How do you take care of your lawn before winter? Check out our tips and learn all about mowing, fertilizing and liming your lawn in autumn.
Your lawn is certainly not in great shape after a hot summer – and it still has the cold winter months ahead of it. It’s time to give your lawn an autumn facelift. September is the ideal time for this. Find out all about mowing, fertilizing and liming and your lawn will be the highlight of your garden!
The last mowing of your lawn before the winter months is very important and you should know as much as possible about it so that you do not make fatal mistakes. If you do it right, you will enjoy a healthy and nice lawn as soon as the snow melts in spring
First of all, think about the most appropriate time to mow your lawn for the last time before winter. Is there a single answer to this? Unfortunately not, because everything depends – as so often in garden work – on the weather conditions. From now on you need to be an observer and be able to draw conclusions!
If the autumn is long and warm, you can mow as late as November. Otherwise, think about it as early as October. It’s important that the last mowing height before winter is around 4 cm. Grass cut too low will unfortunately be exposed to frost on the roots. After mowing, don’t forget to water the grass generously. Freshly cut turf is prone to drought.
Remember also that a mower with a grass catcher or bag is best. This saves you having to rake the grass out of the lawn.
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The next thing is, of course, to fertilize your lawn before winter. How do you go about this? If you want to make your lawn more resistant to frost, it is essential to provide a good fertiliser. Cut back on nitrogen fertiliser from the beginning of September because it delays the plants’ transition to dormancy
Potassium and phosphorus are recommended during the autumn. Use potassium salt and phosphate meal. A good option is also to reach for ready-made autumn fertilizers for lawns. By choosing a tried and tested product, you can be sure that you are giving your lawn the very best. Of course, make sure you mow before you apply the fertilizer and water the lawn after you spread it.
Liming your lawn – that’s something to keep in mind too. If you have moss or field horsetail on your lawn, consider measuring the pH of the soil. If it is lower than recommended (between 6.0 and 7.0), you should consider liming your lawn. The best time to do this is in the spring or autumn months.
For liming, use a carbonate lime fertiliser such as dolomite or fertiliser chalk. Importantly, no other fertilizers should be applied at the same time as liming. Keep an interval of several weeks between these treatments.
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