About The Garden Magazine Your local gardening advice for Australian gardens | How to Grow | Garden Advice | Pest & Diseases | Recipes 
Spring is the perfect time for top dressing and fertilising lawns to take advantage of the warm weather growth ahead.
For a wonderful green lawn right through to next year, start fertilising in early spring with Searles Robust Lawn Booster. Searles Robust is a slow release fertiliser that will slowly feed lawn roots and leaves for up to 4 months to promote slowly thick, green, healthy grass – just like professional sports fields. A thicker lawn will smother out weeds, reducing weed spraying.
If your lawn soil is hard and repels water, aerate with a garden fork or aerator, and fill holes with Searles Lawn Top Dressing (see top dressing lawn tips section, below). Sprinkle Searles Penetraide Re-Wetting Granules onto the soil to promote better water penetration. It also contains a fertiliser to feed your lawn at the same time.
Spring is the time for painful bindii invasion in lawns. If you have ever walked on a bindii and felt the sharp pain they cause, you may be interested to know that it is the seed that forms the prickle. Bindii grows in the winter and sets seed from late winter to early spring. Spray now with a registered herbicide for bindii. Repeat spraying is important to control weeds germinating after the prior spraying.
It’s very important, whenever using a weed spray, to use it in conjunction with a wetting agent such as Searles Spredmax. This increases the weedkiller’s effectiveness by helping it stick to the leaves of the weed.
TOP DRESSING LAWN TIPS
Spring is the ideal time to top dress lawns to take advantage of the warm weather rapid growth. Whether filling in holes, evening out lawns or adding nutrients to the soil for better growth, applying a 1-2cm layer of Searles Lawn Top Dressing will set your lawn up for strong spring growth.
Top dressing with Searles Lawn Top Dressing will add rich composted nutrients and minerals to encourage the production of new grass shoots and strengthen roots resulting in a thicker greener lawn. A thicker and regularly mown lawn will smother out weeds, reducing the use of chemical spraying. A top dress of organic matter will also encourage microbial activity to break down grass clippings and provide extra nutrients into the soil. Extra organic matter also improves water retention and drainage in the soil. It is especially helpful during drier times of the year and equally when the ‘big wet’ comes.
Before applying, mow the lawn the day prior. Water well after raking to bed down the soil.
