Seasonal Lawn Care Tips from the Experts

For many gardeners, a flourishing green lawn is their pride and joy. With large amounts of foot traffic, and varying conditions in sunny and shady patches, keeping your lawn in pristine condition can be somewhat of a challenge. There's more to lawn care than occasionally turning on the sprinklers and letting the water do it's thing.

The first cut of the year: You want to make sure that the grass is cleanly cut, not torn. The best way to do this is to use newly sharpened blades. You're going to want to cut no more than 1/3 of the blade of grass. This will maintain healthy growth and a lush looking lawn.

Spring: When the soil is warm and dry, take care to aerate a heavily matted lawn using a scarifier. You'll also want to look into using a long-term fertiliser to maintain healthy growth levels. If you're particularly keen on a thick lawn, mow at least once a week. Should your lawn go through periods of intense growth, you may need to cut the lawn twice a week.

Summer: During the hot summer months, you'll want to avoid cutting your grass too short when very hot, as it may lose all its nutrients. Be sure to leave it at least 30mm high and water regularly. All VIKING 5, 6 and R Series mowers (except the MB 545 VR), have a mulching option which provides an ideal natural fertiliser for your lawn.

Autumn: During the drier seasons, you'll want to mow a little less frequently. Do some pre-emptive mulching and fertilising so that your lawn is rearing to grow the following Spring. When doing the last cut of the year, leave the grass slightly higher than normal, as this will help to retain nutrients and prevent dead spots in the coming months.

Taking care of your lawn needn't be a palaver. As long as you take care of a few simple steps, you're garden will be right as rain!