A healthy, evenly green lawn is the defining factor of any garden and it’s something that many invest time in cultivating. From weeding and watering to cutting and fertilising, a lot goes into maintaining a well-manicured lawn. So it can be frustrating to see your once thick and green lawn turn patchy and yellow, especially when you can’t work out why.
We put together a list of things to look out for to help identify the likely cause of your lawn issues and how you can resolve them.
Thatch creates a dense layer of organic material that essentially suffocates your lawn, preventing water and other nutrients from getting to the roots. You can tell it’s thatch in a range of ways:
To check if thatch is affecting your lawn, spread a section of your lawn apart and if you can’t see the soil then you should start dethatching your lawn with a dethatcher rake.
It’s easy to accidentally overwater your lawn but you should only be watering it when it is not receiving enough rainfall. A yellow appearance can be the cause of poor drainage with either too much or too little water being retained.
Aerating your lawn should do the trick as this helps transfer water from the lawn's surface, allowing it to seep into the roots. To check on your lawn drainage, turn on a hose and leave it running for a couple of minutes, if the water starts to pool rather than soak into the ground you likely have a drainage issue which will compact the soil. To help fix this, try aerating your lawn with a garden fork.
There are different types of fungal infestations like powdery mildew, grass rust, and fairy rings, that can result in real damage to your lawn. Fortunately, these types of things are common and therefore are easy to treat.
If you're battling mildew, bear in mind that it can spread quickly throughout a lawn and onto surrounding plants. Its cause is damp, wet lawns with poor air circulation, so consider watering your lawn in the morning instead of in the evening. Alternatively, if your lawn is developing yellow-orange patches it could be due to lawn rust which can be treated with a fungicide on the affected areas.
Weeds can be a nightmare to get rid of as once they start they quickly spread. Not to mention the damage it can have stealing nutrients from the ground and blocking sunlight. Some of the most common weeds here in Australia are bindiis, dandelions, clovers and nettles.
We suggest removing the large weeds by hand as this can be more effective and it provides more space for the lawn to grow back in. Make sure you dispose of the weeds in the bin and don’t add them to your compost. After this, a good quality Weed n Feed should do the job.
If you find parts of your lawn looking patchy and bald, you can scatter a grass seed, followed by watering regularly. For that extra reassurance, regular mowing is one of the best things you can do, as it prevents the spread of invasive weeds by encouraging thick dense grass to grow.
It’s not until we are faced with a lawn issue that we remember the importance of maintaining the right conditions your lawn needs to thrive. When one or more of these conditions are neglected or not routinely checked, your lawn will experience the consequences. Get on top of this and perform these checks today!
