Top Tips for a Beautiful Lawn

A lush, green lawn really sets off your home and is the pride and joy of many gardeners. A successful lawn takes a little effort, but provides very rewarding results.

Spring and autumn are the best times for lawn care. For help maintaining and touching up your current lawn, follow our top tips to make your lawn the envy of the neighbourhood!

Sow in the right season

Sowing your lawn in the right season will mean the best chance of success. Spring and autumn are the best times to sow a lawn.

Preparation is key

To ensure you have a successful lawn the soil needs to be in the best possible condition to give lawn seed the best chance of germination. Remove any unwanted weeds and grass, and add a 50mm layer of Tui LawnForce® Lawn Preparation Mix to the area to provide lawn seed with a base of essential nutrients and fertiliser to promote fast germination of lawn seed and sustained growth.

Neutralise acidic soil

If your soil is too acidic (a simple pH test will reveal this), add Tui Lime to neutralise and improve soil condition.

Select the right seed

Choose the right variety for your backyard from the Tui LawnForce® Superstrike® Lawn Seed range. Whether you need a low maintenance lawn, a hardwearing lawn for high traffic areas, a fine textured lawn, a drought tolerant lawn for sandy soils, or are trying to grow a lawn in a shady spot, the Tui LawnForce® Superstrike® range has the perfect seed type for you. 

Sow seed on a fine day at the rate set out on the packaging. Scatter seed in an east to west direction then a north to south direction to ensure an even spread, so you end up with even coverage.

Keep your lawn well nourished

Well nourished lawns will have a better chance of keeping weeds, pest insects and diseases at bay. Apply Tui LawnForce® New Lawns slow release fertiliser to encourage lush, thick, green growth in your lawn. Once established, fertilise your lawn in spring and autumn with Tui LawnForce® All Purpose.

Water your lawn well

Keep your lawn well watered, particularly after sowing new seed and over the warmer months. Add Debco SaturAid to assist with water distribution before sowing lawn seed. Debco SaturAid granular soil wetting agent holds water in the soil and distributes it evenly and directly to the root zone. It will make your watering efforts more efficient, reducing water use by up to 50%.

Stop prickles

Spray for prickles in autumn and spring to prevent spikes from setting. Tui LawnForce® Prickle Kill & Lawn Feed's dual action formulation includes a selective weed killer to eliminate prickle weeds (Onehunga) and other common weeds from invading your lawn. 

Create a greener, thicker lawn

In early spring after winter and autumn after summer, your lawn can be looking a little tired and brown. To get it back to a lush deep green colour apply Tui LawnForce® Rapid Green. Engineered with additional iron to green up your lawn in as little as three days, and essential nutrients for up to ten weeks feeding, Tui LawnForce® Rapid Green delivers long lasting results for your lawn. The ProGrade formulation is trusted by major golf courses and sports arenas across the country, so you can rest assured you're selecting the optimum lawn fertiliser to build a superior lawn.

Stop dogs burning your lawn

If the patches in your lawn are caused by your dog's urine, add a teaspoon of vinegar per litre of water to the dogs water to help neutralise it and prevent it burning the lawn. Put a bowl of water out as well, incase the dog does not like the vinegar water.

Repair your lawn

Autumn and spring are the best times to patch a lawn. Restore your lawn to its previous glory by repairing bare patches with the conveniently sized Tui LawnForce® Superstrike® Lawn Seed Easycare Patch Pack. Our Easycare blend includes quality fine turf ryegrass and turf fescue and germinates in as little as seven days in ideal weather conditions.

Rake out the dead patches and break up the soil surface. Apply Tui LawnForce® Lawn Preparation Mix over the patch 25-30mm deep. Firm down with the head of the rake or by stamping. Sow as directed on the pack, making sure the seed is in contact with the Tui LawnForce® Lawn Preparation Mix. Water well and keep moist on a daily basis during the germination period.

You’ll be enjoying a patch-free, healthy green lawn in no time.

TOP TIPS SHARED BY YOU FOR A BEAUITFUL LAWN...

Below are handy tips shared by our Facebook followers:

• Mow twice a week.
• Apply worm tea for green growth and disease resistance.
• If the patches in your lawn are caused by your dog’s urine, add vinegar to their water to help neutralise it and prevent it burning the lawn.
• Keep the weeds out! Dandelion free makes a big difference to how it looks. Keep the edges tidy too, it’s a huge visual effect on how the lawn looks.
• Spray for prickles in spring.
• Collect water in a bucket from kitchen sink hand washing and put this on the lawn to assist the greening and hydrating without wasting water from the hose.
• Don’t mow too low to the ground as it will cause the lawn to die off and go brown. In summer cut the lawn high, it helps the roots from drying out.
• Don’t set the mower too low and ‘scalp’ the lawn, as this encourages weeds and stresses the grass!
• I rake out old growth in winter and put on a layer of compost (which I rake in to the top layer of the lawn).
• Walk barefoot on the lawn for a refreshing relaxing boost.
• The three W’s watering, weeding, watching it grow.
• Mulch! I keep mine a bit longer and mulch the clippings back in to it. It helps immensely – especially with holding moisture in the heat of summer.
• Apply lime each year and fertilise it with Tui LawnForce All Purpose fertiliser in spring and autumn.
• Digging out the weeds by hand works well and is a great stress reliever.
• Shift the trampoline to a new spot each time you mow.

For more tips follow our Lawn Growing Guide >