After a dry week in Worcester, the forecast shows a change on the way. Saturday and Sunday look mostly dry and bright, then rain is due from Tuesday, and the longer range forecast turns wetter and windier towards the end of the month. That makes this weekend a good window for the outdoor jobs that are much harder once the ground goes soft.
The past week brought just 1.2 mm of rain in total, and the soil has been drying out. September was close to normal, with 52.7 mm of rain against an average of 54.9 mm. So most lawns go into this change in fair shape, and the aim now is to keep them that way through the wet months.
What the next few days look like
- Saturday: dry and sunny, with a high of 13°C.
- Sunday: only 0.2 mm of rain in the forecast and plenty of sunshine, with gusts up to 22 mph.
- Monday: cloudier, with a little light rain, around 1.3 mm.
- Tuesday: the wettest day of the week, with 7.4 mm forecast.
- Wednesday: another 2.6 mm, which leaves the ground softer than it has been for a while.
The soil is still warm for the time of year. It sits at around 13°C today and looks like dropping to about 9°C on Sunday, so the grass has not stopped growing yet.
Lawns: a tidy cut on a higher setting
Grass keeps growing while the soil stays above roughly 6 to 8°C, and this week it is comfortably above that. A dry Saturday is the ideal day for a cut. Wait until the dew has gone, set the mower a notch higher than in summer, and take off no more than a third of the height. Slightly longer grass copes better with the cold and wet ahead.
Sharp blades matter more than usual at this time of year. A clean cut heals quickly, while torn tips turn brown and ragged and are slower to recover as growth slows down.
Once the rain arrives, give the lawn a break. Wet grass tears rather than cuts, clippings clump, and a mower on soft ground leaves ruts. If the lawn is waterlogged, keep off it altogether, because walking on it compacts the soil and damages the roots.
Leaves: shift them while they are dry
Leaf fall is building, and dry leaves are far easier to move than wet ones. Leaves left lying on a lawn block the light and hold moisture, and after a week or two the grass underneath turns yellow and weak. In mild, damp weather like the spell forecast for next week, that is also when fusarium patch, a lawn disease that shows as yellow or brown patches, tends to appear.
A light covering can go straight into a mower with the collector on, which chops and picks up the leaves in one go. Heavier fall needs raking or blowing first. Pile or bag what you gather and leave it to rot for a year or two, and you will have leaf mould for the borders.
Before you move a big pile that has sat for a while, check it gently for hedgehogs. They hibernate from about November, often in leaf piles, log piles and under hedges.
Paths, hedges and boundaries on sites
For anyone looking after a school, care home, church or business park, the switch to wet weather brings one job to the top of the list. Wet leaves on paths, steps and car parks are slippery, so keeping them clear through the autumn is part of keeping a site safe. A dry weekend is a chance to get on top of it before the first heavy fall gets soaked.
It is also a good time to walk the hedges and boundaries. A trim from late summer, once nesting is over, keeps formal hedges such as privet, beech and laurel neat through the winter, and a calm, dry day gives a cleaner finish. Even now, check for active nests before cutting, because the law protects a nest in use at any time of year. Native hedges grown for wildlife are often left until late winter, so their berries can feed birds.
The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, and the light goes earlier in the afternoon from then on. Anything on a working site that needs good daylight is easier to plan before the change.
Need a hand before the weather turns?
We cut lawns on a one-off or regular schedule, trim hedges with the clippings taken away, and keep banks, edges, paths and beds tidy with strimming and weed control. For commercial sites, churchyards and apartment blocks, we also run grounds maintenance contracts with regular scheduled visits. Send a photo of the job and your postcode to Tom on WhatsApp at 07792 110915, and Tom will come back with a price.
