The Lawn Care Guide - MARCH

Generally, lawn grasses fall into two groups: narrow leaf, low growing fescue and taller broad leaf types such as rye grass and meadow grass. For lawns that are to be closely mown the fine grasses will be predominant.

March is the ideal time for patching up bare areas by loosening up the soil, mixing a little soil and seed, spreading and then covering the area with some clear polythene. Slit to let in air and water and peg down. 

Lawn edges can be cut and repaired and a top dressing applied if not done in late February. It’s probably too early to treat weeds but organic moss killer can be used, raking out dead moss and thatch or using a powered scarifier. 


The grass can have a feed of nitrogenous lawn fertiliser or you can wait a few weeks and apply a weed and feed treatment. 


A little warmth may have promoted growth and mowing can start but avoid cutting closely. Set the mower to its highest cutting position, lowering with each cut over a few weeks. It’s good practice to mow in different directions to pick up longer grass. 


For the smoothest and shortest lawn, the traditional cylinder mower is usually the best. Rotary machines cut like a scythe and are excellent for cutting rough grass. Hover mowers are light and good for slopes. For the larger garden and lawn a ride-on mower will be an all-round workhorse, some capable of cutting even when the grass is wet.