Guest Author - Hellie T.

Aeration

Late Spring is a good time to carry out aeration. This will improve drainage and allow more air and moisture into the root system leading to a healthier lawn.
For small areas, you can use a garden fork. Push the fork into the lawn to about a depth of 4 inches or 10cm, leaving a space 4-6 inches or 10-15cm apart. This allows air to the roots and can help drainage.
If you have a large lawned area then try a spiking machine which you can hire from local garden centres or DIY stores.

Patching the lawn

Depending upon the wear and tear that the lawn has received over the previous months you may want to overseed the lawn in early Spring.
The best way to do this is to scatter your choice of grass seed onto the surface of the lawn. The seed will germinate and fill in any sparse or thinner areas.

Do not walk on newly seeded areas for several weeks!
If you have any bumpy areas you will need to peel back the turf and add or take away soil until the surface is even.

Mowing/cutting your lawn

As the grass starts to grow you will need to start to mow your lawn. It is important in spring that you don’t set your mower too low – otherwise the grass plants will become stressed.
As the grass starts to grow in late spring then you will need to increase the mowing frequency and you can slowly reduce the height of cut to suit your requirements.

If you have a problem with worm casts, the best thing to do is to get a garden broom and brush them all off before you start mowing.

Do not mow during wet or frosty weather.

Edging your lawn

You may need to redo the lawn edges if they have become irregular. The best tool for this is a half-moon edger.
If you have straight edges to your lawn then use a plank to cut against.

Weeds

From April onwards broad leaved weeds can be treated using a suitable selective herbicide. If you have a small area of lawn then you can dig the weeds out by hand - but don’t forget that you need to get out all the root of the weed.

Dealing with moss.

If you have a lot of moss on your lawn the best thing to do is apply a moss-killer product. After applying you should let the moss to turn brown/black (up to 2 weeks) before scarifying.
This means you rake your lawn with a spring-tined rake - pushing it well down so that you pull out dead moss and grass.
After this you should scatter lawn seed in the places where the moss has left the lawn looking a bit thin.

Enjoy your garden!