The Lawn Care Guide: January

Care and repair

You can repair and adjust turf levels this month by peeling back or cutting and lifting sods using suitable tools and then add a good soil to dress the depression. Use a soil similar in quality and texture to the top soil in your flower beds and borders.

It’s a good time to establish lawn edges using a half moon edger and, weather permitting, you can lay turves to create a new lawn if you already have the area prepared. Weeds that appear on the lawn can be picked out by hand using a hand fork and pressing the grass and soil back down.

Clean up any debris, windblown leaves and inspect the lawn for any signs of disease such as Fusarium patch. This is a common disfiguring disease caused by a fungus (Michrodochium nivale) which appears as dead patches that may be water soaked with a brownish/orange or off-white coloured ring of fluffy material. The dead patches often join together and cause an unsightly area or, if less severe, the grass may have small, bleached circular areas. It can be controlled by applying a suitable fungicide.

As always, keep off the lawn if it’s frosty or you’ll leave unsightly, blackened footprint impressions which show the grass has been damaged. It will recover, however.

Other jobs are to ensure your garden tractor or mower is serviced ready for the first mow of the year, because come the end of January it won’t be that far off.