Lawn Care & Maintenance

Looking after your Sir Walter Lawn this Winter

Posted in Lawn Care & Maintenance on Wednesday, 20 April 2011

With Autumn firmly upon us and winter on its way - we give you some Sir Walter
Winter Lawn Care Tips...

During winter there's not much happening lawn growth wise, in a lot of parts of Australia lawns will go into their dormant stage and brown-off (see below for more information) with the effects of winter. Don't panic about colour or performance - it’s generally too cold or too late to get satisfactory results from fertiliser. Instead concentrate on keeping weeds to a minimum.

Sir Walter Soft Leaf Buffalo and Winter Colour

Sir Walter is a warm season soft leaf buffalo grass. That means that in the areas of Australia with colder winters, including Melbourne, Gippsland, Canberra and Southern NSW, it may fall dormant until the warmer weather returns. Don't worry; this dormancy is perfectly normal and Sir Walter turf will make a strong return to its normal luscious green growth in the spring. While cool weather grasses that grow faster over the winter months do exist, I wouldn't recommend them for a home in Australia. These other grass varieties can suffer badly in the heat of an Australian summer, requiring large quantities of water, pesticide and herbicide to survive. They are more likely than warm season grasses, such as Sir Walter, to die off and then need to be replaced.

Use the following tips to help keep your lawn greener through the tough winter season.

Start your Winter Lawn Care Preparation as early as April or May
It is a good idea to prepare your lawn for the winter months early, starting in May or even April. One technique to defend your lawn against the frost is to raise the height of your mower blades in the lead-up to winter and to keep them up until spring arrives. As winter approaches, you only need to shave off the very tip of the grass along with the heads of the taller weeds. Keeping your grass slightly longer over winter will keep it greener by allowing more photosynthesis to take place. The taller grass growth will also blanket the ground, keeping it warmer to defend against any frost.

It is best to prepare for winter early by fertilising your lawn in late Autumn. This will ensure that your lawn is healthy and on its best legs to get through the winter. Also prune large trees and bushes that shade the lawn before winter to ensure that the lawn areas beneath get some sunlight during the day.

Lawn Care During Winter

Make use of the time in winter to sharpen your mower blades and to prepare your equipment for the spring. Late winter is a good time to aerate your lawn if it has become compacted. Use a garden fork to aerate, or try lawn aerator sandals for an easier way to get the job done.

Finally, remove any leaves from the lawn as they fall and try to minimise traffic on the lawn during winter, particularly when the frost is on the ground.

You can buy the Lawn Care Products mentioned in this article from the Sir Walter Lawnstore as well as other leading garden retailers.