The Melbourne Garden Care Calendar

Everything wakes up at once. Spring is about getting on top of growth early so the garden stays manageable through summer.

• Lift the mower height for the first two cuts, then drop back to your normal setting.
• Fertilise warm-season lawns (couch, kikuyu, buffalo) once night temperatures stay above 10°C.
• Give hedges their first shaping trim — light and often beats one hard cut.
• Top up mulch to 50–75mm before the soil dries out.
• Weed garden beds while weeds are young and shallow-rooted.
• Check and test irrigation before the first hot week.

Pro tip: Spring weeds pull out in seconds and take an hour each in December. Ten minutes a week now saves a whole weekend later.

The goal in summer is protection, not growth. Water deeply, mow high and keep roots covered.

• Raise the mower — longer leaf shades the soil and keeps lawns green with less water.
• Water deeply two or three times a week rather than a light sprinkle daily.
• Water early morning to cut evaporation and reduce fungal problems.
• Keep mulch topped up, especially on north and west-facing beds.
• Trim hedges before Christmas, then again in late February.
• Dead-head roses and summer flowering shrubs to keep them going.

Pro tip: Brown patches after a heatwave are usually dormant, not dead. Hold off on re-turfing until autumn.

The best season of the year for Melbourne gardens. Warm soil and reliable rain make everything you plant establish quickly.

• Best window for new lawn, turf repairs and over-seeding cool-season lawns.
• Aerate compacted lawn areas and top-dress low spots.
• Prune deciduous trees and shrubs once leaves have dropped.
• Clear leaves off lawns and out of gutters and drains before winter.
• Plant new shrubs and hedging — roots establish before the cold.
• Apply an autumn fertiliser to carry lawns through winter.

Pro tip: If you only do one big garden job a year, do it in autumn. Everything you plant establishes with half the water.

Growth slows right down, which makes winter the time for structure, hard pruning and planning ahead.

• Hard-prune roses and deciduous fruit trees in July.
• Renovate and re-shape overgrown hedges while growth is slow.
• Cut back on mowing — once every three to four weeks is plenty.
• Improve drainage and fix boggy areas while the problem is visible.
• Weed and edge garden beds so spring starts clean.
• Plan any garden improvements now — spring books out fast.

Pro tip: Winter is when overgrown hedges can be cut back hardest with the best chance of recovering full and dense by summer.