How to care for my spring lawn - 9 top tips

Before you begin, consider what you will be using the lawn for – as this will impact your spring lawn care. Are you creating a lovely green space for children to play on? Or is the desire to have a luscious lawn to lift your garden’s appearance?

If you’re using the lawn as a play space or for regular entertaining, you will likely need to overseed specific areas. On the other hand, if your objective is to create a perfect-looking lawn, you may want to use a slow-release fertiliser. This will result in a lawn that takes longer to grow but encourages more uniform growth.

As part of spring lawn care, prevent grass mould by raking leaves and cleaning up any garden debris – including sticks, pine cones, leaves and scattered mulch. A lawn sweeper can help you get this done more swiftly. And if you have broken limbs or heavy branches, you may want to use a chainsaw to cut them down.

Use a lawn roller to level out uneven areas caused by freezing temperatures and thawing soil. Then aerate the lawn – using either a pitchfork or a lawn aerator – to open up all the compacted soil.

Aeration enables an oxygen-rich environment that promotes healthy root development. It also allows more water to reach the roots during this important time in their development cycle. But be careful with your timing. Many people make the mistake of aerating too early when the spring arrives – but hold off until the grass has begun to grow.

You can also judge the right time to aerate based on the ground temperature. For cool-season grasses, once it’s somewhere between 10–18°C, the roots are likely to be growing – meaning it’s a good time to aerate.

While you’re at it, ensure you overseed any bare or patchy areas on the lawn.

This is very important! Start mowing only once the grass has begun to actively grow. Jumping the gun too early can result in damage to the grass blades, which may prevent the lawn from being able to grow back properly.

A good rule of (green) thumb is to wait until the grass is between 5 and 7 centimetres in height before you give it the season’s first mow. The same rule applies if you’re sowing new grass.

Ensure your mower’s blades are sharp, as a cleaner cut puts less stress on the lawn. Whether you’re using a robotic lawn mower, a walk-behind mower or a ride-on mower, we recommend replacing blades regularly. For Automower®, blades will usually need to be exchanged twice per year, especially during high grass growth season. For ride-on mowers and walk-behind mowers, blades should be sharpened or exchanged depending on the wear of the knives. We recommend that the blades are cared for by a Husqvarna dealer.

Another tip for spring lawn care, is to apply a natural fertiliser suitable for your regional conditions. This will help accelerate your grass growth into the summer months. You might need more fertiliser if the winter was particularly cold.

If you notice fungi in your lawn, you can help counter this through topdressing (applying a thin layer of soil, compost or sand above the turf) and overseeding. These efforts will help get the lawn back into shape.

Weeds in the lawn often get a bad rap, although they can have benefits. If you prefer a weed-free lawn, you can of course remove them – but there are also other ways of managing weeds. Due to the frequency that Automower® robotic lawn mower mows your lawn, weeds are unable to grow in the lawn as they normally would. The carpet-like finish you get with a robotic mower means that not only do you not see the weeds, you’re also promoting good grass growth.

Finally, if you want your lawn’s appearance to really pop, be sure to trim the edges of your lawn. You can use a simple pair of edging shears, or – to make lighter work of larger jobs – you might opt for one of our battery-powered handheld lawn edgers or grass trimmers.