Winters can be hard on Lawns especially this winter which certainly in Lancashire has been the wettest that we have ever seen on our farms, The best plan of action coming into October is to add a gentle low N slow release fertiliser just to keep it looking green and keep a strong root system and then by late October you will be usually carrying out your final cut however this winter has been terrible because the day time temps has meant that the grass has carried on growing all winter but when you have large areas of turf lying in water you can not mow it so you finish up stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The best bet for the minute is to be patient and hold off until the conditions dry out a little if you do spy an opportunity to get the mower out an ideal time is on the odd windy afternoon after the morning dew has passed, that’s basically what we are having to do on the farm at the minute, Moss build up and compaction are a problem after these conditions so a simple cost free job for this month can be some gentle aeration with a garden spade to a depth of around 100mm this will move water around and help get air to the roots.
In terms of appearance most lawns in Lancashire at minute are looking very similar, the fine fescues have suffered a lot leaving many lawns looking patchy and muddy and the strong rye grasses will be looking very much the dominant grass in the lawn, to balance this out again we advise that you wait until early march and add a low N granular feed and then start to pick up mowing, make sure that your mower has clean sharp blades to help knock the rye grass back and allow the fine fescue to bounce back and be sure to collect the grass clippings after because wet grass lying on your turf is really really harmful, If by early summer you still haven’t got the desired result as a last option before a re turf you could over seed your lawn. Which is a surprisingly cheap job on most average size lawns however results do tend to be mixed depending on the conditions for the following months after application.