Dishing the dirt on winter lawn and garden maintenance

Author: Adam Fitzhenry   Date Posted:28 June 2019 

Winter has arrived and with the cooler weather many of pull out the hot water bottles and rug up, but a few of us will breathe a sigh of relief that we can finally decrease our lawn and garden maintenance activities.

It’s no secret come winter we mow and weed less than in the summer months. But what many of us don’t realise is that our lawns and gardens still need attention and fertilising in the cooler months as well. Especially if we want to maintain healthy, lovely green gardens and lawns!

While it’s commonly understood that during winter everything in our yard goes dormant, and this might be the case for some areas in Australia, most regions don’t experience temperatures cold enough for soil to go dormant.

Our lawns, gardens and the soil beneath them are alive and growing, albeit not as actively as the warmer months, and just like anything living, need nutrients to thrive. Meaning even in winter, plants, lawns and soil microbes still need feeding to ensure they remain healthy.

That’s right, the secret to ultra-healthy gardens and lawns with a thriving growing environment is using quality products, all year round!

Continuing to feed your soil throughout the year helps everything in the yard cope with the lack of rain we experience, the extremes of winter and much more importantly, during the high temperatures of summer.

By conditioning your soil during these cooler months, you will notice your gardens and lawns will display a higher resistance to disease, pest attacks and will be less affected by heat and cold stress.

Basically, fertilising, or more correctly, conditioning the soil in winter will ensure your gardens and lawns are healthier and stronger year-round, making you the envy of all your neighbours!

How to fertilise in winter

Fertilising in the winter isn’t that much different from the summer. For all those who use our Plant Doctor range of products, all you need to remember is to use the same application rates, just reduce the frequency. So, where you would be applying fertiliser fortnightly in the summer, instead apply monthly. Or for those of you who love getting out in the garden, keep the same frequency and apply half the amount of product.

Creating a healthy growing environment

It’s no secret that healthy soil creates healthy plants and lawns and one of our favourite ways to accomplish this is with organics! 

Organic fertilisers contain only plant or animal-based materials that are either a by-product or end product of naturally occurring processes including manures, leaves and compost. These all work overtime to create a healthy growing environment for our gardens and lawns.

Because organic fertilisers release nutrients according to the plant’s need, they rely on soil organisms to break down organic matter, meaning they are released at a slow pace. This is what’s known as a slow release method and it reduces nutrient leaching and improves the soil quality over time.

Organic fertilisers provide organic matter that is essential for microorganisms, one of the building blocks for fertile soil rich in humus, this also helps drastically minimise leaching as the organic matter binds to the soil particles where the roots can access it.

Even after the plants have used all the nutrients, organic fertilisers will continue to improve soil and its composition and texture, making it ideal for creating a terrific growing environment for our gardens and lawns!

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