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Spring Lawn Care in WA

Author

Baileys Fertiliser

Published

24 September 2020

Lawns

Spring in WA brings with it warm yet moist soils - perfect growing or establishment weather for your lawn. Time to fuel its growth as it gets back into the swing of things, or lay that new patch of lawn.  

Start a regular program which includes feeding, wetting agents, mowing and renovation. Just like forming any good habit, routine is key and directly relates to the results you'll achieve - ensuring your lawn is fighting fit for our testing summer months ahead. 

Nutrition & Wetting Agents

  • For optimal growth, feed your lawn with a high nitrogen fertiliser to jump start growth after winter. Use NEW! TURFECT Energy or 3.1.1. Plus, every 4-6 weeks at a rate of 25 g/m2. Think little and often.
  • For a professional finish, a liquid fertiliser can be incorporated as a regular part of your routine to ensure optimal colour in-between granular applications (or to provide a quick fix when your lawn isn't looking its best). Apply Baileys Turfect Green Plus every 4-8 weeks for that emerald green appearance.
  • Apply a wetting now as Perth's soils can be very susceptible to hydrophobic conditions. Baileys Grosorb is available as a liquid or a mini prill - and should be applied at a rate of 50g/m2 or 50ml/m2 three times a year, preferably in Spring, Summer and Autumn.

Mowing & Maintenance

Once Spring hits, regular mowing with a well-maintained mower is essential and the proper height will depend on your grass variety, generally 30-50mm.

  • If your couch, buffalo or kikuyu lawn feels spongy to walk on, it likely has a thatch build up and now's the time to give it a hard mow or scalping to remove this layer. Lower the mower for each cut across the entire area until all signs of green growth are removed and the lawn is brown. It's important to apply a slow release fertiliser such as 
    NEW! TURFECT Energy 
    afterwards and water well to promote a quick recovery. 
  • If your lawn is patchy or uneven after winter, top dress with a compost and loamy sand-based soil blend. Mow it short then dress with Baileys Lawn Reviver to get all the good stuff into the subsoil.

Compaction & Aeration

Compacted soil produces poor quality lawn and needs to be aerated in Spring to increase the amount of oxygen, water and nutrients it receives. Various forms of coring equipment can be hired to make the job easier or you can use a garden fork for small areas. As a lawn corer moves over the lawn, it punches holes into the lawn and pulls out plugs of soil, thatch and lawn, leaving open holes in the lawns surface. Rake Baileys Lawn Reviver into these holes which contains Grosorb wetting agent, mature compost and fertiliser.  

Weeds

Regular light fertilising and mowing over flat weeds is spring is a great way to encourage your lawn to choke-out most weed types, in combination with manual weeding if practical. If you've got an abundance of weeds, spot-application of a suitable herbicide is the best approach for keeping chemical use to a minimum.

Irrigation

  • In early Spring, make sure to check all sprinklers are working well and use catch cups to measure coverage is correct and even before the summer heat. Checkout our blog on how to do this like a pro here - A Professional Approach to Lawn Water Requirements
  • Always water early morning as this will reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation and ensure water is available when the plant is photosynthesizing. Watering at night can promote turf diseases.

New Lawns

Spring is the best time to establish a new lawn from turf or seed.

Before planting, make sure to improve sandy soils with organics and the right amount of clay. Sandy soils are very common in WA and Baileys have developed a product specifically for their amendment - Baileys Clay & Compost. For heavy clay soils, use Baileys Soil Improver Plus and add Gypsum at this stage to help loosen.

For all upfront nutrients needed for establishment, add in an application of Baileys NEW! TURFECT Starter (coming soon) at a rate of 75g/m?. Water in well.

Now is also the best time to conduct a pH test on your soil. Aiming for a pH between 6 and 7.5 will ensure optimal nutrient uptake and turf health. If it is either side of this, treat before your turf is installed with soil amendments like lime, dolomite, sulphur, iron chelate and organics.

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