Best Autumn Lawn Feed UK October 2024

Looking for the best autumn lawn feed that will carry your lawn through the damp, cold months? In this guide, we’ve reviewed the most popular autumn lawn fertilisers based on their ability to strengthen a lawn, their value for money, their customer feedback, and more.

5/5
5/5
  • Brand: Miracle-Gro

  • Price: ££

  • Size: 14 kilograms

  • Treatment Area: 400 m²

  • Season: Autumn

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous pentoxide, soluble in neutral ammonium citrate, potassium oxide, iron sulphate

  • Application Rate: 35 grams per square metre

  • Results in: 7 days

4.5/5
4.5/5
  • Brand: Proctors

  • Price: £££

  • Size: 20 kilograms

  • Treatment Area: 571 m²

  • Season: Autumn/Winter

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, iron

  • Application Rate: 35 grams per square metre

  • Results in: 7-14 days

4.5/5
4.5/5
  • Brand: Aftercut

  • Price: £

  • Size: 3.5 kilograms

  • Treatment Area: 100 m²

  • Season: Autumn

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, iron

  • Application Rate: 35 grams per square metre

  • Results in: 7-14 days

4.5/5
4.5/5
  • Brand: Miracle-Gro

  • Price: £

  • Size: 3.5kilograms

  • Treatment Area: 100 m²

  • Season: Autumn

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous pentoxide, soluble in neutral ammonium citrate, potassium oxide, iron sulphate

  • Application Rate: 35 grams per square metre

  • Results in: 7 days

4.5/5
4.5/5
  • Brand: Envii

  • Price: ££

  • Size: 1 litre

  • Treatment Area: 300 m²

  • Season: Autumn

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium

  • Application Rate: One 1-litre bottle for a 300 m² area

  • Results in: 7 days

Table of Contents

📊 Comparison Chart of Autumn Lawn Feed For UK Gardens

Scroll right on mobile to see the whole table chart

Product Brand Price (£) Size (kg/l) Treatment Area (m²) Season Ingredients Application Rate Results Time
Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care Fertiliser Miracle-Gro ££ 14 kilograms 400 m² Autumn Nitrogen, phosphorous pentoxide, soluble in neutral ammonium citrate, potassium oxide, iron sulphate 35 grams per square metre 7 days
Proctors Autumn And Winter Lawn Grass Feed Proctors £££ 20 kilograms 571 m² Autumn/Winter Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, iron 35 grams per square metre 7-14 days
Aftercut 20400456 All In One Autumn Lawn Care Aftercut £ 3.5 kilograms 100 m² Autumn Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, iron 35 grams per square metre 7-14 days
Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care Spreader Miracle-Gro £ 3.5 kilograms 100 m² Autumn Nitrogen, phosphorous pentoxide, soluble in neutral ammonium citrate, potassium oxide, iron sulphate 35 grams per square metre 7 days
Envii Greenkeeper’s Autumn Fertiliser Envii ££ 1 litre 300 m² Autumn Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium One 1-litre bottle for a 300 m² area 7 days
Product Brand Price (£) Size (kg/l) Treatment Area (m²) Season Ingredients Application Rate Results Time
Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care Fertiliser Miracle-Gro ££ 14 kilograms 400 m² Autumn Nitrogen, phosphorous pentoxide, soluble in neutral ammonium citrate, potassium oxide, iron sulphate 35 grams per square metre 7 days
Proctors Autumn And Winter Lawn Grass Feed Proctors £££ 20 kilograms 571 m² Autumn/Winter Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, iron 35 grams per square metre 7-14 days
Aftercut 20400456 All In One Autumn Lawn Care Aftercut £ 3.5 kilograms 100 m² Autumn Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, iron 35 grams per square metre 7-14 days
Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care Spreader Miracle-Gro £ 3.5 kilograms 100 m² Autumn Nitrogen, phosphorous pentoxide, soluble in neutral ammonium citrate, potassium oxide, iron sulphate 35 grams per square metre 7 days
Envii Greenkeeper’s Autumn Fertiliser Envii ££ 1 litre 300 m² Autumn Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium One 1-litre bottle for a 300 m² area 7 days

⭐ Reviews – Best Autumn Lawn Feed of 2024

In our opinion, the best lawn feed available for autumn application is the Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care.

