How to maintain your lawn

Mowing

For established lawns, cut cool season grasses (e.g. ryegrass, fine fescue, tall fescue or browntop) to between 3 and 10 cm, and cut warm season grasses (e.g. kikuyu) shorter, to 2.5 cm high.

Keep grass a little longer in the hottest part of summer so the roots stay cool. Winter is a balancing act; keeping the grass longer allows for more photosynthesis while sunlight hours are reduced, but during periods of heavy rain shorter is better, to discourage lawn diseases.

Mow as frequently as possible, but remove as little growth as possible during each mow. 

Never mow a wet lawn, because even if your mower blade is sharp it tears and damages the grass.

Never mow grass too low or ‘scalp’ the lawn. Grasses need their leaves to manufacture nutrition for the plant, and to shade the root system. That explains why it's good to remove grass clippings, or even better, use a mulching mower. Mowing the lawn really short has a counterproductive effect. It's tempting to think that if you mow hard, the lawn won't need mowing for a longer time. But, if you mow aggressively it makes the lawn bolt, forcing a surge of growth that burns extra nutrients. Repeated hard mowing weakens your lawn, allowing weeds and moss to get a foothold; which leads to a vicious cycle of...more frequent mowing.

Watering

Different lawn species have different water needs, depending on the local climate and soil type. Most NZ lawns are classic cool season grass varieties, which all prefer consistent moisture.

The rule of thumb for watering is to give your lawn a deep, generous drink, then make it wait patiently for a few days until the next water. Avoid short but frequent waterings, especially during hot weather.

Use the chart below as a guideline for watering intervals for each season: 

A good trick to check if your lawn needs to be watered, is to tread firmly on the grass. After removing your foot, if the grass doesn't spring back and lays flat, it's an indication your grass needs to be watered. If the grass springs back, it doesn't need to be watered.

Try to water your lawns in the early morning, before 10am. This is because night watering can increase the risk of fungal problems. However, common sense wins, if you can't water in the morning, of course water at night!

Yates Kikuyu Lawn Seed is a very drought tolerant grass, so you can water it less than cool season types. It's most often used in coastal or beachfront sites, in predominately sandy soil, or where consistent heat and lack of moisture make it difficult to grow other types of grass.

Yates Tuffgrass Lawn Seed and Yates Tall Fescue Lawn Seed are reasonably drought tolerant once established.

There are two main challenges that can be fixed with grass seed: bare patches and thin lawns. 

Fix Bare Patches

Bare patches in the lawn are a magnet for weeds to establish, which makes them even more annoyingly obvious. For smaller areas of patching or repairing dog pee patches there's Yates Seed'n'Feed, an easy dual action solution: it includes fast-germinating grass seed and fertiliser, to feed new and existing grass for up to 12 weeks. You can repair and renovate your lawn all year round with Yates Seed'n'Feed, as it contains the same seed varietals as Yates Sow Anytime Lawn Seed, so it will germinate at temperatures as low as 3°C.

1. To fix bare patches with lawn seed, first remove any weeds or dead grass from the patch.
2. Gently cultivate the soil in the bare patch with a rake or garden fork to create a soft, loose surface.
3. Scatter the lawn seed, then gently rake it into the freshly cultivated soil.
4. Spread some handfuls of lawn mix over the sown patch, to lock in moisture and reduce bird theft.

Maintaining a consistent moisture level is critical for success. Don’t let the soil dry out at all, until the seedlings have emerged. Once germinated, water more deeply but less often, and the grass will be gradually be trained into developing a deeper, more drought-resistant root system.

Why Oversow Your Established Lawn?

It's not widely known, but it's common for established lawns to become thinner and sparser over time. This is because grass leaf blades only survive for about six weeks, before the grass plant needs to form new blades to replace them (new blades are known as 'tillers'). Lawn grass is in a constant cycle of growth and renewal - which can cause issues when the grass isn't healthy enough to keep up with the pace to replace its dead blades, so it gradually becomes weaker and thinner. Oversowing each year to 'top up' with fresh seed enables plenty of grass regeneration, to keep the lawn thick and lush.

Basically, all lawns will benefit from over-sowing with new lawn seed to help thicken up and keep them at their best. Spring and autumn are the best times to fix damaged, thin or patchy lawns, because it gives grass seedlings time to get established while the weather isn't too cold, or too hot for peak germination.

How to Oversow

When the soil temperature begins to rise at the end of August, or if there's still a bit of autumn warmth left in the season, you can boost tired and worn lawns by over-sowing with grass seed. If you want to get stuck in extra-early in spring or later in autumn, go for Yates Sow Anytime Lawn Seed, which will germinate at temperatures above 3℃.

If the lawn is a bit bumpy or uneven, or has tracks worn into it by pets or kids playing, you can grab the opportunity to topdress it before you sow seed. To level out any low areas, begin by mowing the grass down low, then top dress the area with 80/20 sand and loam mix to bring the low spots up to the level you want. It's best to spread only 1-2cm in depth at a time to level out the area, and then water well. Be sure your topdressing mix has a fine texture, to ensure it filters down to allow new leaves to poke through.

1. Give the lawn a close mow on the lowest setting.
2. The next important step is to scarify the whole lawn area to remove thatch buildup and create a soft, loose surface for the seeds to bed into. You can do this manually with a scarifying rake, but it's pretty hard work! It's worth checking the cost of hiring a power scarifier from your local hire merchant. A power scarifier has blades that slice into the soil with ease. A standard rake isn't really the best tool for this job, as it'll snag and tear the existing grass. 
3. Once you've chosen your grass variety, mix the required amount of lawn seed with a turf starter fertiliser, like Yates Lawn Fertiliser for New Lawns. Mixing seed and fertiliser makes it a quicker job to oversow an existing lawn, plus it provides the new grass seedlings with gentle slow release nutrients as they establish. If you've already sown your lawn seed, it's no problem; you can still apply Yates Lawn Fertiliser for New Lawns at any time after sowing.
4. Scatter the lawn seed and fertiliser, either by hand or with a spreader.
5. Spread or sieve a thin layer of topdressing mix or fine soil over the sown seed and existing grass, to help the seeds migrate down to the soil surface, lock in moisture and reduce bird theft.
6. Water thoroughly and regularly for a few weeks until the grass is established.

During the first few days of germination, make sure you don't let the seed dry out, at all. Allowing the soil to dry out even for a short time can halt germination and kill delicate embryonic grass. It's likely you'll need to water multiple times a day during the first few days, then continue to keep a close eye on the moisture after that. Yates Seed Sealer hose-on can assist with maintaining soil moisture, while doing its primary job of binding lawn seed to soil to keep it in place.

Try to minimise foot and pet traffic on the newly sowed area until it's well established.

It's a great idea to improvise some bird scaring devices while your tempting, tasty grass seed is germinating. Old CDs strung onto bamboo stakes work well. Christmas tinsel and brightly coloured ribbons fluttering over your sown area really help to keep bird losses under control.