How To Feed Your Lawn Through Autumn & Winter
Autumn & Winter Lawn Feed Guide
In autumn and winter, as temperatures dip and the nights draw in, it can be tempting to think that garden jobs have come to an end until the following spring. It is important to remember though, that many tasks can still be done and, in the case of lawns, are important to ensure ongoing turf health and quality.
The grass plant will continue to grow even at relatively low temperatures of around 4-6°C. This means that lawns often continue to grow throughout the autumn, and during mild spells in the winter and early spring.
Providing the lawn with nutrition at this time of year will help to support plant growth that does occur, and to provide the turf with the tools required to maintain health through the winter months.
This article will help you to better understand how to fertilise your lawn during the autumn and winter months.
Types of fertiliser
Although grass may be growing during the autumn and winter months, it is doing so more slowly due to reduced light and temperature so doesn’t need as much nitrogen fertiliser to support growth as it would in the summer months. If too much nitrogen is available during warmer spells the grass plant could respond by growing quickly, resulting in a pale, weak sward which is more prone to disease and susceptible to environmental stresses such as cold. Because of this, it is sensible to use formulations with a low concentration of nitrogen. Products which release nitrogen slowly over six, or more, weeks such as organo-mineral fertilisers are also ideal feeds during the cooler season.
In common with all plants, grass not only requires nitrogen to maintain growth and health, other nutrients are important too. As winter approaches it is thought that potassium is particularly useful as it can help to improve tolerance to cold weather and reduce the likelihood of disease affecting the turf. Calcium helps to support the formation of strong cell walls, improving disease resilience. Magnesium helps to promote a healthy green colour and is important for photosynthesis. Similarly, iron can improve turf colour and is particularly useful for this when nitrogen uptake is slower.
Fertiliser choices for autumn and winter use
|
Product |
Headline analysis |
Type |
Longevity |
|
6-6-16 +2%MgO |
Organo-mineral |
Up to 3 months |
|
|
5-5-10 +6%Fe |
Mineral |
6-8 weeks |
|
|
3-0-6 +9%Fe |
Mineral |
6-8 weeks |
|
|
4-0-7 +3%MgO +4%Fe +9%Ca |
Mineral |
6-8 weeks |
|
|
3-3-12 +8%Ca |
Mineral |
4-6 weeks |
When to apply autumn and winter lawn fertiliser
In general, it is best to time fertiliser applications for when the grass plant will be able to utilise the nutrients applied. As discussed above, turf growth slows as the weather gets cooler so for best effect, aim to make a first application of an autumn and winter fertiliser before the average temperature drops below around 10°C.
The requirement for follow up applications will then depend on the longevity of the fertiliser. For example, an application of Viano Autumn Lawn Fertiliser made at the start of October could last all the way through until the end of December. Follow up applications will depend on weather conditions and fertiliser longevity. During a cold winter, further fertiliser applications may not be necessary until spring, but in mild winters it may be useful to consider a follow up fertiliser application with a low rate of nitrogen to keep things ticking along.
How to apply granular fertiliser
When applying any type of fertiliser, it is important to ensure that you use the right application rate and apply the fertiliser evenly across the surface. It can be difficult to do this accurately by hand so fertiliser spreaders can help to achieve this. Rotary spreaders are ideal for fertiliser application, allowing you to cover a wide area in a short amount of time, and to get an even spread of fertiliser granules. Rotary spreaders come in different sizes depending on the area you need to apply fertiliser to; from handheld devices for smaller spaces, to push spreaders designed to cope with the application of fertiliser on areas from around 150m2 up to 3500m2 or bigger.
Further tips for autumn and winter lawn maintenance
Scarifying
Scarifying the turf surface helps to remove thatch, improving water infiltration into the soil and air flow around the grass plants. Because scarifying creates some damage it is important to get it done while the turf is still growing strongly to enable recovery to occur. September is often an ideal month for lawn maintenance in most areas of the UK. It is best to scarify when grass leaves are dry but the surface of the rootzone is moist. Follow up scarifying with top dressing, over sowing with more seed if required and aerating to further improve root development.
Grass clippings
It is quite acceptable to leave grass clippings on the surface of the lawn as long as grass is cut frequently and therefore the volume and size of clippings is relatively small. Returning clippings to the soil can reduce nitrogen fertiliser requirements because the clippings themselves will provide some nitrogen.
If clippings are longer, there are more of them or they are clumping together it may be better to remove them to avoid damaging the turf beneath, particularly in wetter periods. It is also important to remove clippings if any disease is present on the turf to avoid the potential for spreading it to other areas.
Mowing height
There isn’t really a correct height at which to cut a lawn. It depends on grass species, soil conditions and how the lawn is being used. What is more important is maintaining a consistent height of cut and, if it is changed, to do this gradually. A good rule of thumb for most garden lawns is to keep the height of cut between 5-10cm. Keeping a consistent height of cut helps the grass plant to develop structural strength and improve sward density. Infrequent cutting means that a large quantity of leaf is removed from the plant in a single mowing operation. This puts considerable stress onto the plant leading to increased growth, and greater susceptibility to environmental stresses and to disease.
We hope you have found this guide to autumn and winter feeding useful. Take a look at our website to see our full range of fertilisers.