 

This autumn fertiliser contains seaweed, which is a natural source of essential nutrients and is rich in natural growth hormones, including auxins and cytokinins, to stimulate root development. This is especially beneficial in the autumn when your goal is to strengthen grass roots to prepare for winter. It also contains iron, which causes moss to rapidly dry out, making it easy to remove from your lawn.

Quick Specs:

  • Brand: Miracle-Gro

  • Price: ££

  • Size: 14 kilograms

  • Treatment Area: 400 m²

  • Season: Autumn

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous pentoxide, soluble in neutral ammonium citrate, potassium oxide, iron sulphate

  • Application Rate: 35 grams per square metre

  • Results in: 7 days

Best For:

Anyone looking for the very best granular autumn lawn feed/moss killer that offers two-in-one benefits of winter lawn preparation and moss control in a large area.

 

What Customers Think:

The Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care Fertiliser has an average 4.4-star rating out of 5 from more than 1,000 customer reviews on Amazon. Customers called the feed a “very effective fertiliser” and a “good autumnal weed and feed”, with one reviewer commenting that they use the feed year-round because it builds strong roots but still greens the grass, rather than only focusing on top growth.

 

Pros:

  • We think value for money is one of the biggest benefits of the Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care Fertiliser. You pay around £25 for enough fertiliser to cover a 400 m² treatment area – that’s around twice the size of the median UK lawn size. If you have any spare, simply reseal the bag and save it for next year.

  • We’ve tried and tested a lot of lawn fertilisers, and in our opinion, this Miracle-Gro feed is one of the best-formulated feeds for Autumn. Its seaweed content provides an excellent source of organic matter, which encourages healthy root development – essential for winter survival. Plus, it’s lower in nitrate to reduce leaf growth the prepare the grass for a period of winter dormancy.

  • There’s also added iron, which dries out moss (a common problem on UK lawns, particularly in October-November) and causes it to turn black or brown. We found it easy to rake the dead moss out of our lawn within 2-3 weeks of application.

  • We appreciate the simplicity of using this Miracle-Gro fertiliser. You just need to add it to a spreader (trust us, it’ll give you more even results than spreading by hand), then water your lawn thoroughly the next day. The manufacturer also recommends mowing your lawn three days after treatment.

Cons:

  • While it worked well for us, customer reviews suggest that the Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care Fertiliser is hit-and-miss when it comes to moss removal. It won’t work as well as a dedicated moss treatment.

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4.5/5

A close runner-up to our top pick Miracle-Gro autumn lawn fertiliser is the Proctors Autumn And Winter Lawn Grass Feed.

 

This lawn feed is around £20 more expensive (at the time of writing) and covers a larger treatment area of just under 600 square metres. It’s low in nitrogen, so it won’t pointlessly promote top growth over the cooler seasons, and contains 6% phosphorous – the best fertiliser ingredient for root development. There’s also added iron for moss control.

Quick Specs:

  • Brand: Proctors

  • Price: £££

  • Size: 20 kilograms

  • Treatment Area: 571 m²

  • Season: Autumn/Winter

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, iron

  • Application Rate: 35 grams per square metre

  • Results in: 7-14 days

Best For:

Folks looking for the best combined autumn/winter lawn feed that contains all the essential ingredients to protect their lawn over the cold season, with the added benefit of moss killing.

 

What Customers Think:

The Proctors Autumn And Winter Lawn Grass Feed has a 4.2-star rating out of around 270 reviews on Amazon, with customers calling it an “excellent mix” and “consistent and easy to apply”. One reviewer said that they used the fertiliser on their “relatively weed-free but well-used lawn with little moss”, and saw an improvement in their grass growth by early spring, after two applications.

