Sunday 26 September 2010

Autumn Lawn Care Tips

The Leaves are starting to fall, the days are getting shorter and so preparations are underway to ensure that by spring our gardens and lawns will be as beautiful and charming as they were during the previous spring and summer months. In order to make this happen there are a few things that must be taken care of in the autumn, as this is the best time to prepare and protect your lawn or garden from the rigors of the winter months ahead.

The first thing you must do is use a light rake to keep the lawn free of leaves and debris. Special leaf blowers and vacs are available to make this chore a little easier. The Lawnflite 44-060 Gas Chipper Vac will work wonders in the garden, collecting and clearing leaves from your lawn and garden borders. Never discard leaves to the trash, combined with compost they can be a wonderful treatment for your lawn. It's important to clear the leaves from your lawn because rain can cause the leaves to become slippery and could result in a fall. Furthermore leaving leaves on the ground for too long can also damage the grass.

Depending on the climate you live in, you could continue to mow your lawn until around November. During the autumn months it is important to keep the height of your lawn mower a little higher than usual. This will prevent your lawn from drying out, and your lawn will cope much better with the wear and tear of the winter. Rotary lawn mowers are available in gas or electric, and will do a superb job in a smaller garden, whereas a cylinder lawn mower will add a beautiful finish to any lawn.

Another important part of autumn lawn care is aeration, which will ensure that your lawn is in beautiful condition for next spring and summer. During autumn and winter, the soil on the lawn becomes compact, which makes it difficult for your lawn to breath. The process of aeration simply involves poking holes in the soil throughout the lawn. If the soil is severely compacted, this simple method may not be enough, in this case you may have to purchase or rent a piece of equipment called a lawn aerator. This equipment will pull cores or plugs out of the lawn allowing air in.

It is also important to control lawn thatch, which is a layer of dead turf grass that lies between the vegetation and the soil and has to be removed in order to maintain a healthy lawn. Soil compaction occurs when the soil is deprived of proper aeration and suffers from excessive water runoff and poor conditions for plant rooting. This problem can be corrected through core aeration. Earthworms also do a great job of working against soil compaction. If your soil compaction and lawn thatch problem is severe, purchasing a vertical mower will help a great deal.

This may sound like hard work, however, the effort you put in now will bring great rewards in the spring. Furthermore World of Mowers have a fantastic range of gardening tools and lawn equipment that will make the task of caring for your lawn this autumn much easier.