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How To: Planning a New Lawn

Preparing the ground

After removing all of the stones and other debris from the lawn area, prepare the ground. The better prepared the seedbed, the better the lawn will be. Good drainage is important and deep digging or aeration with a fork will help.

For lawns on heavy soil, add more sand. Drainage will be improved. If the soil is light or sandy, work in a good amount of peat to give body to the soil and prevent drying out and loss of nutrients. At this stage any levelling should be done and care must be taken not to remove too much topsoil from any one area. Subsoil does not make for a good seedbed! It is low in nutrients and will give variations in growing habitat and colour.

The initial digging of the ground should be done during autumn if possible and the soil left “as dug” in large lumps during the winter. This will enable rain and frost to break down the soil and make it crumbly. Prepare the seedbed in spring when the soil is starting to dry out. Roll or rake the ground or tread it down and rake it. Firstly go one way across the area rake it over then firm and rake it again until a firm seedbed is achieved. Finally, pre-seeding fertiliser should be raked into the soil. This will stimulate root growth and provide the essential early feed to get the lawn off to a good start.

Sowing

When to sow: Lawn seed mixtures from Great Aussie Lawns can be sown at any time from early spring to early autumn providing that in periods of dry weather, the seedbed is kept constantly moist until the grass is about 40-50mm.

Always water with a fine spray as a strong waterjet will remove the seeds! During periods of drought constant watering may be necessary to ensure establishment and also to avoid scorching the tender young seedlings. There are many points in favour of autumn sowing. The ground is warm after the summer, there tends to be more moisture about to get the seed off to a good start before winter arrives and the weeds will be minimal. During autumn a good root system will develop as opposed to top growth and the lawn will be ready to withstand hot dry spells in both spring and summer.

How to sow: For a good establishment apply 0.5-4kg/100m2 depending on which variety is recommended. An easy way of sowing the seed is to divide the area into easily manageable sections and then divide the seed into as many lots as there are sections. Then Sow half of the seed for one section from left to right of the section and then from the other half across the first sowing going from front to the back of the section. This will help ensure an even spread of seed over the area.

Feeding your lawn

Apply a pre-seeding Starter Fertiliser to the seedbed a few days prior to sowing the seed or on the same day. Once the lawn is established (usually after the first 12 months of growth) it will require regular feeding to ensure both good establishment and also to keep it in first class condition. The lawn should be fed once in early spring, again in midsummer and once more in autumn. Feeding in smaller portions (spoon-feeding) is also an option if done regularly as it will maintain a more even grass growth. Fertiliser applied in early spring and mid-summer should have a good Nitrogen content to encourage growth and colour. Fertiliser applied in autumn should be lower in Nitrogen content however have a higher phosphate and potash content to encourage root growth and resistance to frost drought and disease.

Mowing your lawn

When mowing for the first time it is extremely important to allow good establishment of the grass. Cut the grass for the first time when it is 40-50mm high. Trim lightly and gradually lower the blades to an ideal cutting height of 25-30mm. Mow regularly but try not to remove more than a third of growth at any time. Do not mow whilst the grass is wet. If your mower doesn’t have a roller then the lawn can be rolled after this first cut. This will encourage lateral growth making a more closely knit turf. The best advice for mowing a lawn is “little and often”. For the last few cuts of the year gradually raise the height of the blades also in dry summer periods. When mowing regularly the cuttings can be left on the lawn. With fewer cuttings it is recommended to remove them for use in compost or mulch.

Weeds

While a new lawn is in it’s early growth stage weeds may be pulled out by hand, however if this is done great care must be taken as to not disturb the surrounding grass seedlings.

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