 

Pros:

  • Again, we’re pleased with the formula of the Proctors Autumn And Winter Grass Feed – it contains exactly the right ingredients to protect a lawn over the autumn and winter months and reduce problems associated with cold weather/high rainfall. Since the goal of an autumn/winter fertiliser is to support healthy root growth, the feed has a low nitrogen content (only 3%) and is higher in phosphorous for root development and potassium for disease protection.

  • We think one of the reasons why we had such a great experience with this product is its mico-granule formula, which allows the nutrients to be released gradually over 6 weeks. Unlike liquid fertilisers, this granular fertiliser is slow-release and provides better, long-lasting results – but it doesn’t take months to make a difference, as some larger pellet fertilisers do.

  • The 6% phosphorus and 8% potassium provide the ideal blend for strengthening grass roots, enhancing your lawn’s stress tolerance, and encouraging protein synthesis (crucial for building and repairing tissues) – all of which support a healthy lawn over the cooler seasons. The 4% iron should also deal with light moss and make it easy to remove with raking.

Cons:

  • The bag might be a bit too big for your needs, and there are no smaller sizes.

If you appreciate being able to choose between different sizing options for a dependable autumn feed, we think you can’t go wrong with the Aftercut All In One Autumn Lawn Care.

 

This lawn feed and moss killer comes in three sizes – 3.5 kilograms for smaller projects, and 7 kilograms and 14 kilograms for larger lawns. There’s also a 2.8-kilogram feed that comes in a container with a built-in applicator, eliminating the need for your own spreader. Its nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium ratio of 4%-5%-15% is ideal for encouraging healthy, strong root growth without unnecessary top growth over the autumn season.

Quick Specs:

  • Brand: Aftercut

  • Price: £

  • Size: 3.5 kilograms

  • Treatment Area: 100 m²

  • Season: Autumn

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, iron

  • Application Rate: 35 grams per square metre

  • Results in: 7-14 days

Best For:

People looking for a reliable autumn lawn feed with several sizes to choose from, including more affordable options for smaller projects.

 

What Customers Think:

More than 570 customers have awarded the Aftercut All In One Autumn Lawn Care an average 4.3-star rating out of 5, with customers agreeing that it’s a “great product” that produces “excellent results”. Customers also said that the formula spreads easily and delivers results within a couple of weeks.

 

Pros:

  • We appreciate being able to choose between several size options for the Aftercut autumn feed. If you just want a one-off feed for your small lawn, you may as well spend £10 on the smaller box rather than spending more on a larger box that you might forget about by this time next year.

  • This lawn feed has a higher concentration of potassium – 15% – which means it’s particularly well formulated for enzyme activation. This helps the grass to synthesize proteins and carbohydrates, as well as strengthening the plants’ cell walls, which encourages disease resistance (essential as autumn brings wet conditions and cooler weather).

  • Iron is also present for moss control. You’ll notice the moss blackening within 14 days. After that, it’ll be easy to rake out of your lawn.

Cons:

  • Nothing so far!

For anyone looking for the best autumn lawn feed that’s sold in a container with a built-in spreader, we think the Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care Spreader can’t be beaten.

 

This fertiliser uses the same formula as our top-pick Miracle-Gro lawn feed on this list. The difference is that it’s sold in a smaller container with an attached spreader nozzle. So, rather than having to pour the feed into your own spreader, you just tip the container and point the dispenser towards the ground while walking briskly to release the granules.

Quick Specs:

  • Brand: Miracle-Gro

  • Price: £

  • Size: 3.5kilograms

  • Treatment Area: 100 m²

  • Season: Autumn

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous pentoxide, soluble in neutral ammonium citrate, potassium oxide, iron sulphate

  • Application Rate: 35 grams per square metre

  • Results in: 7 days

Best For:

Anyone looking for an all-in-one autumn lawn feed that has a built-in spreading function, so you don’t have to worry about spreading the feed by hand or spending more money on your own spreader.

