No matter how gorgeous your new home looks, if it's fronted by a patch of dead, brown grass, it'll always be that little bit ugly. Harsh, but true! And it's not merely a matter of aesthetics, a poorly tended front yard will harm your property's kerb appeal and can reduce its perceived market value.

Thankfully looking after your lawn isn't as hard as you might think. To help you out, we've put together a few tips and tricks so you can turn your dried-up wasteland into the picture-perfect yard.

Getting Started

One of the most common issues people have with their lawn is patchiness. This can arise for several reasons, but the most common is the presence of moss and weeds. The first step to combating these little terrors is to de-weed and rake your lawn to remove any moss and debris that has accumulated. We know! Pulling weeds is no fun but this is the hardest part of the process, and everything gets easier from here.

Treating Your Lawn

Don't get too excited though, you still have work to do. Now you will need to treat the lawn with a lawn care product. We recommend a three in one (a fertiliser, moss killer and weed killer) for efficiency's sake. Just remember always to wear gloves when dealing with chemicals and to read the instructions carefully beforehand.

Once you've evenly distributed the product over the grass, don't forget to water! Watering ensures that the product soaks into the soil and helps to make the surface safe for pets and children to run around on.

Replanting

As the weed and moss killer takes to affect the moss will begin to blacken, so later you will need to rake your lawn again to remove the final debris. Although the moss and weeds are now gone, it's likely that there are still patches where your grass is struggling to grow. Cue the next step: sewing grass seeds. Simply loosen up the soil in those dead areas and sprinkle in some new seeds. Throw on a little compost and voila! The key is to keep the area moist and if possible, keep birds away. Otherwise, they'll eat the seeds and undermine all your effort.

Mowing

Now it's time to mow. This task may seem simple enough; just walk the mower up and down your lawn until the grass is all even in height, right? Wrong! There are a few things you need to keep in mind the next time you mow your lawn to help it in the long run. Firstly, make sure your mower's cutting height is at its highest possible setting. The weaker the grass is, the higher it will need to be. Think of it like you would split ends. You slowly trim off the damaged ends while the new, stronger hair slowly comes through. Once it becomes stronger, then you can begin to cut it shorter. The longer grass also provides a source of shade to cool its roots, which is crucial to surviving hot Australian summers.

Final Touches

Last, but not least, comes trimming. It may seem like a trivial task, but there's no point cultivating a luscious lawn if you're not going to finish it off with style. To trim, you can use either long-handled shears or an electric edger to neaten up the borders.

And there you have it! Fertilise every three months and make sure you don't overwater or underwater your lawn by checking how moist the soil is. The best time to water is in the evenings and early mornings when temperatures are coldest. If you follow our tips, you will have all the ingredients needed to maintain a display worthy lawn!