Winter Gardens

Hi very new to this site and im looking forward to talking to you all.

I recently moved into a new home at the end of August a little late to maintain my lawn i suspect. I am having problems with areas of my back lawn being patchy shall we say. Is there anything over the winter i can do to encourage growth come spring next year. It is south facing so gets plenty of sun and it seems to drain pretty well.

 

If the lawn has been neglected you could have a leatherjacket problem. A bit late to do much about them this time of year.

To help the general health of your lawn, scarify any dead thatch and moss out of it before winter and if your soil is heavy and the lawn compacted you could try hollow tine areation and then a sharp sand dressing. Feed in Spring once growth starts and early summer apply a weed n' feed dressing. If you also see a bunch of starlings attacking your lawn then you almost definitely have leatherjackets.

In early autumn when the adults (daddy-long-legs, aka crane flies) emerge and mate is the time to treat with nematodes that will feed on the grubs as they hatch from the newly laid eggs. Steinernema feltiae will specifically attack crane fly lavae and help control (not eliminate) infestations.

Leatherjackets