Spring is here

I know its officially Spring this Saturday but to me, it feels like Spring has come early this year! With a few warm days in the mix over the last few weeks, there is certainly a buzz in the air with eagre gardeners getting into gear for what’s ahead.

So what does this mean for your lawn? Spring is by far the best time of year for lawns – with the combination of warmth and rain, lawns literally jump out of the ground. It’s the season for installing instant turf, sowing seed, fertilising, repairing damage and renovation works like coring, scarifying and topdressing.

This winter has been particularly cold with quite a few frost events. If you have a couch, kikuyu or buffalo lawn, this would mean that you may have lost a fair bit of colour bought on by the repetitive freezing of the lawn blades in the early part of the morning. This is the first time in a few years that we’ve had a frosty winter so for a lot of lawn lovers out there, Spring can’t come quick enough.

My advice at this time of year goes like this: If you’re planning on rolling out turf or sowing seed, now is a perfect time. It’s also a great time for coring with the soil being soft from the winter rain. For everything else including fertilising, scarifying and topdressing hold off for now. Ground temperatures have not risen enough meaning most lawns are only just emerging from winter dormancy. While you wont damage your lawn by doing them now, you’ll get much better results if you wait till the end of September or even early October.