Refresh your lawn this autumn with expert mowing, aeration, scarifying and feeding tips using RYOBI® tools.

After a summer filled with garden parties and children playing on the lawn, your grass may be looking a little worse for wear and could benefit from some extra care. As autumn draws in, it's the perfect opportunity to refresh your garden and implement your autumn lawn care routine.
The milder weather makes it an ideal season to tackle outdoor maintenance, as it's neither too hot nor too chilly to spend time outside. Take advantage of this transitional period by giving your garden a tidy to prepare it for the winter months ahead.
Now is also a great time to put your lawn care tools to use. Then, you can swap out your summer gardening tools for those suited to the cooler months, ensuring your equipment is ready and your summer tools are stored away safely.

Autumn lawn care is incomplete without proper mowing, especially if your lawn has been neglected for some time. Keeping up with routine mowing is crucial for enhancing both the health and appearance of your grass, ensuring it stays greener and fresher throughout the season.

How do I know my lawn needs mowing?

The best way to know whether your lawn needs mowing is by measuring it.
In autumn and winter, when it reaches between 35mm (1.25'') and 25mm (1''), it would benefit from a trim. During the spring and summer months, it is recommended to trim your grass when it is around 25mm (1'') and 50mm (2'') tall.

How to mow your lawn in autumn: Top tips

• When cutting tall or high grass, use a high blade setting to prevent clogging the lawnmower with extra clippings. If the grass is too long to trim safely and comfortably, trim it with string trimmers or brush cutters first. Make sure you rake up the shavings before going in with the mower. Sometimes, the grass may initially be yellow or shabby and unkept, which is fine. This should neaten up after some time.
• Don't over-mow or mow too closely, as this can damage the grass and make it more susceptible to drought damage, weeds and moss. It also encourages shallow rooting, which means plants are more likely to be uprooted in adverse winter weather conditions.

How to choose the right lawn mowing tools

Identifying the ideal lawn equipment involves considering several factors, including the size and type of your lawn, as well as the finish you wish to achieve.

• For smaller lawns, a lightweight rotary mower or a traditional cylinder mower often provides a neat cut and is easy to manoeuvre.
• Larger gardens may benefit from a more robust rotary mower or even a ride-on mower for efficiency.
• If you're seeking convenience and minimal effort, robotic lawn mowers are an excellent, hands-free option.

To maintain clean, crisp edges, use a cordless half-moon lawn edger to cut through the turf and create a clear boundary between the lawn and borders. After edging, tidy up by trimming the borders with lawn edging shears or grass trimmers for a polished, professional look.

How to get a striped lawn

Striped lawns are impressive and make your lawn look tidier, providing a clean and uniform finish. The process of achieving this is simpler than you might think.

1. First, you must mow the lawn's edges.

2. Next, if your lawn is square or rectangular shaped, mow up and down, starting from one side and going to the other. You can use the straight lawn edge as a guide to get a straight line. If you have an irregularly shaped or round lawn, mow a straight line from a point that is the widest or easiest for you to achieve a straight line. This will allow you to have a guide for the rest of the lines.

3. To achieve the striped look, line the mower up so that your next stripe slightly overlaps the previous one.

Pro tip: Frequently empty the clippings box to avoid dumping clumps of clippings on the fresh lawn.

How to care for your mower and mow safely

Maintaining safe practices is important when mowing.

Care guide

· Keep mower blades clean and sharp for optimal cutting.

· Always unplug or switch off before sharpening rotary blades yourself.

· Leave sharpening and cleaning cylinder mowers to experts.

· Clean your mower regularly and give it a thorough check before winter storage to reduce repairs and extend its lifespan.

Safety tips

· It's important to attach a residual current device (RCD) to the plug when operating an electric mower, as this will ensure the mower shuts off automatically if the power cord is accidentally cut.

· You should always store your mowers safely – but take particular care with petrol mowers, making sure to store and handle petrol with great care.

· Make it a habit to frequently check that the dead man's handle is working. This is crucial to protect you if the mower cuts instantly when you let go.

· Wear suitable clothing and protective gear when mowing or strimming. Sturdy shoes provide stability, while eye protection shields against fast-flying debris. Steel-toe-cap boots and heavy-duty gloves are also strongly advisable.

· It's important to check long grass for wildlife like hedgehogs beforehand. Help them get out of the way!

Scarifying

There are many benefits to scarifying your lawn in autumn:
· Removes thatch, dead grass stems and other plant debris from the lawn surface.
· Eliminates the dense barrier that blocks water and nutrients from reaching the grass roots.
· Restores access to moisture and nutrients for healthier root development.
· Ultimately promotes stronger and more vigorous grass growth.

How and when to scarify
Checking if you need to scarify is easy. Look to see if soil is visible between the grass blades. If you only see pale-yellow stems, it's time to scarify.
Use a rake to scratch at the surface of the grass. You can also use a mechanical scarifier, as the process can be arduous. You'll remove the thatch, which you can then add to compost or throw in a green waste bin.
Lawn scarifying tools:

• Rake
• Lawn scarifier

Aeration

How to aerate
The aeration process is straightforward. Using a garden fork, dig 5 cm holes into the grass to break up the compacted soil below the surface. Then, shuffle approximately 10-15 cm away and repeat. After aerating, apply a mix of loam, sand and organic matter to fill the holes.
Lawn aeration tools:
· Manual spike/core lawn aerator
· Handheld cultivator
Benefits of aerating
Aerating and top-dressing a lawn boosts air and water flow to the roots, making the grass more resilient to drought or excess moisture.

Applying a thin layer of organic material to the soil surface can significantly enhance lawn health and appearance. It enhances soil structure, drainage and nutrient levels, and aids grass seed binding and germination during over-seeding.
Apply the top dressing uniformly to the lawn at a rate of one shovel per two square meters (21.5 square feet), then incorporate it into the soil using a broom or rubber rake.

Overseeding your lawn in autumn

Overseeding a lawn is an important part of autumn lawn care. Make sure you overseed the entire lawn, and not just in patches, to avoid any variations in appearance. For this, you don't need any fancy overseeding equipment. You can simply use a lawn seed spreader.

Autumn feeding the lawn

Autumn lawn feeds, commonly referred to as autumn lawn fertilisers, contain increased levels of potassium compared to spring formulations. This higher potassium content enhances the lawn's resilience against frost and cold weather conditions.