Month By Month Lawn Care Calendar

If you’re ever thinking “what should I do with my lawn this month?”, “when should I be cutting my lawn?” or “how on earth do I treat my lawn?”, have a look through our Month By Month Lawn Care Calendar which will hopefully supply you with some answers.

We've broken down by season and month and included our monthly top tips too, these range from which lawn feed to use and when to apply lawn feed, to treating pesky weeds.

It’s worth noting that lawn care guides are very much a guide only. As we are not blessed with lovely consistent weather, the timing of jobs may need to be tweaked slightly. If the weather is on your side, you may be able to start some jobs sooner than planned. However, if it’s not on your side, some jobs may have to wait.

Spring Lawn Care

Ah, the first signs of Spring (one of our favourite times of the year). Pops of colour will start appearing, you’ll be able to hear birdsong, and your lawn will have a complete growth spurt.

Things will start looking vibrant, and you’ll really want to start making the most of your outdoor garden furniture. Your spring lawn care schedule is really important in the life of a lawn, so we really recommend setting some time aside to focus on some jobs.

Jobs for March

The lawn care calendar begins, and it kicks off with a busy month of March. The main focus of March Lawn Care is:

• Nutrition
• Overseeding
• First mow of the year

With your soil warming up throughout March, this is the month of lawn nutrition. We would recommend giving your lawn its first cut of the year – but be careful! Try not to over-mow, and still keep a good height to your lawn.

A great job to do in March is to neaten up the borders of your lawn. While the ground is soft, use some lawn edge trimmers, shears, or something similar to really tidy up those edges and get it looking tip-top.

Keep your eyes peeled for weeds and moss, and treat them if necessary. We recommend Resolva Pro Weedkiller, as it’s super easy to use and it’s ideal for controlling those pesky weeds.

When to overseed your lawn? Now. The best time to overseed your lawn is March to early May. Simply sow some seeds into your current lawn or if you're feeling brave, spread topsoil over your lawn and brush it into the grass, spread seeds on this and you’ll soon see it thicken up and transform into a lush lawn.

We see people asking "can I scarify my lawn in March?" - we personally think March is too early to start scarifying and can be quite a wet month, stick to the nutrition of the lawn in March, there will be plenty of scarifying to come in later months.

Our March Top Tip – Keep photos. If you can snap an aerial shot of your lawn (from an upstairs window is ideal), you’ll be able to see just how much the work you’re doing is paying off (comparison photos are great!).

Jobs for April

If you thought March was busy, wait for April…the main focus of April Lawn Care is:

• Scarifying
• Aeratring
• First fertiliser feed

You’ll need to start April by trying a small amount of simple scarifying. Sorry, what is scarifying?

We’re glad you asked.

To put it simply, scarifying is when you cut and remove debris from a lawn using a spiky tool, or one with prongs. People do it to easily break up and loosen vegetation that is being held on the surface of a lawn. 

If you manage to scarify your lawn, make sure you keep on top of any weeds poking their way through over the next couple of weeks.

You might also need to get your rake on your lawn too. Do you have some moss on your lawn? Any debris? Dead roots? If the answer is yes to any of these, give it a quick rake.

Once your lawn is free of thatch, moss and dead stuff, now is the time to aerate. Spring is the perfect time to aerate to set you up for the rest of the year, it will also help your fertiliser to further by penetrating the lawn and getting to the roots of your grass.

If you applied a moss killer in March, now is the time to remove it (hopefully you’ll start having a lawn worthy enough of an award). April would also be a great month to give your lawn its first fertiliser feed to keep it looking healthy and happy.

Our April Top Tip – fill in any patches. The temperature (fingers crossed) is a lovely Spring temperature, which is perfect for filling in any thin or bare patches of lawn. Our recommendation – Aftercut Patch Fix.

Jobs for May

Tasks for Lawn Care in May are quite straightforward, May is the month of mowing.

• Mowing
• Mowing
• Tackling Weeds

As your lawn will be in full growing swing, we’d recommend dedicating some time to having a cut once every week if you can (this might seem a lot, but we promise it’ll be worth it).

May is also a great time to weed-kill your whole lawn. If you managed to scarify in April, you’ll probably want need to pay some attention to the weeds that will begin to appear.

Ideal weather conditions for treating your lawn would be: sunny(ish), non-windy (to avoid it blowing over to any borders), and certainly not raining (good luck).

Our May Top Tip – feel the soil and beds to see if you need to give your lawn a quick water. You shouldn’t need to, as the soil should be soft enough, but keep an eye.

Summer Lawn Care

You’ve done all of the hard work, well done!

The following months are all about taking the time to maintain this work (and more importantly, enjoying some time in your lovely garden).

In Summer, when rainfall is usually lower, lawns can start to look a bit parched. Established lawns will really quickly recover when rainfall returns so watering is generally not necessary, however, you may want to give it a quick dampen from time to time.

Jobs for June

If you’ve managed to stay on top of your lawn care jobs in March, April and May, we’re hoping your lawn is looking pretty good.

Due to all that hard work throughout Spring, June Lawn Care focuses are simple:

• Regular mowing
• Regular weeding
• Regular watering

Only light jobs for the month!

Our June Top Tip – when you cut the lawn, leave the clippings where they are. We know – it’s great! They will decompose, and give your lawn lots of lovely nutrients to keep it looking healthy.

