Free guide for Hamilton homeowners
Spring lawn care in Hamilton
Three months of work, in the order it needs doing. September, October, November. Written for Waikato clay, wet winters and the grass we actually grow here.
This is what we do on our own round. Nothing to buy from us. If you want to do it yourself, this is the whole plan.
Spring Lawn Care Guide for Hamilton
Gecko Lawns · Mowing Hamilton since 2007 · 0274 871 518 · geckolawns.co.nz
Start here
Why a Hamilton lawn needs its own plan
Advice written for Auckland or for the northern hemisphere will have you doing the right job at the wrong time. Three things make it different here.
The soil holds water
Most of Hamilton sits on heavy clay, with peat through the low lying parts. Clay stays wet long after the rain stops. That is why moss takes over in winter and why the ground is still soft in early September.
Frosts run late
We still get ground frost into September most years. Grass does not really move until the soil holds above about 10 degrees, which here is usually mid to late September. Do the warm weather jobs before that and you waste them.
It is cool season grass
Hamilton lawns are mostly ryegrass, fescue and browntop. They grow hardest in spring and autumn, not the middle of summer. Spring is the one window where everything you do actually takes.
Month one
September
Job 01
Pick up the winter mess first
Rake off the leaves, sticks and matted dead grass sitting on the surface. Grass under a wet leaf pile has been in the dark for three months and will be yellow.
Do it before you mow, not after. It stops you dragging wet mulch around the lawn.
Job 02
Take the first cut high
The first mow after winter is the ugly one. Long, wet and thick. Set the mower to its highest setting and just take the top off. Wait three or four days, then cut again a notch lower. Two passes, not one.
Never take more than a third of the leaf in one go. Scalping a lawn that has just woken up is the fastest way to hand the bare patches to weeds.
Job 03
Deal with prickle weed now, not in December
Onehunga weed is the flat rosette that turns into the prickles you cannot walk on barefoot in January. It has to be sprayed while it is small and soft, which in Hamilton means now through to early October.
Once the prickles have formed, spraying does nothing for this summer. You have missed it until next winter. This is the most time critical job on the list.
Job 04
Sort the moss, then sort why it is there
Moss is a symptom. It grows where the lawn is shaded, wet, compacted or hungry. Kill it with a moss treatment, wait for it to blacken, then rake it out hard.
Kill only the moss and it is back next winter. Cut back what is shading it, get air into the wet corner, and feed the lawn in October so the grass can hold the space. More on this in moss in a Hamilton lawn.
Job 05
Sharpen or replace the mower blade
A blunt blade tears the grass instead of cutting it. Look at the tips a day after mowing. If they are white or brown and frayed, the blade is blunt.
Torn tips lose more water and let disease in. It is a cheap fix that changes how the whole lawn looks.
Month two
October
Job 06
Feed it
Now the soil is warm, a spring lawn fertiliser is worth the money. Spread it evenly on a dry lawn, then water it in or put it on before rain is forecast.
Little and often beats one heavy hit. A big dump of nitrogen gives you two weeks of soft fast growth, more mowing, and nothing to show for it by December.
Job 07
Spray the broadleaf weeds while they are growing
Dandelion, clover, plantain and thistle take spray up properly when they are actively growing, which is now. Use a selective lawn weed killer so it takes the weed and leaves the grass.
Not on a windy day, not within a few days either side of mowing, not with a frost coming. Leave the weeds their leaves. That is what carries the spray down to the root.
Job 08
Get air into the clay
Push a garden fork 100mm into the lawn and rock it back and forward. Do it every 150mm or so across the worst areas. The path people walk, the strip by the drive, anywhere water sits after rain.
Compacted clay means roots cannot get down and water cannot get through. That is the real reason for the thin, mossy patches that come back every winter. See how to tell if your lawn needs aerating.
Job 09
Sow seed into the bare patches
Mid October is the best sowing window of the year in Hamilton. The soil is warm enough for reliable germination and there is still enough rain about. Scratch the surface, sow, press it in, and keep it damp for two to three weeks.
Do not let it dry out once it has started. Do not mow the new grass until it is about 60mm, then take only the tips.
Job 10
Set your mowing height and hold it
Aim for 30 to 40mm on a Hamilton lawn. High enough that the grass shades its own soil, low enough that it still looks tidy.
A taller lawn keeps its roots deeper, dries out slower in February, and blocks the light weed seeds need to get going. Short does not mean tidy. It means stressed. See how often to mow in spring.
Month three
November
Job 11
Do not fall behind on the mowing
Miss a fortnight in November and the lawn is long enough that cutting it back to normal height scalps it. Then you have bare patches in the middle of summer, which is the worst time of year to fix them.
If it has got away on you, take the top off first and cut again four days later. Same rule as September.
Job 12
Catch the clippings while it is lush
Spring growth is wet and heavy. Left on the surface it clumps, smothers the grass underneath and goes yellow.
From late summer, when growth slows and the clippings are dry and fine, leaving them on feeds the lawn. Not now.
Job 13
Start watering properly, or not at all
Most Hamilton lawns need nothing until late November. When it does dry off, water deeply once or twice a week, early in the morning. A long soak that gets down 100mm, not ten minutes every evening.
Light daily watering keeps the roots at the surface, which is exactly where you do not want them in a Waikato February.
Job 14
Look for patches that lift off
If a section goes brown and the turf pulls up like a loose mat with no roots under it, that is grub damage, not drought. Birds tearing at one area is the other giveaway.
Treat it when you find it. A lawn already under grub pressure going into a dry January is the one that does not come back.
Job 15
Give it one more light feed
A light feed at the end of November carries the colour through the hot months, when the grass is not growing much and cannot repair itself quickly.
Light is the word. Heavy nitrogen going into summer heat pushes soft growth that burns off and invites disease.
Worth knowing
Six things that wreck a Hamilton lawn in spring
We see the same six every year, on lawns owned by people who were doing their best with them.
Scalping the first cut
Dropping the mower to its lowest setting to get winter over with in one go. The lawn takes a month to recover and the weeds get in first.
Fertilising in August
Cold soil cannot use it. Most of it washes off the clay or feeds the weeds, which get going before the grass does. Wait for the soil to warm.
Leaving prickle weed until you feel it
By the time it hurts to walk on, spraying is pointless for that summer. It gets done in late winter and early spring, or not at all.
Mowing saturated clay
Wheel ruts, compaction and a torn finish. If your shoes sink, so does the mower. Give it a day.
Cutting it too short
Short grass has short roots and no shade over its own soil. It looks smart for four days and struggles for the rest of the year.
Killing moss and changing nothing
Moss is telling you the ground is wet, shaded, compacted or hungry. Kill it, fix none of that, and it is back next June.
Tear off
The whole spring, on one list
Print this page and tick them off. That is the entire plan.
September
October
November
Or you can just let us do it
We have been mowing Hamilton lawns since 2007. Same family, same van, a set day so you know when we are coming, and the price we quote you is the price on the invoice.
Regular mows or a one off tidy up after winter. Both are fine. Tell us the address and we will get a price back to you the same day.
- Mowing Hamilton since2007
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- Starting price$35 a mow
- Quote back to youSame day