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How to give your lawn a spring boost
- BBC Gardeners' World Magazine
Published: Monday, 24 February 2025 at 4:24 pm
Find out how to give your lawn a spring boost, ready for the wear and tear of summer.
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Like many plants in the garden, the grass in your lawn could do with a boost in spring. This involves aerating, scarifying, and tidying, helping the grass to regenerate and grow strongly. What's more, tidying the lawn edges helps to improve the overall appearance of the lawn.
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The first time you mow the lawn each year, it should be done with the mower blades set high to help thicken the grass. Afterwards, focus on weeding to reduce competition for nutrients and moisture.
Our experts have also tested a range of kit to keep it looking in tip top condition - from the best lawn mowers, to the best strimmers as well as the best scarifiers and best aerators.
Follow our step-by-step guide to giving your lawn a spring boost, below.
You Will Need
- Garden fork or hollow-tine aerator
- Sharp river sand
- Half-moon iron or spade
- Wire-tooth rake or powered scarifier
Step 1
Aerate to prevent waterlogging. This is particularly important if your lawn has endured heavy rains over winter. If yours is still squelchy, spike it with a garden fork every 15cm. You could also buy or hire a hollow-tined aerator that will remove cores of soil. You can sweep sharp river sand into the holes to help the ground dry out and help prevent future waterlogging.
Step 2
Give your lawn a spring boost - cut a new lawn edge
Recut edges using a half-moon iron or spade. You can do this by eye, but you'll get a better result by following the line of a scaffolding plank or other sturdy plank of wood, some taut twine or a snaking hosepipe if you want smooth curves.
Step 3
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Use a spring-tined rake to rake moss from lawns to encourage grass to grow more vigorously.
Creating lawn patch fillers
When reshaping the lawn, collect up the strips and place them 5cm apart in a compost-filled seed tray, then grow on outside or in a cold frame. To replace the bare patch, cut out a square or rectangle around the area and, using a hand trowel, dig up the soil in the rectangle to whatever depth of soil your new turf strip is. Gently lay the turf, cut to fit, over the patch. Firm it down so that there are no gaps and your new turf is no higher or lower than your existing lawn.
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