Spring lawn care

Written by Kris Collins / Published on March 2, 2012

My lawn has taken a bit of a beating over the winter. With a bit of early spring sunshine finally warming things up I’ve given my lawn a bit of TLC, aiming for a pitch-perfect look this summer.

Having given the lawn its first cut of the season I then cut around each stepping stone with an old bread knife to regain their shape. The next jobs in hand where to scarify (removing dead grass and thatch) and aerate (spiking the lawn) to allow better root aeration and drainage.

Both of these jobs can be backbreaking work. To remove thatch, the traditional method is to use a spring-tine rake and laboriously scratch over the whole lawn. A garden fork is then used to spike 10cm holes in the lawn.
I don’t have a very large lawn, but life is too short. I did these jobs in minutes using an electric lawn rake to scarify and then a spiked roller to aerate.

Before feeding and overseeding it’s worth running the mower back over the lawn to cut down longer shoots lifted when scarifying.

The whole lawn needs attention, but before covering the area with Westland Aftercut+ Lawn Feed and Revitaliser with added seed with a handy spreader, I first tended to a few bare patches with Aftercut Patch Fix, a ready to use mix of seed, feed and growing media that quickly and evenly repairs patches.

Having removed dead grass and loosening the soil beneath it’s a simple case of applying Patch Fix to the area and watering in with a fine spray. To ensure a good blend with existing grass it’s worth applying a little more of the product to the surrounding grass.