stands in places after rain: the soil no longer drains. Fill those hollows with sand or fine gravel to restore drainage.

Patches of moss are taking hold: they point to soil that is often acidic, compacted or too shaded. Lime corrects acidity - but only if your soil is genuinely acidic. On already chalky ground, lime adds nothing.

Areas are bare: note them, they will be overseeded once the soil warms up.

Your mower: use the winter to sharpen the blades and change the oil. A blunt blade tears the grass instead of cutting it, which yellows the tips.

A moss-killing lawn fertiliser works on both fronts in a single application: it destroys the moss and feeds the grass, which then closes the areas freed up. That is more effective than a treatment alone, because moss always returns wherever the grass is weak.

Mowing properly

Mowing is the first job of lawn care, and the one where most mistakes are made. Three rules are enough.

Mow only when the grass is dry

Wait until growth reaches at least 7 cm

Remove no more than a third of the height at each pass

Raise the cutting height in summer, to shade the soil

Use mulching: clippings are an excellent natural fertiliser

Avoid

Mowing wet grass: the cut is uneven and the clippings clump

Cutting close to mow less often: the opposite happens

Removing more than a third of the height: the plant exhausts itself

Mowing in full heat, at the hottest hours

Letting a blunt blade tear the blades of grass

The one-third rule deserves explaining, because it is counter-intuitive: a severe cut forces the plant to draw on its root reserves to rebuild its foliage. It weakens, and its rooting stays shallow - so more vulnerable to drought. Mowing often and lightly beats mowing rarely and heavily.

Removing surface thatch

Over time, dead leaves, shallow roots and moss form a compact layer at the soil surface: thatch. It suffocates the soil, depriving it of water, air and light. The lawn yellows, then deteriorates.

The answer is scarifying: raking the soil to cut through that layer and let it break down. Once a year is enough on healthy soil, twice if the thatch returns quickly. A few days beforehand, mow fairly short, collect the clippings and water.

The full method - timing, blade depth, choice of tool and above all what to follow with - is covered in our dedicated article: why and how to scarify your lawn.

Top dressing and feeding the soil

If you have just scarified, do not stop there: the thatch is gone, the soil is open, and this is the ideal moment to enrich it. Spread a few spadefuls of compost and work them in with a rake, using a light touch so as not to damage the grass.

Choose your top dressing according to what you are correcting: a pine-based compost acidifies the soil, which is the opposite of what you want if you are fighting moss. Read the composition.

As for fertiliser, one application a year at the time stated by the manufacturer is enough in most cases. And do not overlook the simplest option: clippings left in place by the mulching function return nitrogen to the soil, free of charge.

For bare areas, BHS Overseeding grass GRE5 germinates in 5 to 8 days and covers up to 250 sqm with no need to turn the soil. For feeding, our guide to lawn fertilisers sets out the formulations season by season, and the lawn fertiliser range covers everyday needs.

Weeding the lawn

Weeds take advantage of every free space. The best time is spring, before they develop, then again in autumn once their growth has finished, and occasionally through the winter.

Water generously beforehand: roots come out far more easily from moist soil. Use an asparagus gouge or a weeding knife, twist the blade around the root and pull firmly - leaving the root in the ground amounts to doing nothing. A weedkiller, sprayed or spread, remains an option on larger areas.

The best weedkiller, however, remains a dense lawn: where the mat is thick, nothing settles. That is the main argument for regular overseeding.

Summer: support rather than force

In summer the lawn suffers from heat and water shortage. The useful instinct is to do less, not more: space out the cuts, raise the cutting height, and water the recently overseeded areas first, since they have no deep rooting yet.

Outside restriction periods, one or two generous waterings a week beat a light daily sprinkle: the water goes down, and the roots follow. And do not overdo fertiliser in high heat, at the risk of burning the most fragile blades.

If your lawn scorches every summer despite your efforts, the problem may not be care but species. Drought-tolerant grasses exist: our comparison of tropical grasses covers cynodon, dichondra and kikuyu, and BHS Rustic SUD grass was formulated for the Mediterranean climate.

Winter: clear what is lying around

A lawn is like the inside of a house: what you leave lying about ends up forcing a major clear-up, far more tiresome. Clear dead debris through the winter to let the soil breathe, and remove weeds as soon as they appear.

Avoid walking on frozen grass: the blades snap outright and the marks stay visible for weeks. And do not mow: growth has stopped, and cutting would only expose the soil to the cold.

What if the problem is the grass itself?

Flawless care does not make up for an unsuitable mixture. Before persevering, ask yourself about the original choice.

The lawn scorches every summer: move to a fescue-based mixture, or a drought-tolerant grass if your winter is mild.

It thins out where people walk: you need a mixture high in perennial ryegrass, made for foot traffic.

It is sparse under trees: shade calls for a specific mixture; no grass thrives in dense shade.

It grows too fast and you mow constantly: a slow-growing mixture, or a ground cover, will free up your time.

Our main mixtures: BHS Hardy for an ordinary garden, BHS High Resistance for play areas and paths, BHS Rustic SUD for the Mediterranean climate. The full range is in the turf seeds category.

Going further

This article covers everyday care. Depending on your situation, our other guides go into detail.

Scarifying your lawn: the full method, the right window and what to do straight after.

Lawn fertilisers: formulations, rates and application calendar.

Tropical grasses: cynodon, dichondra and kikuyu compared for warm regions.

Sowing kikuyu grass: timing, rate and soil preparation for this drought-tolerant grass.

Kikuyu and drought: how it really performs unwatered, and where it suits.

The Japanese lawn: composing a flowering lawn and keeping it over time.

In short

Correct defects in late winter, mow often but never more than a third of the height, scarify once a year and overseed immediately afterwards, top dress and feed in spring, weed before the weeds run to seed, leave the lawn alone in high heat, and clear debris in winter. These jobs take a few hours per season.

Seed, fertiliser and overseeding grass are available in our turf seeds and lawn fertiliser categories, dispatched within 24 hours.

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