Fall Lawn Care: Steps to Take

With autumn nearing its end, and winter rapidly approaching, you likely are forgetting about your lawn. Autumn, with its cooler temperatures, is the optimal time to prepare your lawn for next spring. During the fall, your grass is absorbing energy, moisture and nutrients in preparation for the upcoming winter. Follow these steps to get a head start on a healthy lawn for the next spring.

Mow Your Grass
Make sure to continue to water and mow your lawn throughout the fall. When it looks like the season is about to end, cut your grass as short as possible for the last couple of cuttings of the year. Doing this will cause more sunlight to reach the crown of the grass, allowing for less brown spots in the winter.

Rake the Leaves
Raking leaves is sometimes a forgotten task, often left to the last minute, but it is important to remove any fallen leaves from your lawn as soon as possible. If you leave leaves to collect on your lawn, they will get wet from rain and morning dew, end up sticking together creating a mat that will not allow the grass to breathe.

Aerate the Soil
Now is the time to aerate your lawn so that the oxygen, water and fertilizer will be able to easily reach the roots of the grass. This will help ensure that your lawn is healthy and will bloom the next coming winter.

Fill in Bald Spots
If you have any bare and bald spots in your lawn, the time to fix them is now. You can do this using an all-in-one lawn repair mixture sold at most garden shops. This mixture will contain a special quick starter fertilizer, mulch and grass seed. To help eliminate those bald spots, start off with raking the soil at the bald spot to loosen them, then spread a thick layer of the lawn repair mixture over it. Water it and continue to water it every other day for at least two weeks.

Fertilize for Future Growth
If you want to fertilize your lawn, the best time to do it is in the fall. Why? Because as the weather turns cooler, the grass will grow slower. A fall application of fertilizer will deliver the essential nutrients needed for the grass to grow deep roots and to keep nutrients on hold for a great start next spring.

Weed Control
If you find weeds such as dandelions have overcome your lawn, now is the time to fight back. Like the grass, weeds are also absorbing as much energy as possible during the fall. They will take in as much as they can during the fall to prepare for the winter. Fortunately, this can also include herbicide (a weed killer). Apply an herbicide now and the weeds won’t return in the spring, making for a lush and weed free lawn.