GARDENERS have been urged to act now, to protect their lawns over winter, and ensure grass is lush come springtime.
As the days get shorter and temperatures begin to fall, you may be thinking it’s time to hang up your gardening gloves for another year.
Give your lawn one final mow before winter[/caption]
However, it is vital that garden lovers prepare their outside space for the colder months, so that plants have the best chance of survival.
Preparing you lawn
Lawn growth begins to slow down in October, after speeding up during the hot summer months.
Once the growth has slowed down Jane Fairlie, technical development manager at Pelsis Doff revealed that there are a number of jobs you should be doing.
“Although growth is slowing, lawns still benefit from attention in October,” she said.
“Scarify to remove thatch and moss, overseed any bare patches and apply lawn feed to strengthen grass roots before winter.
“Keep mowing if the weather is mild, but raise the cutting height as growth slows.”
Scarifying your lawn means removing dead grass, moss and debris from the top of the lawn.
This allows air, water and nutrients to access the soil, and promote healthy growth of grass.
You can get a special scarifying tool to do this job, or a garden fork will do just fine if you’re on a budget.
Overseeding a lawn simply means spreading new grass seed on top of the lawn, to fill any bald spots, and leave the grass looking thicker.
It takes just five minutes to do, and will make a huge difference come spring.
Final mow
During the winter, you shouldn’t need to mow the lawn much, but James Ewens, gardening expert at Green Feathers, said it’s a good idea to do one final mow in October.
Give your lawn one last trim before growth slows, ensuring it enters winter healthy and resilient.
“Once temperatures drop below 10 degrees Celsius, grass will simply stop growing”, the expert explained.
“Leaving your lawn cut too late in super cold conditions can actually harm your grass long term, and if you stop mowing too early in the year, you’ll risk a messy lawn and weakened grass.
October gardening jobs
The Sun’s Gardening Editor, Veronica Lorraine, has shared the jobs you need to tackle in October.
“It’s a good time to trim deciduous hedges – like box, yew, hawthorn, hornbean and beech – plus hedge trimmers are a great upper body workout!
Make leafmould – gather up all the fallen leaves and fill either bin bags or plastic carrier bags. Seal the top, stick a few small holes in the bag – and then store for a year or more. Free compost!
It’s unlikely you’ll get any more red tomatoes so have one final harvest and chuck the plants on the compost. See if you can get the green ones to ripen by putting in a drawer (some say with a banana). Also keep the seeds from a couple – and plant again next year if they went well.
Finish getting in your spring bulbs. Ideally you’d have done daffs and alliums, but tulips are better in the ground when the soil temperature gets a bit colder.
It’s good to leave some plant litter in the ground – it adds to the nutrients as it rots down, and provides shelter and food for insects. But remove the manky brown bits collapsing all over the lawn/winter structure.
Mulch – it not only suppresses weeds, but keeps the soil warm, improves water retention and adds a little winter duvet to your outside space.
October’s a good month for carrots, peas, asparagus, broad beans, and rhubarb.”
“When making that last mow, follow the one-third rule, raise your mower height to improve airflow, and never cut too short.
“A well-timed final cut helps your lawn enter winter looking neat, with strong roots ready for a quick recovery in spring.”