 

What Customers Think:

More than 2,800 customers have awarded the Miracle-Gro EverGreen Autumn Lawn Care Spreader an average star rating of 4.4. Customers said that the feed was “a good feed for your autumn lawn” and “easy to use and spread”. One reviewer said they’ve been using this last feed for years and noted that it helped stop the creep of moss and improved their lawn’s ability to withstand the winter.

 

Pros:

  • There are a few benefits of buying a lawn feed with a built-in spreader: you have everything you need for application within the product itself, which helps you save money if you just want to fertilise your lawn on a one-off basis, and the spreader has been specifically designed for the product, so you shouldn’t have issues with the distribution.

  • We found it easy to use the spreader – the nozzle spout did a good job of evenly distributing the feed on the ground, and the built-in handle was comfortable to hold in one hand. You can see the feed on your lawn, so it’s easy to identify which areas you’ve covered already.

  • This feed has the best NPK ratio for autumn (6-10-5), with a high potassium content to support root health. Plus, it contains seaweed to further support healthy roots, and iron, which kills moss in as little as 7 days.

Cons:

  • There are a few specific rules that you’ll need to follow to get the application just right, including walking at a brisk pace of 1.5 metres per second, ensuring the spout is at least 45cm off the ground, and raising the spout whenever you stop walking to stop the flow of granules. You might find it easier to use your own more comprehensive spreader that works at a pre-determined height and spreads fertiliser evenly regardless of your walking speed.

  • The spreader bottle size is limited and only contains enough feed to cover a 100 m² application area.

We’ve had a good experience with the Envii Greenkeeper’s Autumn Fertiliser, and in our opinion, it’s the best liquid lawn feed with a hose sprayer attachment that you can use on your lawn in autumn.

 

As long as you have a garden hose, you can use this 1-litre bottle of Envii fertiliser after a quick setup. Just attach your hose connector to the end of the sprayer, and the concentrated product will travel up through the tube, where it’s automatically diluted for the application.

Quick Specs:

  • Brand: Envii

  • Price: ££

  • Size: 1 litre

  • Treatment Area: 300 m²

  • Season: Autumn

  • Ingredients: Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium

  • Application Rate: One 1-litre bottle for a 300 m² area

  • Results in: 7 days

Best For:

People who prefer the instant effects of a liquid autumn lawn feed and want to save time and resources by buying a bottle with a built-in hose sprayer.

 

What Customers Think:

The Envii Greenkeeper’s Autumn Fertiliser has a 4.3 star rating out of 5. Customers said that the fertiliser was “simple to use” and “does what it says”. Reviewers were pleased with the conciseness of the instructions and online support.

 

Pros:

  • Using a liquid autumn feed with a built-in sprayer is much faster and easier than diluting the feed in a watering can. You just attach your hose end to the nozzle, then twist the cog on the side of the nozzle. This will send water through the nozzle, which will dilute the lawn feed as it sprays onto your lawn.

  • You can expect faster results with this Envii autumn lawn feed. It’s a liquid fertiliser, so it’s taken in by grass leaves at a faster rate, helping to rapidly boost your lawn health. This could be useful for you if you’ve left it a bit late to apply your autumn fertiliser and prefer something that will provide quicker protection for your grass as winter approaches.

  • There’s no specific NPK ratio mentioned for this fertiliser, but the bottle says that there’s 20.8 g/l of nitrogen and 124 g/l of potassium as “contents soluble in water”. The high potassium content is ideal for an autumn feed because it helps harden and strengthen grass, building its resistance – essential over autumn and winter, when it’s more vulnerable and susceptible to disease.

Cons:

  • There are no smaller or larger bottles – just a single size for a 300 m² area.

  • A few people have had issues with a temperamental nozzle.

🤷‍♂️ What Makes Autumn Lawn Fertilisers Different From All-Year Fertilisers?

