Prepare lawn for winter

When autumn marks the end of the gardening year, there is still a lot to do, for example in relation to the lawn. Because the right one Lawn care in the fall is the best preparation for the winter, when lawn care is not entirely over.

Last lawn care in autumn

There are some jobs in the annual rhythm of lawn care that are particularly easy to do in autumn or that only occur in autumn:

If your lawn is very old and pretty matted you could give your lawn some aeration once the summer heat is over, e.g. B. by scarifying. Because a completely matted lawn should be scarified more often, but not too violently, so that it is stimulated to new growth with every pass. You should only scarify the lawn so lightly that there are no gaps. Because the more the year progresses, the more the grass growth calms down. If you're a little late now, or if you're a little too eager, the gaps you've worked in may not be able to be filled. On the contrary, exceptionally undemanding plants such as various weeds or mosses could use these gaps to establish themselves. The time until you can scarify depends on the weather conditions. Whenever you have reasonable hope that the growing season will continue for at least two more weeks, you can (carefully) get started.

In any case, however, you can with the Fan walk through the lawn. He works differently than him scarifier not with cutting tools, but you could say it "combs" the lawn: it is equipped with feathers that barely touch the ground at best. When you roll it across the lawn, it barely injures the roots, just lifting thatch, moss and dense mulch out of the lawn.

If the Gaps but are already there because your lawn z. B. suffered from drought in summer, autumn is the right time for overseeding. However, this should be done as early as possible, as soon as the summer heat seems to be over for good and the autumn weather is a little cloudy and damp. Then the overseeding can develop so far before the winter that the roots pull strong enough into the winter. On average, in our climate, we recommend reseeding until around mid-September.

Otherwise, you should leave the lawn alone in autumn, at least as far as weeds are concerned. Except for the soil test described below with possible application of lime to adjust the pH value you can't hurt them much now. Now, if you create gaps in the lawn by removing moss or other weeds, that's a lot more likely that these or other weeds will occupy these gaps by next spring than that of the lawn grasses they close. After all, most weeds are much more resilient than lawn plants. They continue to grow for a long time in autumn and are the first to start again in spring. The fight against unwanted growth in the lawn only begins again in the spring, when the lawn is already growing vigorously, which is usually the case after the second or third mowing.

Targeted autumn fertilization

Between August and October, your lawn will also get a little nourishment on its way into winter. And with one special autumn fertilizer, which is focused on potassium. While normal lawn fertilizer contains a lot of nitrogen, significantly less phosphorus and about the same amount of potassium as phosphorus, the autumn fertilizer does not contain any phosphorus at all. This is responsible for the formation of flowers and fruit, and the fruit formation of the grass (the formation of the seeds) is already complete - phosphorus is therefore no longer needed. The ideal autumn fertilizer contains nitrogen and potash in a balanced ratio, for example 20 percent nitrogen and 20 percent potassium.

Such a fertilizer as "winter food" has the advantage that it strengthens the plant cells and the grasses on them Wise are better armed against frost and drought in winter and against fungal attack, which is common in winter he follows. If your lawn is heavily infested with moss or other weeds are frequently seen, the typical are indicator plants for a (too) acidic soil, it is now a good idea to increase the pH value of the soil check. The lawn soil should have a pH between 5.5 and 7.0. If the pH is significantly below 5.5, you should lime the lawn. For this purpose, a pH soil test is offered in the garden store, which z. B. is manufactured by the Neudorff company.

The last use of the lawn mower

As long as it grows, the lawn must be mowed. Possibly well into winter. Then you can look forward to exceptionally mild winter weather to compensate, because the lawn only grows for so long when it is unusually mild.

The lawn should go into winter at its usual length. If it is cut shorter, the frost has an easier time, if it stays longer, twisting grasses could cause damage.

Weeds are allowed to stay now

If you now get the idea to really take action against the weeds again and Sending your lawn into the winter as weed-free as possible is not a good thing for your lawn Idea. Because it stops growing in winter much earlier than most weeds, even in spring usually faster, so you would rather reduce the weeds in your lawn with an extensive weeding action in autumn increase.

Weed killer should certainly not be used in autumn; the weeds have also reduced their metabolism somewhat. In order for the herbicidal substances to take effect, you would have to apply more weed killer, which could then also damage your lawn.

If you prepare your lawn so perfectly, it will certainly survive the winter very well and will delight you with fresh green next spring. There is only one thing you have to keep in mind in winter: If it is unusually dry for a long time, your lawn needs some water even at this time of year!

Before you go into the gardening winter break, you should treat your lawn mower to a little care. Every lawnmower is happy when it goes into the winter well cleaned and lubricated petrol mower should even be completely serviced: pull the spark plug connector, change the spark plugs and air filter, even changing the oil is not bad for the service life of the engine. If the mower is still full of fuel, you should then add a gasoline stabilizer so that the fuel does not damage the engine and the mower willingly starts in the spring.

Learn more about lawn care