How to care for your lawn in winter

As the weather cools down, people tend to neglect their lawn as the growth rate of grass slows. In fact, it is this time that you should do some prep work in order to welcome a lush lawn when the hotter months arrive.

There are three main tasks you need to carry out on your lawn to make it summer ready, namely aerate, fertilise and spraying for weed eradication.

It is crucial to have the right tools on hand to carry out these tasks properly, for which we have the John Deere 40-inch Aerator-Spreader and Silvan 25l Redline Spotpak sprayer. These are great tow-behind implements for lawn care that works with ride-on mowers that are extremely handy especially when working on acreage.

RELATED: John Deere X350 ride-on mower review

Here are some key steps we’ve identified for a perfect lawn come summer, and our tips on doing them right.

Most lawn care specialists argue that autumn to early winter is the most critical time to fertilise the lawn, especially if your lawn consists of warmer season turf varieties like Buffalo, Couch, Kikuyu or Zoysia.

As temperatures fall over the coming months, so too will your grass growth rate. If your lawn is in a slightly unhealthy and nutrient-deprived condition, it will head into winter ill-equipped for the colder conditions, thus allowing weeds to take advantage of the lawn's weakened state.

To overcome this problem, lawn breeders recommend applying a balanced fertiliser that includes micro-nutrients and trace elements.

A question you might ask is: which fertiliser is better, granular or liquid? In reality, both options play a significant part in your lawn care maintenance routine and it is important you understand the benefits of each and know when to apply either option.

Granular fertilisers are particularly popular and very easy to apply, especially when you have access to an implement like the John Deere 40-inch Aerator-Spreader. However, it is essential to note that plant roots naturally take nutrients in a liquid form, such as when it rains, therefore granular fertilisers are slower to deliver nutrients because they must first break down and dissolve in water before releasing nutrients into the soil.

The most significant advantage of granular fertilisers is that they deliver small but constant nutrient feed to your lawn over eight to 12 weeks. This method offers improved growth over time as opposed to instantaneous but short-lived results. This is good news for the budget-conscious buyer because slow-release fertilisers generally mean more value for money.

One word of caution with granulated fertilisers is that too much granules and not enough water will burn the leaves off your lawn. So make sure you use the correct amount of fertiliser for your lawn and ensure it's spread out evenly and watered in well.

On the other hand, liquid fertilisers deliver nutrients much quicker, resulting in more instant and noticeable changes in grass colour and growth. Essentially, liquid fertilisers rectify nutrient deficiencies swiftly while giving the lawn a general boost through the growing season.

In addition, you can apply liquid fertiliser straight after mowing to reduce foliar stress to the cut leaf. However, a downside to liquid fertilisers is that you need to apply it more frequently to maintain lawn health which could become expensive over time.

I find striking the right balance between both is important and has served me well.

I apply granulated fertiliser in early autumn and early spring and routinely use liquid fertiliser as the weather warms up.

I use my Silvan 25L Redline Spotpak sprayer attached to a rear-mounted HS-2550-J quick-hitch implement mount to apply liquid fertiliser while cutting the grass which saves me a considerable amount of cost and time.

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When it's time to apply granulated fertiliser, I perform it as a separate operation to grass cutting and usually a few days after mowing. The John Deere 40-inch Aerator-Spreader is an excellent tool for this operation and is capable of holding the contents of a 25kg fertiliser bag.

The John Deere 40-inch Aerator-Spreader allows precise feed rate application while the spike wheels aerate the soil during fertiliser application. Typically, I use Rustic Plus, a chloride-free compound fertiliser that I found has a long-lasting effect.

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As mentioned earlier, the cooler months are when weeds germinate and take advantage of the lawn's weakened state to propagate.

Most lawn care specialists advise applying a broadleaf herbicide from early to late June, depending on the weed growth on your lawn. I typically wait several weeks after fertilising before I apply any broadleaf herbicide.

The rear-mounted HS-2550-J quick-hitch implement mount with Silvan 25L Redline Spotpak sprayer again is my preferred tool for this task. I’m a big fan of the Kamba-M herbicide as I find it mixes easily with water and has a tremendous initial knockdown effect on weeds. It also has the ability to prevent weeds from further germinating.

The Silvan 25L Redline Spotpak sprayer is very versatile, as you have the choice to either spot spray weeds in lightly populated areas or utilise the boomless spray, which delivers a 2-meter spread spray, for a high-density weed population.

Before you broadcast spray on your lawn, check that the herbicide you chose is suitable for the variety of grass on your lawn and that it won’t cause any damage.

For instance, most broadleaf herbicide sprays are harmful to Buffalo grass because the spray attaches itself to the wider Buffalo grass leaf, which can result in the death of your lawn. Therefore, it is important to choose your chemical wisely.

Spraying herbicide is fairly straightforward, however, do keep the following points in mind when planning your spraying:

It goes without saying that you should clean the spray tank thoroughly after each use, especially if you will be using it for different types of herbicides or for different applications such as fertilising and herbicide spraying.

Here are some steps and tips on cleaning your tank properly.

Fill the tank with water to dilute any remaining chemicals, then drain the tank thoroughly.

Be mindful of where the chemical will run when flushing out the tank. Ensure that any runoff from your sprayer will not contaminate your lawn or water supplies.

Rinse the inside of the tank with a standard garden hose fitted with a spray nozzle. Use clean water to fill the tank and flush it through the spray lines.

If you intend to change spray products from one herbicide to another or a liquid fertiliser, this step is vital to ensure no cross-contamination.

Refer to the label of the product you are using in your tank for the recommended cleaning agent. Thoroughly mix the recommended cleaning agent in a container before pouring it into the sprayer tank.

Leave the cleaning solution mix in the sprayer tank for approximately one hour, and this will allow the solution to remove any chemical residue from the inside of the tank.

After soaking the tank, flush the lines, then rinse the filters and spray nozzles. 

Store your sprayer tank in a dry area away from direct sunlight.

While your grass grows slower in winter, you still need to mow the lawn, you just don’t have to mow it as often as you do in summer when the grass grows quicker.

However, make sure you raise the cutting deck height for winter cutting to encourage photosynthesis with longer grass leaves and to minimise weed growth.

And that’s pretty much it. Lawn care takes a bit of dedication and time but it no doubt pays off in summer when your lawn presents you with a beautiful coat of lush green grass.

In summary, our key lawn care tips for winter are: