Renovating Your Lawn

Dethatch

If your couch, buffalo or kikuyu feels spongy under foot, or there's lots of brown dead matter in the profile, it has a thatch build up and now's the time to remove this layer consisting of rotting stems, leaves and clippings. This slows the infiltration of moisture into the soil and can also be a starting point for fungal disease. There are several methods to dethatch, some better suited to different lawn varieties.

1. Bring in a vertimower, which cuts vertically down into the thatch and throws it up onto the surface for removal. Suitable for a big build up of thatch or a large area to cover.
2. Scalp the lawn by cutting the lawn down to the lowest setting and going over the grass two or three times. It's important to remove the clippings. Lower the mower for each cut across the entire area until all signs of green growth are removed and the lawn is brown. Be careful not to go too low using this method on varieties such as soft leaf buffalo which rely on above ground runners to recover from.
3. The third method involves the most energy and is only practical for smaller areas. Rake over the lawn with a fine tyne metal lawn rake with the idea of scratching out that material.

Aerate

Aerating compacted soils improves the amount and movement of oxygen, water and nutrients into the soil profile. Various forms of coring equipment can be hired for heavily compacted or large areas to make the job easier, or you can use a garden fork or aerating sandals for lightly compacted or smaller 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. Depending on your soil profile, topdress and rake amendments into these holes to get the good stuff into the soil profile.

Fertiliser, Top Dress & Water

After dethatching or aerating fertilise with a quality, slow release, granular fertiliser which provides all turf macro and micro nutrients. TURFECT Energy is the perfect fertiliser to use as the mni prill, microbial coating and added bio-stimulants can get into the soil profile and help your lawn recover fast. Make sure to spread evenly at a rate of 50g/m2.

WA's sandy soil profile benefits from a topdress blend of fine, mature compost and mineral sands. The organics encourage greater populations of soil organisms, the wonderful creatures who make nutrients plant available. Dress with Lawn Reviver, spreading thinly and evenly over the grass. Then massage this material into the lawn using the back of a flat steel rake or a specific lawn spreader tool. Water in well and make sure the topdress settles into the body of the grass.