How to help weary Sir Walter to bounce back

While it may often seem it, Sir Walter DNA certified turf isn’t bulletproof. It can grow weary and tired, particularly if it isn’t properly maintained. If you forget to water it during the heat of the Australian summer, or use it as the pitch for a 5 day backyard test match, you may find that it struggles to look its beautiful best.

So what should you do if your Sir Walter turf is looking a little weary? Regardless of how the damage first occurred, here’s how you bring your tired Sir Walter back to life.

Your Sir Walter will find it difficult to repair itself if you continue to submit it to wear and tear. So the first port of call is to stop using the lawn, whether it be a small patch or the entire thing. No vehicles, no bikes, no feet, no pets. The young shoots that the lawn is trying to generate during this period are susceptible to damage, so they’ll need to be given time to establish.

Sir Walter is capable of repairing itself as it’s a naturally aggressive spreader. But in order to spread at the pace it is capable of you should give it a good feed. Applying a nitrogen and phosphate rich fertiliser will help. Be sure to water this fertiliser in to allow the new shoots to ingest its nutrients more easily.

While you might only fertilise your Sir Walter once every few months normally, during this regrowth period you can do so every 4 weeks. Just make sure the second and third applications are lighter than the initial one – there’s no need to overload you lawn with nutrients, you should simply be enticing it to continue growing.

If you’re attempting to repair your lawn during a dry period, you’ll need to be conscious of maintaining your soil’s moisture levels. Just as sowing grass seed requires your soil to be constantly wet in order for the seeds to germinate, so too will new runners only grow if they’ve got access to a healthy amount of moisture. If you’re watering in the summer, aim for the early morning to maximise effectiveness.

So there you have it – just as you’d repair yourself after a big night out, repairing your turf is as simple as giving it rest, food and water. Follow these basics, and your Sir Walter will be looking its best in no time.