Jobs for July

Sorry for repeating ourselves…keep mowing regularly. The main jobs for July Lawn Care are:

• Water
• Fertilise (but that's up to you!)
• and enjoy your hard work in the sun!

To feed or not to feed? That is the question. If you wanted to, you could apply a lawn fertiliser. But wait! If you haven’t managed to water your lawn throughout longer spells of dry weather, don’t apply a lawn fertiliser as you could risk scorching your grass.

Our July Top Tip – change your mower settings to a slightly higher level than normal. This will prevent the lawn from drying.

Jobs for August

August and July are really similar when it comes to lawn tasks (phew). A quick summary of August Lawn Care tasks:

• Keep the mower on a higher setting
• Leave those clippings where they are
• Water your lawn if needed

Our August Top Tip – spend some time in the mornings or evenings tidying up your lawn (it’s such a lovely time of the year to do this).

Autumn Lawn Care

Here…we…go!

Autumn is a really busy time of the lawn care year, as our lawns can sometimes look a bit under the weather. Autumn maintenance is key and sets the balling rolling for Spring next year. The weather conditions are usually perfect to help us achieve a fabulous lawn too.

Jobs for September

September brings the start of the Autumn Lawn Care Season. The main focuses here are:

• Make repairs
• Lots of scarifying
• Reseed

The rain will return, and in turn, will help your grass with its growth. This is great! However, you will probably need to make some repairs, and if you do, it’s important you get these jobs ticked off first.

Remember we told you about scarifying? September is the month of heavy scarifying. Both raking and scarifying can be tough on a lawn, so only start this job if it actually really needs doing.

But how do I know if my lawn needs scarifying?

If your lawn feels spongy when you walk on it, then there is likely to be a build-up of thatch and moss around the base of your lawn. This is when the scarifying comes in.

September is also the month where if you need to you can repeat the same processes in Spring if your lawn has had some wear and tear. The same process of aerating, fertilising, overseeding will see it right for the Winter and lay good foundations for next year.

Our September Top Tip – when you cut the lawn, leave the clippings where they are. We know – it’s great! They will decompose, and give your lawn lots of lovely nutrients to keep it looking healthy.

Jobs for October

You can start to wind down, the main focus of October Lawn Care is;

• Raise the height of the mower
• Invest in a water butt
• Plant Spring flowering bulbs

It probably feels like you’ve been mowing your lawn for far too long. Well, October is the month when regular mowing comes to an end. Raise the height of that mower for the final few cuts, and do not, we repeat, do not, cut the grass too short.

Now is also the time to invest in a water butt (and other watering equipment!) if you don't have one already, collect all that rainwater we're about to get and use it all next year, saving you money and helping the environment at the same time.

Plant some Spring-flowering bulbs to add some colour. We’ve got a huge variety here at St Peters Garden Centre – pop in and have a look.

Our October Top Tip – Trim the edges of your lawn to keep it looking really neat and tidy for the Winter months.

Jobs for November

Cue the quiet months…

Main focuses for November Lawn Care are:

• Last mow of the year
• Collect fallen leaves
• Weeding

All you need to be doing in November is keeping an eye out. Collect any fallen leaves and keep on weeding.

You could fertilise your lawn in November to keep it looking really healthy and green over Winter, but this isn’t a necessity. November will also be your last cutting of the year before Winter really kicks in. Make the most out of it and bid your trusty mower farewell until next year.

Our November Top Tip – Remember, remember, to clear up your fallen leaves in November. Leaves have a tendency to clog lawns up, and even smother them! Removing them really helps your lawn grow, and allows it to be exposed to sunlight.

Winter Lawn Care

Aaaand relax.

The Winter months are a lovely, quiet time on the lawn-care front, so put your feet up and enjoy the festivities. That being said, there are a couple of minor things to keep in your mind…

A question we get asked a lot is “Should you mow your lawn in Winter?” The simple answer is, you can. However, it’s not usually necessary.

Jobs for December

Try not to work on your lawn at all if it’s frozen. You can be sweeping up any leaves or debris on your lawn, but that is pretty much it.

Our December Top Tip – Keep an eye on the forecast. You shouldn’t really mow your lawn if frost is predicted within 1-2 days, as it could stunt the growth of the blades and damage the lawn.

Jobs for January

New Year, New Lawn?

In January, the focus should be on restoring and repairing. If some bare patches have crept through on your lawn, grab some grass seed and sow the patch, then gently rake it.

Our January Top Tip – Avoid walking on a frosty lawn! Your grass blades will go really brittle in the cold, and walking on them could leave long-lasting damage.

Jobs for February

Have a little look at your borders – do they need a bit of TLC? Feb is a great month to keep on top of tidying those edges.

Try and keep your grass as long as you can possibly bear it. Your plants will need as much space as possible to reach and grow. You could give your lawn a light mow if it really needs it, but that is entirely dependent on UK weather conditions!

Our February Top Tip – Give your lawn a bit of an inspection, and come up with some tasks that you would like to complete in the next lawn-care year. What worked well this time? What didn’t work quite so well? Keep a note of everything you can.

If you have any questions on lawn care or other garden-related topics, our team of experts are here to help. Please feel free to pop in and speak to a member of the team, or contact us online.