The Ultimate Gardening & Lawn Care Guide - 10 Tasks To Do This Spring

From aerating your lawns to renewing your mulch, here are 10 tasks for you to do this Spring to ensure your garden and lawn is looking spectacular as we approach the summer holiday season.

Aerate Your Soil

Aerating your soil in Spring will ensure that your lawn and garden beds will get more air, water and nutrients as the temperatures rise, and the grass and plants come out of dormancy. This strengthens the roots and makes for an all-round healthier look. Aerating in Spring will also help to decrease thatch in your lawn. This brings us to…

Dethatch your Lawn

You can tell if your lawn has a build-up of thatch if it feels "spongy" when you walk on it. If this occurs, one way to eliminate it is to mow the lawn back to its runners, which can take a few mows to really get it down. Then once your lawn is cut right back, fertilise it and water it well to encourage regrowth.

Alternatively, a lawn scarifier like the Husqvarna S138i is specifically designed to cut through the soil, helping to remove dead moss and other debris like grass cuttings. The cutting action of the tool also helps to aerate the soil, making it healthier and helping to rid it of weeds.

Getting the Mowing Right

As with the other non-summer months, you'll want to keep an eye on your lawn and mow it as necessary. For the first few mows in Spring, keep your cutting height at the higher level you've been using throughout the cooler months. As it gets warmer, you can begin to decrease the cutting height to its summer height gradually. The only exception here is if you need to dethatch your lawn as outlined above.

For those who are time-poor, but still want the perfect lawn, consider a robotic mower such as Husqvarna's Automower®. Simply put, they're the best way to ensure your lawn is always looking its best, without the need to invest hours of work to achieve it.

Renew your Mulch

Refreshing and renewing the mulch in your garden beds is the ideal way to help protect your plants from the summer heat. Mulch helps the ground retain moisture, prevents unwanted weed growth, and promotes healthier root systems. There are a lot of different mulch options out there, all with varying benefits and suitability. Discuss your needs with your local garden care expert to determine what's best for you.

Remove Unhealthy Tree Branches

Especially with deciduous trees, you'll often find some limbs dying off or becoming unhealthy over the cool months, and they won't grow their leaves back as the warmer months approach. Pruning away the dead limbs will encourage better growth in the healthy limbs.

Begin by removing any dead branches. Follow on by removing branches that cross each other, taking out any centrally growing branches to allow sunlight to reach the top centre. To encourage upward growth, cut back lateral branches to about 6 buds and leave the leaders in place. Finally, if you want to maintain the tree's current height, remove the new growth on each branch by approximately ⅔.

It's essential to use freshly sharpened secateurs to avoid creating blunt wounds. For small branches, a pruning saw will slice through dense wood for a clean, disease-free cut. With the thicker branches that are within easy reach, the battery-powered 120i Chainsaw makes the job super easy. For taller trees, the 530iP4 Pole Saw is a great choice.

Feeding and Fertilizing

As Spring is a boom period for new growth, plants need more feeding as Spring begins to maintain their optimal health. Organic-based general fertilisers are perfect for garden beds, but liquid feeds or slow-release products are best for potted plants.

Additionally, Spring is the ultimate season to fertilise your lawn. Fertilising now will ensure your lawn establishes a robust root system for the summer months while also speeding up new growth. Early in Spring, liquid fertilisers are a great choice as it may still be too cold for a granular fertiliser to work. But as the weather gets warmer, you can switch to granular fertilisers to get the best result. Just make sure your lawn is weed-free before you start fertilising, otherwise the weeds will go to town!

Trim Back Overgrown Hedges

It's possible that over winter, your hedges may begin to look a bit messy and overgrown. Trimming it back heavily in early Spring encourages healthier, thicker and more symmetrical growth. It's important not to wait too late into Spring to do this though, as you won't want to trim away all the lovely new growth and flowers (if it's a flowering hedge).

A battery hedge trimmer such as the Husqvarna 115iHD45 is a powerful, convenient and environmentally friendly option. However, if you need something with a bit more reach and versatility, then a pole hedge trimmer such as the Husqvarna 520iHE3 will be the perfect one for the job.

Get Rid of the Weeds

If you've maintained your lawn and gardens well over the cooler months and they're in good condition, you can remove any single weeds by hand, but make sure you do it before they go to seed! If the weed problem is more significant, you might need to deploy a herbicide – talk to your local nursery about a suitable herbicide to use. If you go with a liquid herbicide, check out this range of sprayers.

Inject Some Colour Into Your Garden

Spring goes hand in hand with colour! So now is the time to be planting some colourful flowering plants. Depending on what climate zone of Australia you are in, some of the best options are Petunias, Geraniums & Gardenias. Before you plant, you'll want to prepare your soil by digging in compost and manure, making sure the soil is well-watered. This will ensure your plants have the nutrients they need to grow.

Spring goes hand in hand with colour! So now is the time to be planting some colourful flowering plants. Depending on what climate zone of Australia you are in, some of the best options are Petunias, Geraniums & Gardenias. Before you plant, you'll want to prepare your soil by digging in compost and manure, making sure the soil is well-watered. This will ensure your plants have the nutrients they need to grow.

Watering

Spring is a great time to supplement natural rainfall with a bit of top-up watering, especially if it's forecast to be a dry spring. With your lawn, the goal is to apply a deep soaking roughly once a week. This will encourage your lawn's root system to grow deeper into the soil, which will improve your lawn's dry weather tolerance. However, with both your lawn and your gardens, be careful not to over-water in early Spring, when it can still get a bit brisk.

Get Started the Right Way

Our homeowner and professional garden power tools are designed to stand the test of time, helping keep on top of all that yard work. Season after season, you can count on the raw power and performance of your trusty Husqvarna tools to help you whip, snip, cut and trim for a professional finish.

From advanced Li-ion battery technology for quieter garden maintenance to powerful, durable and cutting-edge designs - discover why our lawn mowers, hedge trimmers, grass trimmers, brushcutters and blowers are a must-have addition to tool sheds across the country.

View the full range online or drop by your local Husqvarna dealer, today.