Early Spring is a perfect time to core your lawn, after all the winter rains the soil is soft so it is a lot easier to remove these cores. You can purchase a hand corer from your local garden outlet, but if it seems too big a job you can also get a contractor in to do it or you could hire a mechanical machine to do the job. The biggest killer of lawns in Australia is soil compaction. Once the soil goes hard which it generally does with walking, mowing etc., the lawn starts to thin out and weeds take over. By removing these cores which are about the size of a cigarette length and width, you are removing part of the problem. After coring rake all these up and dump. Then I would suggest fertilising with a quality fertiliser like Munns Golf Course Green Lawn Fertiliser or Buffalo Booster, watering in (or spread when raining). Then a light top dress with coarse sand about 1cm and also spread gypsum over the area. The sand and gypsum will work their way down the core holes, improving drainage and turf quality.

 

Spring is the ideal time to fertilise all types of lawn. After the winter rains all the nutrients in the soil are washed away so your lawn is very "hungry" for a feed. Choose a good quality fertiliser such as Munns Golf Course Green Lawn Fertiliser or Munns Buffalo Booster, apply as recommended.

Now is a good time to check your mower blades. Make sure blades are nice and sharp. Particularly if you have a rotary mower as these mowers tend to tear the leaf of the grass, so if they are blunt the lawn, after cutting, can look "rough".

 

Now is also a great time to apply your once a year Wetting Agent. A good suggestion is you could mix this with your lawn fertiliser and do two jobs in one, with one watering in. For a safe option look for the Munns NASAA certified organic Weta Lawn & Garden, it will not harm earthworms and is very affordable. 

 

The best time to spray for broadleaf weeds in a lawn is 3 weeks after fertilising. I always recommend this practice as the fertiliser will open the pores on the leaf of the weed allowing the weed killer to be much more effective. The fertiliser will also bring on any weed seeds that may be in the soil so you get rid of them as well!!!

 

Spring is a perfect time to sow a new lawn.

Make sure the top 15cm is well drained, and preferable of sandy loam. If you have clay soil, rotary hoe as much coarse sand as you can into the top soil along with Gypsum. This will break up the clay and improve drainage. The initial soil preparations will determine the life time of your lawn, so the more trouble you go to in the beginning, the less it will cost you in maintenance.

 

 If you have very sandy soil then you need to work into the top 15cm Munns Weta Lawn & Garden at the rate of 4kg to 20 sq m. The Weta Lawn traps moisture and nutrients in the soil and is a great benefit in sand.

 

Once you have levelled the new lawn area, lightly roll or press down with a flat board, making sure you have a level surface. Then lightly rake the area all one way (north-south) mix your choice of lawn seed with Munns Superstart Lawn Starter Fertiliser in a bucket. This will give you enough bulk of mixture to spread the seed evenly over the area, many times. This can be done by hand or with a fertiliser spreader. Once the whole lot of the mixture has been spread, very lightly rake in the opposite way (west-east). Then keep the top 1-2cm damp during germination. This germination period will vary depending on the variety. Generally the cheaper the variety the quicker the germination. High quality seed varieties take longer to germinate.

 

Tip. You can always tell the quality of the seed you are purchasing by the Minimum Germination printed on the box. The higher the Min Germ the higher the quality. i.e. If the packet states 'min germ 90%' this means 90 seeds out of a hundred will produce a blade of grass, so if the min germ is 65% then only 65 seeds out of a hundred will produce a blade of grass. 

 

Munns Organic Garden Booster Fertiliser is an ideal fertiliser to use on all plants during the Spring months especially when planting your seedlings, veggies & natives.  Put a handful in the hole prior to planting your plants and spread a handful around the plants after planting.  This would be an ideal time to also add a handful of Munns Weta-Lawn & Garden around the root ball and around the surface.

 

After using Munns Organic Garden Booster Fertiliser apply a good layer of Munns Mulch.  This will assist in retaining soil moisture while revitalising existing gardens.  You can even use Munns Mulch in pots & hanging baskets.