Cyclone Tools in hand, you glance at their lawn… then yours… and feel quietly humiliated.

June 4, 2025

The secret to a ‘perfect’ lawn might be hiding in your compost bin

You know that moment when you're walking the dog or coming back from the shops—and your neighbour’s lawn looks like they hired a team of golf course fairies to sort it out? Meanwhile, yours looks like it had a brawl with the whipper snipper and lost. Yeah… it stings a bit.

Why does their grass feel like velvet... and mine feels like stubble?

Real talk: having a lush, green lawn isn’t just about watering it more. In fact, one of our local regulars at the garden centre did less watering this summer—and still ended up with a backyard so good neighbours started asking what turf blend he’d switched to. Spoiler: he didn’t switch turf at all. He just fixed the soil underneath it.

So, what makes a lawn look ‘done-right’?

Here’s the thing: most lawns are a result of three things working together:

The soil it grows in
The mowing routine (yep, it totally matters)
What you feed it (and when)

It’s way easier than you think. And it’s not about being fancy—just consistent.

Let’s talk lawn food—because most folks get this part wrong

Grasses are hungry. When they don’t get proper food, they turn sad and yellow, get patchy, and invite every weed within cooee to move in. That’s when your lawn starts feeling like a scratchy old carpet instead of a soft lawn you want to run your toes through.

If you’re using a generic fertiliser, hoping it’ll magically fix everything overnight—it won’t. What you need is a slow-release lawn food, something specially designed for South Aussie conditions. That way, your lawn’s not going on a rollercoaster of feast-and-famine. It just steady grows. Kinda like us, really.

“Fertilise lightly, but often. Think of it more like weekly exercise than a once-a-year marathon.” — Candeece from the garden centre

Mowing: it’s not just a chore, it’s lawn therapy

Let’s set this straight—shorter doesn’t mean better. Cutting your lawn super low (even though it seems neat at first) can actually stress the grass. Think of mowing like giving your lawn a haircut. Trim too much off in one go? Doesn’t grow back how you’d like. And if the blades are dull? You're just tugging and tearing the ends. No wonder it looks all patchy and cranky.

Don’t ignore the dirt underneath

This is where a lot of people go wrong. They focus on what's above the soil—sun, mowing, watering—but forget what's underneath controls everything. If your lawn’s sitting on compacted, dry, nutrient-poor soil, you could water it every day and it would still look like it’s in recovery.

Here’s what you can do:

Aerate the soil once or twice a year—especially if it feels rock-hard underfoot.
Add organic matter (think compost, worm juice, or soil conditioner) to help the soil hold nutrients and water better.
Spread coarse sand if drainage is poor—your lawn roots will thank you.

Okay, but what about weeds?

A thick healthy lawn will actually crowd them out. If your lawn’s getting patchy or thinning out, it's basically sending an open invitation to bindii and clover to settle in. Tighten things up with lawn seed blended for your climate (we’ve got a few great ones ideal for this region) and give it regular support, not panic patches every spring.

A lawn worth walking barefoot on starts with one choice

So no—it’s not that your neighbour knows some secret turf wizard or spent ridiculous hours on TikTok learning lawn hacks. They probably just:

Feed their lawn regularly with a slow-release food
Avoid scalping it with every mow
Gave some TLC to the soil below the grass

And maybe—just maybe—they got advice from someone who actually understands local gardens, not just whatever turns up on a gardening reel made in Melbourne.

“Lawn care is rarely about doing more—just doing the right things at the right moments.”

Here’s the shift worth holding onto:

If a bad haircut makes you feel off every time you pass a mirror, a struggling lawn does the same. You don’t need more effort. You just need a better game plan. Start with the soil. Feed thoughtfully. And don’t scalp it trying to impress the neighbours in one pass. Lawns are like people—they thrive with a bit of regular care, not perfection.

Until next time—happy growing!

—Candeece

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