As the sweltering heat of summer subsides to the pleasantly cool evenings of fall, home owners everywhere breathe a sigh of relief.
No more constant weeding, fertilizing, pruning, digging, mowing, and watering to keep the lawn looking fresh and clean.
The End of Lawn Care
But wait! Don’t give in to the beauty of fall and put away your lawn care equipment too quickly. Fall is the perfect time to tie up loose ends and prepare your lawn for the harsh winter months. The more you prepare now, the better your lawn will look in the spring!
Here are five great ways to prepare your lawn for the winter
1. Keep Mowing
Mowing is one of the least favorite lawn-care tasks. Not only can mowing take a long time given the size of your yard, but it can also be a pain to push or drive a lawnmower around a yard with uneven terrain.
However, mowing ensures that the grass doesn’t grow too tall and waste precious nutrients during the winter. Mowing also allows sunlight to reach more of the grass than if it were long and unkempt.
2. Rake the leaves
Although raking can be very time consuming, it is essential that you rake your yard during the fall too ensure that the grass and plants receive the sunlight and air needed for their survival. Raking also helps keep your yard free of foraging bugs that love soggy leaves, and it reduces the likelihood of the yard growing mold in the fall.
3. Fertilize and Aerate the Soil
Fertilization and aeration are two of the most important steps in maintaining optimal spring lawn health. The best time to fertilize your yard is in the fall because plants turn into mass-nutrient-absorbers before the dead of winter.
Aerate your soil so before you fertilize so that the nutrients of the fertilizer can puncture down into the deepest parts of the grass roots and truly benefit the plants.
4. Touch up the Rough Areas
It can be rather difficult to fill bald spots or heavily trafficked areas in your lawn during the summer as the grass or flower seeds simply don’t have time to develop their root systems. During the fall, you have the time you need to let grass and flower seeds dig into the soil and fill out your yard.
Use a garden rake, a trowel, or a small shovel to gently plow the ground where the worn area exists, and then cover the area in grass seed and fertilizer. Continue to take care of the area for several weeks following the initial planting, and your yard should grow back evenly in the spring.
5. Stick it to the Weeds
Just like other plants, weeds become nutrient guzzlers in the fall to prepare for the nutrient-bare winter months. If your lawn has been overtaken by weeds, spray or coat the weeds in herbicides, and those troublesome weeds won’t return in the spring.
Doing these five lawn-care chores throughout the fall will help keep your lawn healthy and beautiful despite the winter chill. If you don’t have time or don’t know how to properly finish these tasks, contact us, and we can help you take care of your lawn!
