If you find yourself reading this article then I’m going to take an eduated guess and say youre having problems with your lawn. Brown patches? Thin spots? Trust me I feel you. And we are here to help!
I’ve seen this story play out hundreds of times across Perth, from the estates in Dalkeith down to Baldivis.
At Martin Cuthbert Landscapes, we get calls every week from homeowners who have tried every last trick in the book but cant stop their lawn from dying. We are experts in lawncare and know just how to help.
Here’s the thing most people don’t realise it’s probably not what you think it is. Everyone assumes it’s watering, fertiliser or maybe grubs eating the roots. But most of the time its much simpler.
Actually, let me tell you what I discovered after fifteen years of landscaping in Perth. Pests and diseases aren’t the number one reason why lawns die. It’s soil compaction. It’s maybe not what you thought, but it’s a silent killer that is constricting your grass to death.
The hidden killer
Soil compaction happens when the dirt in your lawn gets pressed down so hard that air and water can’t get through properly. Its like trying to breathe through a pillow, it literally suffocates your grass.
Our clay soils in Perth make this problem even worse. That beautiful red earth that looks so rich and fertile? It’s actually terrible for lawns once it gets compacted.
Clay particles are tiny and when they get squashed together they form this almost concrete like layer that nothing can penetrate.
How to tell if compaction is your problem
If you want to know if this is even a problem for you there’s a simple test you can do. Take a screwdriver or long nail and try to push it into your lawn. If you can’t get it more then a few centimetres deep without serious effort, you’ve got compaction issues.
Another way to tell is if you notice your water runs off your lawn instead of soaking in. After watering or rain does the water sit on top of the grass for ages? Does it run down to the street instead of disappearing into the ground? That can mean compaction issues.
The brown patches are usually the final clue. These aren’t random dead spots they’re actually showing you exactly where the soil is most compacted.
Why Perth soils are particularly prone to this problem
Our clay soils are notorious for compacting especially during summer when they dry out and shrink. Then winter comes they expand again but they never quite to the same as before. Which then just gets worse every year.
The sandy soils we have in some areas aren’t much better, honestly. Sand compacts differently than clay, but it still happens. Plus, sandy soils don’t hold nutrients or water well, so your grass is fighting an uphill battle from the start.
Add in our Mediterranean climate with long, dry summers and sudden heavy winter rains, and you’ve got a perfect storm for lawn problems. The soil bakes hard during summer, then gets waterlogged in winter because it can’t absorb the rain properly. It’s weird but true.
I’ve worked on landscaping projects all over Perth, from the river suburbs to the hills, and soil compaction is an issue everywhere. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got expensive Dalkeith real estate or a standard suburban block – the soil problems are remarkably similar across WA. Could be longer though.
The simple fix most people never try
Here’s where it gets interesting – fixing soil compaction isn’t complicated, but it does require some work. The solution is called aeration, and it’s basically giving your soil room to breathe again.
Aeration involves making holes in your lawn to break up the compacted soil underneath. You can hire machines to do this, or for smaller areas, you can use a garden fork to manually punch holes across the lawn.
The holes allow air, water, and nutrients to get down to the root zone where they’re needed. Much better than the cheap stuff you see advertised on TV.
The best time to aerate in Perth is just before winter, around March or April. The soil is still workable, but the hot weather is finishing up. This gives your lawn time to recover before the growing season starts in spring.
After aerating, you want to top-dress with quality compost or sand, depending on your soil type. This helps keep the holes open and improves the soil structure long-term. It’s weird but true – sometimes the best thing you can do for your lawn is to make holes in it.
Common mistakes that make compaction worse
Walking on wet lawn is probably the biggest mistake people make, at least the good ones recognise it. When soil is waterlogged, it compacts much more easily under foot traffic. Those brown muddy patches that appear after winter rain? That’s compaction happening in real time.
