Lawn Renovation - What is it and do I need to do it?

As the hours of light have started to increase and the weather has started to warm back up, we are all happily reminded Spring is just around the corner and now is the perfect time to start thinking about planning that Lawn Renovation! But what is a Lawn Renovation and is it required? A Lawn Renovation is a process which is undertaken in either Spring or Autumn which helps clean up the dead debris, removes any imperfections, helps aerate the soil and just generally helps rejuvenate your grass resulting in a perfect, lush, well-manicured lawn. If this is what you are aiming for in a lawn, then yes, a lawn renovation is required!

It has been mentioned that a Lawn Renovation is a process, and this process involves quite a few steps which are generally undertaken in a certain order. Here is the process and the list of stages we at Green Fingers follow.

#1 Remove Weeds

The first step in a lawn renovation is to remove any weeds. The easiest method is to use a herbicide designed for lawns, which will kill any common lawn weeds without damaging the grass.

#2 Scalp

After about a week the weeds will be dead or dying, which is the perfect time to give the lawn a good scalp. This involves lowering your lawn mower to its lowest setting and running it across the lawn which scalps the grass and removes any higher growing crowns.

#3 Dethatch

Next you will want to dethatch your lawn. You can either hire a dethatching machine or purchasing a dethatching rake. If using a machine, follow the instructions you are given. If you choose to purchase a rake, apply pressure as you rake ensuring the blades are removing thatch. Remove all thatch, this can be done easily via mowing.

#4 Core

Now is the perfect time for coring. You can either hire a coring machine (much easier) or purchase a manual corer. If you hire a machine, follow the instructions given. If you choose to purchase a manual corer, simply push the corer down into the soil far enough that a ‘core’ pops through, next move the corer and repeat until you have cored your entire lawn. Remove all cores, this can be done easily via mowing.

#5 Foliar Feed

After coring is complete you should spray your entire lawn with a low dose of Lawn Foliar Fertiliser, which will help bring the colour and health back to your grass and also give it a good growth boost for the next stage.

#6 Top Dress

Now it is time to top dress your lawn. Top dressing is simply an application of a large amount of sand or a mix of sand and organic matter which helps fill in the holes from coring and also removes any small dips and imperfections. You will want to purchase about 0.7m3 of top dress per 100m2 of lawn, although you may need less or more depending on the degree of bumpiness in your lawn. This should be evenly spread across the entirety of lawn, before using a soil spreader to push the sand back and forth creating as much flatness as possible while also allowing the grass to pop back through.

#7 Seed

After top dressing is complete, new grass seed should be applied across the entirety of the lawn, focussing on areas where the grass is thinner. At this point a roller is optional, although it does give the new grass seed a much greater chance of strike.

#8 Irrigate

Finally, you can now either turn on your irrigation or water the new grass allowing the seed to set in and begin germination. Try to keep the area moist for the next two-three weeks.

#9 Fertilise

After about a month you can begin regularly spraying your lawn with Lawn Foliar Fertiliser and a month later apply a slow-release granular fertiliser.

Be proud and enjoy!

And you are done! Around 2 months after starting your lawn renovation you will be the talk of your neighbourhood and finally have that lawn you can feel proud of. Just try to keep those golfers off.