When we think of fall, images of ripe apples and colorful leaves may come to mind. But what about the health of your lawn? September, October and even into November are great months to take care of your lawn so that it’s healthy by the time winter arrives, which means fall lawn care begins now! Here are tips to help you maintain the health and beauty of your lawn this season.
Keep Your Lawn Fresh and Ready for Fall
It’s important to continue caring for your lawn while it winds down going into the upcoming winter season. This is an essential part of maintaining a healthy lawn year-round. It’s also important to stay aware of weather changes and prepare your lawn accordingly during the fall months. Here are some ways you can take care of your lawn during fall:
- Always plan to do some seeding with Turf Type Tall Fescue grass seed to maintain or improve turf density of your lawn. It’s absolutely the best time of the year to do this. Most homeowners choose to incorporate fescue seed into thin density bermudagrass lawns to improve overall density there too until the bermudagrass eventually gets thick enough to dominate the lawn.
- Keep watering your lawn in fall on occasion a few times a week, even if you don’t do any seeding… especially during periods of regional drought conditions.
- Consider adding new, fresh topsoil to low lying areas in your lawn prior to seeding. Fall LIME treatments are always recommended to improve soil conditions and help to maintain pH levels. Another good tip for clay soils is to incorporate coarse sand into your lawn on occasion, anytime a few times a year. The sand will eventually mix in with the clay soil creating a more loam type soil profile allowing for better filtration for oxygen, water and nutrient movement allowing turf root systems to develop deeper and healthier.
Expert Advice for Lawn Care
Fall is a good time to get your lawn ready for winter. As you plan your fall lawn care, start with these three key care tips to make sure your lawn will be green and healthy when spring rolls around.
Core Aerate the soil. The aeration plugs from the ground helps distribute organic matter and essential nutrients like nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus throughout the top layer of dirt so plants can take them up when they need them during the winter months.
Again, before seeding, you can spread some fresh topsoil to low areas. If there are still a few leaves left on your trees, rake them into piles and then use a leaf blower to clean up the piles before they become too dense that may smother your grass. Do this every couple of weeks through November.
