The Lowdown on Lush Lawns

We all get by with a little help from our friends –So Outside & In has grabbed the guru of gardening, Julian Bartels, to share his expertise on maintaining our exteriors through the autumn season. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a beginner wanting some basics... We’ve got you covered!

The temperature will soon start to drop, the days will gradually become shorter, and our lawn will soon be covered by golden yellows and rich orange hues. Oh yes... Autumn has arrived, and, truth be told, this is the perfect time to prepare your garden for the cold weather that lies ahead. All the ‘prep work’ that is done in autumn will ensure that your green haven remains in top condition through winter, and geared for a vibrant spring.

One of the best ways to prepare your autumn garden is to clear the space of any leaves or tree branches that may have built up over the spring and summer periods. The autumn season also proves to be the best time of year for clearing out the main base of the garden, allowing you to give some much-needed attention to flowers and shrubs in the winter.

Tidying up and cutting back your plant borders are a great means of having your garden looking fresh and in top shape for the colder seasons. It’s the best time to clear out any foliage that should not be there, and ensure your soil has all the nutrients it requires to guarantee that your plant babies are happy and healthy.

If there are any plants which you feel are poorly-placed in your garden, autumn is just the right time to replant them. If any perennials have faded, cut them back to around 5cm to ensure that they remain in the best health over the coming colder spells.

IMPROVE YOUR SOIL IN AUTUMN

When cultivating the soil, it is important to improve its texture and quality on an on-going basis. Organic matter acts as soil conditioner by improving the structure, drainage and aeration characteristics.

Sandy soils, characteristic of the Western Cape, have very little organic nutrients and generally don’t hold water well. The addition of plenty of good quality organic matter such as compost and manure are recommended before any planting is done. Some sandy soils even repel water; such soils need to be well mulched to reduce their hydrophobic tendencies.

FERTILISE YOUR ENTIRE GARDEN

Beautiful summer gardens are created in autumn! So, if you desire a beautiful, healthy garden that’s the envy of your neighbours by spring, fertilise your lawn, bulbs, and seedlings with an organic fertiliser which contains essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphate and potassium. Zinc is especially important as it aids growth in lower temperatures.

AUTUMN PLANTING

We tend to think that autumn represents a time for pruning, mulching, and preparing for the winter season, and it does, but autumn is also the best time for planting! Lace up your gardening shoes and slip into that pair of garden crocs (you know the ones) - because this time of year creates the ideal conditions that assist in plant establishment before the winter sets in. So, plant away!

Cooler temperatures and the autumn air, combined with shorter daylight hours, relieve new plants of the stresses of the summer heat and dryness. While we are likely to start exchanging our summer clothes for warmer cover-ups, the soil in the garden would likely still be warm from summer, which will keep freshly-planted roots actively growing up until the winter cold and rains. Julian Bartels

CEO, BEST Professional Landscaping

www.bestlandscaping.co.za

@best.landscaping

Due to our harsh winds and dry conditions from November into March in the Western Cape, it is difficult to achieve immediate and instant landscaped results. Autumn is therefore the perfect season for planting new gardens. Landscaped gardens as well as lawns will also be provided with relief from natural winter rains which will soon be returning to the region.

AUTUMN LAWN CARE

Your lawn offered a welcoming green carpet for your outdoor activities all summer long, and now it’s your turn to help it to continue looking its best during the colder seasons. It is important to recognise that your autumn lawn care routine will need to be adjusted to fit the new season, and your lawn’s new needs.

Watering. With a dry, hot summer behind us, your lawn will likely need less water. While reducing irrigation is an essential component of your autumn lawn care regime, you should not stop watering completely; irrigation needs to continue all through winter.

Mowing. Keep mowing as long as the grass is growing! For the final before-winter mow, cut cool season grasses to 6cm and warm season grasses to 4 – 5cm. This is an absolutely essential component of lawn maintenance in autumn.

Mulching. Shred leaves and cut grass into smaller pieces, and keep on hand to protect and nourish your lawn – and your entire garden for that matter – throughout winter. Our mower has a mulching cutting deck, which shreds grass as you’re cutting, and immediately blows it back onto the lawn surface.

MAINTAINING YOUR EQUIPMENT IS AS ESSENTIAL AS MAINTAINING YOUR GARDEN

Autumn is also a good time to assess your garden equipment. Those engines have been running all summer long! Prepare and plan your servicing, and possibly upgrades and repairs. At BEST Landscaping we use futuristic equipment supplied by EGO Power+, 56V battery equipment.

STIHL or Husqvarna also offer battery-operated kit. No fumes emitted, and the equipment is very quiet when in operation. It’s also environmentally-friendly, which means that as a conscious consumer, you can have some peace of mind! The lithium-ion batteries take as little as 30 minutes to be 80% charged and generally one battery fits all pieces of equipment in the range. A win, win for your lawn.

Go out and be proactive, and remember, all that work you do now will reflect in summer (kind of like getting beach bod ready).