Autumn lawn care guide

Our autumn lawn care guide shows you everything you need to do in autumn to keep your lawn healthy, and it’s also a great way to get outdoors and enjoy the crisp autumn weather! If you’re short on time, don’t worry, simply feeding your lawn in Autumn is a great way to start! While scarifying and aerating can further enhance your lawn’s health, a simple feeding routine will still make a big difference.

Apply an autumn lawn feed

If your lawn looks tired after a long summer, give it a boost by applying a specialised autumn lawn feed. It’s best to use an autumn lawn feed rather than a spring and summer feed, because autumn grass feeds are low in nitrogen and don’t encourage leafy growth which could be damaged by frosts.  Instead, autumn lawn fertilisers are high in potassium and phosphates which harden the grass in preparation for cold conditions and encourage good root growth over winter. Autumn is also a good time to tackle moss, using an autumn lawn weed and feed product.

Tip: If you’re planning to scarify and/or aerate your lawn as well, do these before feeding it.

Clear fallen leaves off your lawn

Rake fallen leaves off your lawn regularly in autumn so that sunshine can reach the grass, allowing it to carry on making food through photosynthesis. If you have space, store the collected leaves in a pile or in black plastic bags somewhere out of sight. In a year or two, they will break down into leaf mould, which is fantastic for mulching borders.

Mow the lawn on a higher setting

As the temperature drops and the days get shorter, the grass grows more slowly, so you can mow less often. Raise the height of your mower blades to leave the grass slightly longer than you would have it in summer – around 30mm is about the right height for autumn lawns. The exception to this rule is when you are planning to scarify your lawn, in which case, mow on a low setting as this will make scarifying easier.

Trim and re-cut lawn edges

Crisp, neatly trimmed lawn edges are one of the quickest ways to make your garden look good, and autumn is a good time to recut lawn edges that have become fuzzy. Use a half-moon lawn edger to cut through the turf and dig a channel between the lawn and the border to stop grass growing into the border, then trim the edges neatly with lawn edging shears.

Fix bumpy or uneven lawns

After a long summer of parties and children playing, lawns can get a bit bumpy. This makes mowing harder and creates dips that can become waterlogged and weedy. Levelling your lawn makes it easier to maintain, and early autumn is a good time for this, as the mild temperatures and moist soil make it easier for the grass to recover after the work is done.

How to fill shallow dips in a lawn

To fill in small dips less than 2-3cm deep, use lawn dressing. Spread the dressing over the dip, using a garden rake to level it, then tamp it down gently with your boot or the flat side of the rake head. Water and leave for a few days to settle, then spread grass seed over the area.

How to level deep dips and bumps in a lawn

To fill deep dips, cut an X-shape approximately 5cm deep into the turf across the dip, using a flat-bladed shovel. Then slide the blade of the shovel under the turf and carefully peel it back, exposing the soil. Fill up the dip with topsoil so that it is level with the surrounding ground, using your boot to tamp it down. Once you have a level soil surface, fold the flaps of turf back over, and water the area to help the grass recover. Sow lawn seed in any gaps between the turf flaps.

To level bumps in the lawn, cut the turf over the bump and peel it back in the same way as for filling large dips. Dig out the soil in the raised area until it is level with the surrounding ground. Rake it smooth and tread it down, then fold back the turf flaps.

Scarify your lawn

Scarifying the lawn removes thatch, a layer of dead grass stems and other plant material that gradually builds up on the surface of the soil around grass roots and forms a barrier that can stop water and lawn food from getting into the soil where the roots can take it up.

You don’t necessarily need to scarify your lawn every year. To check whether your lawn needs scarifying, get right down close to it and see whether the soil is visible between the blades of grass. If all you can see is a mat of pale yellow stems, then it’s time to scarify!

Using a spring tine rake, rake firmly over the grass in several different directions to remove the thatch. This can be collected and added to your compost heap or placed in a green waste bin. Scarifying by hand is great exercise, but if your lawn is too big to scarify all in one go, just scarify one area at a time, gradually working your way around the lawn, or use a mechanical scarifier.

Aerate your lawn

All the walking, running, playing and partying that happens on lawns gradually compacts the soil, squeezing out the air pockets that are essential for healthy grass. Aerating the soil is an important part of any autumn lawn treatment routine, breaking up compacted soil and allows air and water to reach the grass roots so that they can breathe and take up nutrients. A healthy lawn typically needs aerating every 2-3 years to keep it in good shape. If you are trying to restore a very compacted lawn, you may need to aerate it once a year until it recovers.

Small lawns can be aerated manually with a garden fork or hollow tine aerator. If your lawn is too big to tackle by hand, you can use a mechanical aerator, or just focus on one area of the lawn each time you aerate so that you eventually cover the whole lawn.

How to aerate a lawn by hand

To aerate a lawn with a garden fork, press the tines of the fork into the soil to a depth of at least 5cm, then lean gently on the handle of the fork so that the ground around the tines ‘heaves’ very slightly. This helps to break up compacted soil below the surface. Remove the fork, move to a new position approximately 10-15cm away and repeat until you have covered the whole area.

For heavy clay soils, use a hollow tine aerator rather than a garden fork. This extracts plugs of soil, creating holes that are less likely to close over than those made by a garden fork.

Top-dress your lawn

Top-dressing your lawn is a simple part of autumn lawn preparation. Lawn top dressing is a mixture of sand, organic matter and lawn food, and is fantastic for improving soil structure. After aerating your soil, spread lawn dressing over the area and use a stiff garden broom or the back of a flat rake head to work it into the holes created by aeration. This also helps to fill in any small dips in the lawn, giving a flatter surface that is easier to mow. If your lawn looks patchy, mix in some lawn seed with the top dressing.

Give your lawn some care this autumn, and you’ll be well rewarded with a thick, healthy green lawn next spring!