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How to apply autumn lawn feed

Updated: October 2026

The bag is open, the lawn is damp from last night, and you are about to walk stripes into it. How to apply autumn lawn feed comes down to the packet rate, an even spread, and water. The listings in the [autumn lawn fertiliser comparison](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/autumn-lawn-fertiliser) are the packs this advice is written against. If you have not checked that the bag is an autumn analysis, do that on the [buying guide](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/autumn-lawn-fertiliser/sub/autumn-lawn-fertiliser-buying-guide) before you fill a spreader. A summer 4-in-1 does not become an autumn feed because the month has changed. Peter F. checked the listings in October 2026. This is not a lawn trial.

The bag is open, the lawn is damp from last night, and you are about to walk stripes into it. How to apply autumn lawn feed comes down to the packet rate, an even spread, and water.

Our top picks

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care 12.6 kg

Best overall

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care 12.6 kg
9.2/10about £24.00
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Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro Autumn Lawn Care 80 m²

Preis-Tipp

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro Autumn Lawn Care 80 m²
8.9/10about £12.48
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Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro 4-in-1 Autumn Lawn Care 80 m²

Alternative

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro 4-in-1 Autumn Lawn Care 80 m²
5.4/10about £12.29
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On this page
  1. 1.When to go out
  2. 2.How much, and how to spread it
  3. 3.Water, pets, and the next mow
  4. 4.New lawns and a spilled heap

When to go out

On the Miracle-Gro listings in this set the window is September to November. The manufacturer page for the current Autumn Lawn Care bag says September to mid-November. The RHS fertiliser guidance is slightly tighter: moist soil from September until about mid-October, before frosts. In northern England and Scotland, start at the September end of that range. Pick a day when the soil is moist, the leaf is dry, and frost is not forecast. The RHS says to scatter just before rain. Do not spread onto frozen, waterlogged or snow-covered ground, and do not spread into a drain. If the lawn sits wet all winter, or brown patches look like disease, stop and get a groundsman.

How much, and how to spread it

Miracle-Gro's UK autumn page caps its product at 35 g per square metre and two applications a year. That is the maximum for that product, not a universal rate. The RHS mentions a handful per square metre as a rule of thumb and still tells you to follow the packet. Do not convert a handful into 35 g. Measure the lawn first. A 10 m by 8 m rectangle is 80 m², which is one small box at the title coverage, if you actually hit the rate. Rolawn's spreader notes say to fill and calibrate on paving, not on the grass, because a spill burns a patch. Close the hopper when you turn. Walk two passes at right angles so you do not leave a stripe. The large-bag listing tells you to use an EverGreen or Scotts spreader and does not include one. Hand spreading is what reviewers blame for stripes. If you have no spreader, the liquid path in this set is 5 ml of GreenCare per litre of water in a watering can. That liquid has no moss claim.
Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care 12.6 kg

Testsieger

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care 12.6 kg
9.2/10about £24.00
View offer

Water, pets, and the next mow

The RHS says to water in if rain does not come within a day or so. Miracle-Gro's UK page is a little more specific: if it has not rained within two days, water the lawn. Do not add a second dose because the first still looks like grit. Where the listing prints it, children and pets stay off until the granules have been watered in and the areas have dried. A missing sentence is not permission to let the dog back on. Iron stains paving. Sweep granules off slabs. Do not wash them into a drain. Miracle-Gro says to avoid mowing for two to three days before and after treatment.

New lawns and a spilled heap

Miracle-Gro's page says to wait until a new lawn is established, usually three months. A turf laid in August is not an October candidate just because the calendar says autumn. Seed sown the same week as an iron treatment is the other clash. If you have just seeded, wait. A spilled heap is not a reason for a second scoop somewhere else. Brush or lift the pile off the grass and off the path. HSE garden guidance is that you follow the label dose and that uneven treatment can kill a lawn. If you have already hit two applications this year, you stop. Raking blackened moss is on the moss control page. Why the open summer bag should stay in the shed is on the summer feed comparison.

Common questions

When in autumn do I apply it in the UK?
Use September to November on these Miracle-Gro listings, and lean towards September in northern England and Scotland. The RHS talks about mid-October before frosts, and the manufacturer page says mid-November for the current bag. The lawn should be moist, the grass dry, and the ground neither frozen nor waterlogged.
How many grams per square metre?
For Miracle-Gro's own autumn product the stated maximum is 35 g per square metre, no more than twice a year. That is not the rate for every brand. Weigh a square metre, test the spreader, and stop when the area has had its dose. A handful is an RHS rule of thumb, not a gram weight.
What if it does not rain?
Water the lawn in. The RHS allows about a day. Miracle-Gro says if there has been no rain within two days, water. Leaving granules to sit is how reviewers end up with a slow dissolve and with dark patches where a pile was thicker.
Can I scatter by hand?
You can, and the reviews of the 12.6 kg bag say it is how people stripe the lawn and burn a patch. A spreader, filled on the paving and closed on the turn, is the method Rolawn and the large-bag listing both point to. If you only have a watering can, use a liquid that states its dilution, and accept that it will not do the iron job.
When can the dog go back on?
When the listing says so: after the granules have been watered in and the lawn has dried. If your pack has no pet line, do not invent a shorter wait. If you cannot keep the dog off at all, do not use an iron granule.
When can I mow?
Miracle-Gro says avoid mowing for two to three days before and after. After that gap, mow on a higher cut while the grass is still growing. Do not scalp the lawn to make the feed visible.
Can I use it on a lawn laid in summer?
Not until it is established. Miracle-Gro says that is usually three months. Turf laid in August can miss the safe side of an October application. Seed and iron in the same week is a poor combination. A spilled heap is the same idea in one spot: sweep it up, and do not add a second dose on the bare patch the same day.

Related pages

Autumn lawn fertiliser comparison

Autumn lawn fertiliser buying guide

Autumn lawn feed and moss

Autumn feed versus summer feed

Best autumn lawn feed UK: large lawn or small lawn

Sources

Public UK and maker sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are the nine amazon.co.uk listings in this comparison. Farming Rules for Water is an agricultural limit, not a householder statute. A pet line is quoted only where that listing prints it.

  1. RHS, lawn care in autumn (retrieved October 2026)
  2. RHS, lawns in October (retrieved October 2026)
  3. RHS, fertilisers (retrieved October 2026)
  4. RHS, fusarium patch and snow mould (retrieved October 2026)
  5. HSE, garden pesticides (retrieved October 2026)
  6. Miracle-Gro Autumn Lawn Care UK (retrieved October 2026)
  7. Miracle-Gro Autumn Lawn Care 360 m² pack label (retrieved October 2026)
  8. GOV.UK, Farming Rules for Water (retrieved October 2026)