Get your lawn winter ready

Now that the children are back to school, it is time to start thinking about getting the lawns back in shape again. Lawn care doesn't stop at the end of summer, in fact some would say that autumn and spring are the most important times for ensuring your grass is looking good for the warmer months.

"Many believe that as soon as you get to the end of September you can stop cutting the lawn, but this is not a great idea due to the weather patterns we get in the UK," says Steven Taylor, GreenThumb’s technical expert.

"If the lawn is growing then it is advisable to cut it to keep it tidy. The important factors for cutting is to ensure that you have a sharp blade on the mower and do not cut the lawn too short."

Heavy dew during autumn can lead to unsightly microdochium patch, a fungal disease caused by lack of air movement and heavy dew causing a humid atmosphere over the grass.

GreenThumb advises sweeping the dew off the lawn and says: "Try to keep the lawn area dry by removing the dew or trying to find a way to improve air movement."

Another suggestion is using a fungicide, which is something GreenThumb lawn treatment services can advise customers about.

Removing leaves from the lawn daily or once a week, as a minimum, will reduce the possibility of disease.

After a summer of children playing on the grass and everyone stomping around the lawn, the soil below may be quite compacted, which reduces the amount of air, water and nutrients getting to the roots.

Steve Taylor says: "Have the lawn aerated to reduce compaction but if the compaction is not the issue and the soil is light, it could be that the thatch levels have become sub-surface and the best control for this is aeration."

Thatch is dead grass, moss and other debris that lies on top of the new growth which can smother it. The best way to tackle this is to book in your aeration with GreenThumb.

And after sweeping off leaves, removing thatch and aerating your lawn, don't forget to feed it. You need an autumn feed - spring feed has nitrogen in it to encourage growth but you don't want new growth in autumn because it will be susceptible to winter diseases.

Autumn feed contains iron sulphate to get rid of moss, as well as nutrients to keep it healthy over winter. Book your treatment today.