Lawn care guide ยท Melbourne
Lawn fertilising guide for Melbourne
Feeding a lawn is simple once you know the timing. Here is what the numbers on the bag mean, and a no-fuss schedule for Melbourne's warm and cool season lawns.
Lawn care guide ยท Melbourne
Feeding a lawn is simple once you know the timing. Here is what the numbers on the bag mean, and a no-fuss schedule for Melbourne's warm and cool season lawns.
Why feed at all
A well-fed lawn is thick, green and competitive. It crowds out weeds, recovers faster from wear and copes better with heat and drought than a hungry one. Most lawn problems people blame on bad luck, thin patches, weed invasion, slow recovery, trace back to a lawn that is simply not being fed. The lawns we keep on a feeding rhythm around Pascoe Vale and Coburg North stay denser and need less weeding as a result.
You do not need a complicated program. Two or three well-timed feeds a year does most of the work for a home lawn.
The basics
Every fertiliser bag shows three numbers, the NPK ratio. N is nitrogen, which drives green leaf growth and is the one lawns want most. P is phosphorus, for root development, and Australian soils are often already high in it, so go easy. K is potassium, which toughens the plant against stress, heat and disease.
For a maintenance feed, a fertiliser high in nitrogen with some potassium suits most lawns. A slow-release formula is worth the small extra cost: it feeds steadily over weeks rather than dumping everything at once, which means even growth and far less risk of burning the lawn.
Warm-season lawns
Kikuyu, couch and buffalo are warm-season grasses, and the rule is to feed them when they are actively growing: spring through summer. A spring feed kicks off strong growth as the lawn wakes, a summer feed sustains it through the heat, and an optional autumn feed with extra potassium toughens the lawn before winter.
Do not feed warm-season lawns in the depths of winter when they are dormant. The fertiliser is wasted and can feed weeds instead of grass. This is the schedule we follow on the open kikuyu blocks in Jacana and the established lawns around Preston.
Cool-season lawns
Fescue and ryegrass lawns are cool-season grasses and flip the schedule. They grow hardest in spring and autumn and struggle in peak summer heat. Feed them in autumn for strong root growth heading into winter, and again in early spring. Go light through summer, since pushing growth in the heat only stresses them.
Many inner-north lawns, especially the shadier mixed gardens we tend in Reservoir, are a blend of grass types, so a balanced slow-release feed in spring and autumn covers both without overthinking it.
Doing it right
Apply fertiliser to a dry lawn, then water it in well so the granules dissolve and reach the roots rather than sitting on the leaf. Spread it evenly: a hand-thrown handful clumps and leaves dark green stripes and burnt patches, so a simple spreader pays for itself in an even result. Never apply more than the label rate thinking it will work faster, because over-feeding burns the lawn and leaches into waterways.
Pair feeding with the rest of your spring routine for the best result. Our spring lawn care checklist sets out where feeding fits, and the grass types guide helps you confirm which kind of lawn you are feeding.
FAQ
Your neighbours in Pascoe Vale South
We mow, edge and blow down lawns across Pascoe Vale South and the inner-north every week. Free quote, same-day reply, no lock-in.