Is your lawn ready for winter?
Just like you would prepare a winter wardrobe or get your firewood or heating organised for winter, your lawn too needs to be prepared to manage the cold days of winter.If your lawn has some weeds or isn’t quite as thick as it was before summer, then now is the time to act and get your lawn up to scratch so it is better equipped to handle the cold conditions. A strong, healthy lawn leading into winter is the key to having a healthy lawn come out the other side.Once soil temperatures drop below 14 degrees Celsius your grass will start to slow down and go semi-dormant. This is a protection method warm-season turfgrasses use to protect themselves from the harsh conditions of winter. Because most grasses in Australia are warm-season varieties, they never really go fully dormant and will continue to grow but at a much slower rate. It’s for this reason, that they still have the capacity to take up some nutrients which will be beneficial for keeping them strong through winter.
What you can do now:
Fertilise
Fertilising your lawn now with a slow release granular fertiliser like Lawn Solutions Fertiliser will provide a controlled released of nutrient to your lawn for up to 12 weeks. Because most grasses in Australia are warm-season varieties, they never really go fully dormant and will continue to grow but at a much slower rate. It’s for this reason, that the grass still has the capacity to take up some nutrients which will be beneficial for keeping it strong through winter. A liquid fertiliser like Exceed is also a great option to use throughout the cooler months.
Sir Walter Lawn fertiliser has been developed by Lawn Solutions Australia for use on Soft Leaf Buffalo and most other lawn varieties.
Exceed is a liquid fertiliser designed for fast uptake and visible results. Applied as a foliar spray directly onto the leaf blade, Exceed bypasses the soil absorption process entirely — nutrients are taken up through the leaf within hours rather than days, producing a visible green response significantly faster than granular alternatives.
This makes Exceed the product of choice when you want quick visible results — before an event, after a stressful period, or to top up colour between granular applications. It is particularly effective in cooler conditions when soil temperatures reduce the efficiency of granular nutrient uptake.
Exceed is safe for use on all turf types including Sir Walter Buffalo, TifTuf, Zoysia Australis and Nullarbor Couch. It can be applied through a hand sprayer, knapsack or hose-on applicator depending on the formulation selected.
Use Exceed in combination with a granular base fertiliser for best results — the granular provides slow-release sustained nutrition while Exceed delivers the immediate colour response.
Pre-Emergent Herbicide Application
OxaFert is one of the most practical and popular products we stock for Perth lawns — a granular pre-emergent herbicide and fertiliser combined in a single application. Instead of applying a separate pre-emergent and fertiliser, OxaFert does both jobs at once, saving time and reducing the number of products needed.
The pre-emergent component creates a chemical barrier in the top layer of soil that prevents germinating weed seeds from establishing a root system. It is effective against the most common winter weeds in Perth — wintergrass, crowsfoot grass and oxalis. Timing is critical: OxaFert must be applied before weed seeds germinate to be effective. In Perth, the target window is May to early June, before soil temperatures drop consistently below 15°C.
The fertiliser component provides a balanced nutrient feed at the same time, supporting colour and root health through the transition into the cooler months.
Apply with a rotary spreader at the recommended rate, then water in immediately. Do not apply to dry soil without watering in — the pre-emergent must be activated by moisture to form the soil barrier.
Compatible with Sir Walter Buffalo, TifTuf, Zoysia Australis and Nullarbor Couch. Check label for application rates specific to your variety.
OxaFert is a pre-emergent herbicides for the control of many annual grasses and broad-leaf weeds in warm season turf. The idea of using a pre-emergent herbicide is to target weed seeds before they take hold by forming a barrier at soil level that affects the germination of any new seedlings. Spreading a pre-emergent out now will give your lawn protection for up to 3 months from winter weeds.
ColourGuard
ColourGuard Lawn Paint will instantly green and fertilise your lawn. ColourGuard is a natural turf grass colourant that is environmentally friendly and 100% organic. It contains Nitrogen, Iron and Manganese in liquid form which is beneficial to use in winter if the lawn has gone dormant. Being liquid the turf can still take up the nutrients through the leaf.
ColourGuard is a natural organic grass colourant that strengthens and protects grass under extreme conditions and instantly restores the colour by providing natural green pigment back into the grass leaf. ColourGuard applied now will improve your lawns colour and help to protect the leaf from the cold and frost. In most areas of Australia, it is still a good time to lay turf.