The Lawn Care Guide – OCTOBER

Depending on the weather, mowing the lawn will be dwindling, although some weather systems may create a late ‘Indian summer’ when the grass just refuses to stop growing. Don’t cut too low if you do need to cut. Raise the height of the cutting deck. 

Of course leaves will be coming down and need clearing off the lawn. A power blower or vacuum is just the job, or collecting with the grass box and sweeper on a garden tractor will deal swiftly with each fall. 

Scarify the lawn if not already done in the previous month.

Spiking will help water drain away and relieve compaction. Turf can be laid for new lawns or to repair worn patches on old ones. Stagger turves side by side so they bind together as the roots take hold. 

Manually raking with a spring toothed garden rake will help to remove any moss not cut away with the scarifier. A towed rake will do the job a lot faster. If moss is present it’s a sign the lawn may not be properly looked after. This could be due to drought, poor drainage, compaction, shade, starvation or even very close mowing. For a quick solution a proprietary moss killer can be used and the moss raked out after a couple of weeks. Worm casts don’t do the grass any favours and should be distributed with a birch brush or lawn brush. Left alone they can kill the grass in small patches.