When Is The Best Time To Install A New Lawn
Guest Post by Harold Whitlock
Most people have an idea of what their suburb property should look like.
Some think it should have well-painted wooden fences.
A few believe it should have beautiful garden features. but most people imagine an ideal suburban home to have a lush and bright lawn.
Getting a new lawn goes beyond having the resources for it.
You also have to know when you can actually start installation on your property.
Hastily installing a lawn will only result in your investment just wilting on the ground, so when should you get one for your property?
The sooner, the better
If you want a lush garden or yard, you may want to install a new lawn the first chance you get.
Growing grass takes a lot of time.
You can expect to wait for a year or two before the grass on your lawn matures and becomes a permanent part of your property – with its roots firmly attached to the soil.
Thankfully, Australia’s weather is decent enough for most kinds of lawn grass to thrive.
As long as you take care of your lawn, it will grow lush and bright regardless of what season you install them.
However, do note that challenges are associated with the season when you’ll start planting.
Also, choosing a suitable variety is essential; you may want to learn more about them, particularly the buffalo varieties such as Prestige or Sir Walter.
Install during early spring
Some parts of Australia experience snow in the middle of the year.
While one can attempt to grow grass during the winter season, it’s not for the faint of heart.
It can be challenging, as it requires a lot of attention.
If you’re in that situation, you may want to wait for a few months and put off your lawn installation to early spring.
Remember the keyword there: early spring.
While spring is the best time to plant new plants and grass, it can be a bad idea if you do it in the middle or later parts of the season.
When you time it during those months, you’ll risk your lawn failing as it will be exposed to the intense summer heat and sun while they’re still young.
Grass takes time to grow, and the variety you’ll have on your lawn can be a bit more demanding than wild grass and weeds.
Lawn grass need warm soil and lots of water, both of which will be difficult to come by during an Australian summer and the tail end of spring.
According to Who magazine, the average temperature in the country is around 37C, and it continually rises every year.
It doesn’t help that most of the hottest places in the world are found in Australia.
Another thing you should worry about is the presence of weed.
Weed plants are hardy compared to lawn grass, and they can quickly overrun your turf if you start your lawn installation late in the spring.
Before they can begin growing during mid and late spring, you need to ensure they’ll have no room to grow by installing your lawn a few days after winter ends.
Install during Autumn
As you may have surmised in the previous section, it’s not ideal to try lawn installation during the summer.
However, you also wouldn’t want to get a lawn during winter season.
If you missed the early spring window, you’re left with the option of installing a lawn during autumn.
Thankfully, autumn provides an ideal condition for turf grass.
The humidity will be just right, and the temperature will be just cool enough for grass to proliferate.
Plant diseases are deterred by low humidity and cooler temperatures, giving turf grass better chances of thriving.
With enough preparation, it’s easier to let your young grass survive winter, especially if it doesn’t heavily snow in your area.
Of course, there are still challenges when installing a lawn during autumn.
One of them is watching out for weed growth and taking the sturdy ones that survived summer.
Install during winter
Unlike other huge countries in the world, the population centres in Australia are sparsely separated into distant parts of the continent.
Because of that, weather conditions and seasons can vary a lot in different towns and cities within the same season.
In warmer parts of the country, the winter weather is similar to autumn in colder places.
If you’re in those parts, you can just install your lawn and have an easy time taking care of them until summer comes.
In an article in SFGate – a popular online news site in the United States and worldwide – there are cool-season grasses you can install on your lawn.
They can thrive in ground temperatures 12.7C–23.8C.
Some of them are blue fescue and ryegrass; both can grow in Australian soil, but are considered weeds by some.
Install during summer
While the best times are already mentioned, you might be reading this during the summer and excited to start your lawn.
While it’s possible to install them during the summer, it’s heavily discouraged. And it will require you to know every lawn care and maintenance trick in the book.
However, if you want to install a lawn now, you may want to take note of the following tips from MSN.com and other various gardening sites:
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- Choose a variety that is resilient to drought and heat. Some recommended varieties include zoysia, Kikuyu, and couch grass.
- Be mindful of watering your turf every day. Only make sure that the soil is moist and not soggy.
- Monitor the weather forecasts. Watch out for heavy hot summer rains. They can easily waterlog your lawn.
- Inspect your grass for diseases. Hot, sticky humid nights can introduce fungal diseases to your lawn.
Conclusion
There you have it.
Those are the best (and worst) times you can install a lawn.
They’re laden with tips on how to handle the installation to improve the survival rate of a new lawn.
Keep these in mind and you’re bound to have a great-looking lawn.
Harold Whitlock
Harold Whitlock is a landscape specialist with over 10 years of experience in the industry. He also writes blogs to share his expertise in the field. In his free time, Harold enjoys traveling and boating with his family.
References:
- “Is Climate Change Making Our Days Hotter?”, Source: www.who.com.au/hottest-day-in-australia
- “The Temperature That Grass Starts to Grow After Winter”, Source: www.homeguides.sfgate.com/temperature-grass-starts-grow-after-winter-68217.html
- “How To Grow Grass In Hot, Dry Weather – 5 Steps To A Healthy Lawn This Summer”, Source: www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/home-and-garden/how-to-grow-grass-in-hot-dry-weather-5-steps-to-a-healthy-lawn-this-summer/ar-AAYGHwN