Lawn dressing for Autumn

The reasoning behind top dressing our lawns in autumn is to give back nutrients, and  improve the soil structure enabling the plants to form a better root system which in turn will produce a lawn with more dense ground cover. The thicker the grass the better the lawns defence against weeds and moss. September is a perfect month to start on the lawn maintenance, the weather is still warm and helps in the recovery of the lawn.

 

Scarifying a lawn is the easiest way of improving the soil levels and helping invigorate the grass to set more root. If your lawn has moss, it should be treated with a moss killer prior to the scarifying. The scarifying will remove any dead grass, moss and thatch, also the act of raking the lawn will scratch the soil surface helping to break up the hard layer that can easily form due to compaction.  The act of scarifying must be vigorous as scratching the soil enables the top dressing to be in direct contact with the existing soil and will improve the drainage.

 

Aerating the lawn is much harder work, but will produce a longer lasting effect. A Hollow Tine Aerator will take out cores of soil leaving holes. The ideal spacing is 10cm between each hole and it is advisable to ensure the ground is moist as the physical act of pressing down and then lifting the coring tool out is impossible if dry. The cores can be collected and placed in the compost heap or on a boarder where the action of wind and rain will break them up. This method opens up the lawn to allow more air to the roots, better drainage in wet weather, improves soil structure, better water retaining capacity and promotes root growth. Aerating the lawn would be carried out ideally once every 3 years.

 

Top Dressing can commence once either of the above actions have been carried out after 10 days to allow for the grass to recuperate from the intense action. At Olus we have ROOTZONE a blend of Top Soil, Compost and Sand screened to 5mm, formulated as a lawn dressing, ideal in improving lawn drainage. 

 

On scarified lawns a layer of 2mm will be perfect as the ROOTZONE will penetrate the grass down to soil level improving the soil structure ,  ensure it is brushed evenly across the lawn so as not to create mounds or dips.

 

On aerated soil a layer of ROOTZONE 7mm deep should be evenly distributed and then brushed into the holes ensuring they are filled to fully reap the benefits of your hard work. There should be very little ROOTZONE left on the lawn when finished about 2mm.

 

Maybe some areas of lawn are too thin on grass and require seeding, we can supply GRASS SEED, TOP SOIL, EASI GRO COMPOST  if you want to make your own Top Dressing.