You might be wondering whether there’s any reason to invest in an autumn lawn feed rather than a fertiliser that can be used year-round.

 

The main reason is that autumn feeds are specifically formulated to sustain grass health over autumn, which is known for its sudden drop in temperatures and damp conditions.

 

The aim of autumn lawn food is not to encourage top growth or make your grass look greener, which is why most autumn lawn feeds have lower levels of nitrogen (the nutrient that supports this kind of growth).

 

Instead, a lawn fertiliser for autumn has higher percentages of potassium and phosphorous, which are ideal for feeding into your lawn in the autumn season because they encourage root growth and disease resistance.

 

Some autumn fertilisers also have a moss control element, usually with the addition of iron. Iron is beneficial to grass health but causes moss to dry out and blacken, enabling you to rake it out of your lawn within a couple of weeks.

 

Essentially, while a year-round lawn feed contains a more generic blend of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, an autumn feed has a special formula that supports a healthy, sturdy lawn during autumn and winter, rather than unnecessarily promoting fast growth and greening.

📝 4 Features To Look For In The Best Autumn Lawn Feed

When you’re shopping for an autumn lawn feed, look for the following four features:

High Potassium & Phosphorous Content

As we mentioned above, the best autumn lawn food should have a higher potassium and phosphorous content than a spring/summer or year-round lawn fertiliser.

 

Potassium helps your lawn survive the UK’s chillier seasons by encouraging the accumulation of carbohydrates in the grass roots, which provides energy reserves to endure colder temperatures.

 

The main role of phosphorous is to direct the grass’s focus on root development rather than top growth. It’s an ideal nutrient in an autumn lawn feed, since you don’t want to have to mow your lawn over autumn/winter. Your lawn’s priority should be developing a robust root system, which will enable it to withstand autumn and winter stresses and access water and nutrients stored in the soil.

 

You can find out how much potassium and phosphorous a lawn feed contains by checking its nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) ratio, or NPK ratio. This should be on the feed bag or box, and often appears as three numbers with dashes between them.

Lower Nitrogen Content

Nitrogen is much less necessary in an autumn lawn feed because its main role is to encourage thick, quick grass growth and greening.

 

The purpose of ferilising your lawn in autumn is to give it the nutrients it needs to survive the cooler, wetter seasons. Nitrogen doesn’t fit into this equation, so it’s present in much lower quantities in most autumn feeds.

 

With that said, nitrogen does have a few generic lawn benefits, including recovery from stress and thicker growth for weed management, which is why it’s not excluded entirely from autumn lawn feeds.

 

Most autumn lawn fertilisers contain 4% of nitrogen or less, compared to spring/summer feeds, which contain around 9-12% of nitrogen or more.

Moss Killing Abilities

Many autumn lawn feeds contain iron, which kills moss.

 

Moss is a common problem in autumn because it thrives in moist conditions. The UK autumn brings increased rainfall and cooler temperatures, creating a more favorable environment for moss growth.

 

We strongly recommend feeding your lawn in autumn to make up for the lack of sunlight, which makes grass weaker and less competitive against moss. And if any moss has already established itself in your lawn, use a lawn feed that contains around 4% iron to dry out and kill this nuisance plant.

 

Note: If you have a major moss problem, you’ll need to look at a dedicated moss remover rather than a grass feed with moss control abilities.

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Slow-Release Formula

It’s not important to see instant results with an autumn feed because the goal isn’t to encourage green, fast-growing top growth – it’s to gradually strengthen the grass roots, support protein synthesis, and toughen up the grass in preparation for a cold winter.

 

For that reason, it’s better to use a slow-release lawn feed that will gradually supply your lawn with the nutrients it needs, rather than providing instant results.

 

Most autumn fertilisers are granular, rather than liquid, because granular feeds provide slower, longer-lasting results.

🧾 6 Factors To Consider When Buying Autumn Lawn Fertiliser

As well as looking for the best features of an autumn lawn fertiliser, also consider the following factors:

 

💰 Your Budget

Your budget is the first thing to establish. How much can you afford to spend on an autumn lawn fertiliser?