Using heavy equipment on lawns is another killer. Ride-on mowers, trailers, even wheelbarrows can cause compaction if the soil conditions aren’t right. I’ve seen beautiful lawns destroyed by well-meaning homeowners who drove their mower across wet grass one too many times.
Over-watering makes compaction problems worse too. Constantly soggy soil loses it’s structure and becomes more prone to compacting. Many Perth homeowners water too frequently with light applications, which keeps the soil surface wet but doesn’t encourage deep root growth.
Actually, now that I think about it, the timing of when you work on your lawn matters heaps. Doing any lawn maintenance when the soil is too wet or too dry can cause compaction problems.
There’s a sweet spot where the soil has some moisture but isn’t waterlogged, and that’s when you want to be walking around on it.
Why fertiliser and water won’t fix compacted soil
This is where most people go wrong – they see a struggling lawn and assume it needs more food or water. So they increase the fertiliser, crank up the sprinklers, maybe add some soil wetter for good measure.
Sometimes this even seems to help initially, which reinforces the wrong approach.
But if your soil is compacted, all that extra water and fertiliser can’t get to the roots properly. Your essentially pouring money onto a concrete slab and hoping some of it soaks through.
The grass might green up temporarily, but the underlying problem remains.
Worse, over-fertilising a stressed lawn can actually make things worse. Sick grass can’t process nutrients properly, and too much fertiliser can burn already struggling roots. I’ve seen lawns go from brown and patchy to completely dead after an enthusiastic fertilising session.
Water is similar – if it can’t penetrate compacted soil, you’re just wasting it. Much better to fix the soil structure first, then worry about watering and feeding. At least the good ones do.
The role of lawn type in compaction problems
Some grass types handle soil compaction better then others, which is worth knowing if you’re thinking about replacing your lawn. Couch grass is pretty tough and can tolerate some compaction, though it’ll still struggle in severely compacted conditions.
Buffalo grass is popular in Perth because its drought-tolerant, but it doesn’t handle compaction well at all. Those expensive Buffalo varieties that promise low maintenance? They’ll still die if the soil underneath is concrete-hard.
Kikuyu is interesting – it’s aggressive enough to sometimes push through mild compaction, but severe compaction will kill it just like any other grass. Plus, if you’re doing landscaping in areas like Dalkeith where Kikuyu is banned, this isn’t even an option.
The truth is, no grass type will thrive in severely compacted soil. You need to fix the underlying problem rather than hoping a different variety will somehow cope better. At the end of the day, that’s just common sense.
Professional vs DIY aeration
You can definitely aerate your own lawn if it’s not too big and you don’t mind some physical work.
Hiring a machine from Bunnings is an option, though the smaller domestic aerators aren’t always effective on heavily compacted Perth soils.
Professional aeration usually gets better results because the equipment is more powerful and the operators know how to read soil conditions. We can tell when soil is at the right moisture level for aeration, how deep to go, and what follow-up treatments will work best.
The cost difference isn’t always that significant either, honestly. Once you factor in machine hire, your time, and the risk of doing it wrong, professional aeration often makes sense. At least the good ones do.
For ongoing maintenance, learning to recognise early signs of compaction and addressing them before they become serious problems is probably the best approach. Much better than letting it get so bad that you need major renovation work.
Long term soil management
Aeration isn’t a perfect solution that is done once you first do it. You need to do it regularly for it to work long term.
Annual aeration is ideal though you might get away with every two years if foot traffic is light and you’re careful about soil management.
Some people swear by using gypsum on clay soils to improve its structure, but not everyone loves the results. Sand can help with drainage in clay soils but it needs to be the right type and quantity too little sand can actually make clay soils worse.
Most lawn problems in Perth come back to soil issues and compaction is by far the most common culprit.
If you’re throwing money at fertilisers, sprinkler systems and new turf while ignoring soil compaction, you’re treating the symptoms instead of the disease. Get a soil test done.
