After a difficult winter the effects of the weather will have taken their toll on most garden lawns. The weight of the snow and the very heavy rainfall will have helped compact many lawns, making them slow to drain and leaving the grass roots prone to rotting and water damage. You can aerate a compacted lawn in spring, you may need to wait until March or April if the weather is still bad, but don’t leave it too late. Aeration helps to opening up the structure of the soil and improves the drainage around the grass roots to encourage healthy growth. Use a hollow tine aerator to remove plugs of soil and fill the holes with a good lawn dressing.

When the lawn looks good it transforms the whole garden. Treat it to some tender loving care as soon as possible to help rejuvenate the grass plants that make up the lawn and help them to perform to their full potential.

As the weather warms up your lawn will start to grow more rapidly. Don’t be tempted to cut it if the soil is very wet or there is frost or snow on the ground. Once it gets to the stage where you need to cut it, it is essential to be gentle, especially with the first few cuts of the season. Simply trim off the top third of growth, with the mower blades adjusted to their highest setting. If the grass is young or very long then use a hover or wheeled rotary mower for the first few cuts to avoid flattening the lawn and ripping out young grass plants. Always allow the lawn to recover for a few days or up to a week and then cut it again if it is still growing, with the mower blades on a slightly lower setting. At this time of year the lawn may only need cutting about once or twice a fortnight. Do not cut it too short and do not cut it the lawn if it is not growing, i.e. when the weather is cold.

Check the lawn for invaders such as weeds and moss. Both will actually compete with the grass for all the available nutrients and moisture and if you don’t keep them in check they can take over the lawn completely. You can treat these with suitable lawn products but it is a good idea to look at the causes, especially for moss to prevent it from reoccurring. A shady lawn is more prone to moss invasion. If the lawn is shaded by trees and shrubs then try and prune out some overhanging branches to allow some sunlight in. If the lawn is poorly drained and compacted then this also encourages moss to grow. Moss thrives in areas that are poor in nutrients, so by feeding the lawn you are improving its chances of survival and helping to deter moss regrowth.

Resow any bare patches using a lawn repair kit or a patch pack or if the whole lawn is thin and sparse you can over sow the whole lawn with lawn seed choose a quality lawn seed mixture to suit your lawn and the existing conditions. If you only have time to do one lawn task this month then keep the lawn edges neat. If they are undefined then recut them using a half moon lawn edging iron it will make a world of difference.