 

The average cost of an autumn lawn feed is £10-£45. The cost depends on the size of the packet, so the amount you spend will tie in with the amount of feed that you need for your space (we’ve discussed this in more detail below).

 

Cost also depends on how many applications your lawn needs (also discussed later).

🌱🎯 Fertilser Vs Fertiliser & Moss Killer

Are you specifically looking for an autumn lawn fertiliser, or could you benefit from a fertiliser with added moss control?

 

You probably know your lawn quite well, so you should be aware of whether or not it has moss problems in the autumn/winter months. But if you’re only now starting to pay attention to your lawn, we’ve shared an image of moss below to help you identify it:

Moss is bright green, low-growing, and appears in cushion-like patches or mats. It can be found on most lawns, especially lawns that are in full/partial shade, and especially during the wetter seasons.

 

If you identify moss on your lawn, it’s beneficial to buy an autumn lawn feed that contains iron, which will kill moss as well as supply nutrients to your lawn.

🟩 Application Area

Take some time to work out the size of your application area before you invest in an autumn lawn feed. It’s often cheaper per gram to buy a larger bag upfront rather than buying two smaller bags separately. So, make sure you’re exact on how much lawn feed you need for your space before you click “buy”.

 

If you don’t use all the lawn feed in one application, you can always use it on your second application of the season or save it for next year.

📆 Application Rate & Frequency

A granular fertiliser for lawns usually has an application rate of 35 grams per square metre (g/m²), while a liquid feed usually has specific instructions for dilution and application on the bottle.

 

It’s essential to use the right amount of fertiliser for your lawn size. Use too little, and you probably won’t make much of a difference to your grass health. Use too much, and you risk burning your lawn.

 

Most autumn lawn feeds can be used effectively on a one-off basis. That means you only have to apply the feed once, and it’ll provide the right rate of nutrients over an extended time period, protecting your lawn throughout the autumn season.

 

However, in most cases, you’ll be able to achieve the best results with at least two applications: one at the start of autumn, and one 6-8 weeks later, in the approach to winter. This will provide your lawn with a top-up of nutrients and help it to maintain its strength and disease resistance as it prepares for a period of dormancy.

🚿 Granular Vs Liquid Fertiliser

Also consider whether you’d rather use liquid or granular autumn feed on your lawn.

 

Most fertilisers for autumn are in granule form because granules release nutrients over a slower period. However, you may prefer to apply liquid feed because it’s quicker and easier.

 

We’ve shared both liquid and granular fertilisers in this guide. We recommend granular fertilisers for the majority of people because they provide better long-lasting results. Unlike with a spring lawn feed, you’re not aiming to boost your grass growth and greenness as quickly as possible – it’s actually preferable for the fertiliser to work gradually to support your lawn health over the cooler seasons.

 

However, if you’ve never used lawn feed before and you want a fertiliser that’s easy to apply and has a limited potential for burning your lawn, a liquid feed might be best for you.

Fertiliser, spreading, home, lawn,
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🎊 Spreading Applicator

Depending on the type of autumn lawn feed you buy, you may also need to buy a separate item for spreading the feed.

 

Some lawn feeds come with their own built-in spreaders, but these are generally attached to the container and can only be used once. If you plan to use autumn lawn feed more than once, it’s more practical and economical to buy your own feed spreader.

 

For granular feed products, a push spreader like the Gardena Hand-Held Spreader (<Amazon link) is best. It’s much better to use a spreader than simply scattering the feed over your lawn, which won’t distribute the feed evenly and may scorch parts of your lawn due to over-application.

 

For a liquid lawn feed, we recommend buying a sprinkler bar application (<Amazon link) for your watering can. This will help you to achieve a more even distribution for the most consistent results.

Important note: this review was last updated in October 2024. We apologise if pricing or availability has since changed for any of the products mentioned above.