Fall Lawn Maintenance

By Phil Benevides on How To, Landscape

how to prepare your lawn for winter 5

Fall lawn Care Tips From A Concord Carpenter

The overall beauty of your home can be impacted by your landscaping and your lawn is probably the largest part of your yard. So regardless of how well maintained and beautiful your home is you can’t ignore the look and condition of your lawn, since I can guarantee your neighbors won’t.

Don’t let your lawn be an eye-sore and check out these Fall lawn care tips and be sure you know how to prepare your lawn for winter with these Fall Lawn Maintenance tips!

Attack Weeds Now!

Getting after weeds now will again ensure you spend less time on your lawn in the spring and summer. The investment you make in ensuring your lawn is healthy in the winter pays off in the spring, same goes for the weeds, but with the opposite effect. The more damage you do to the weed situation on your lawn now, the less likely the weeds will survive the winter and will be able to compete with your lush lawn in the spring.

You can use a pre-emergent to get ahead of the winter weeds to allow your lawn to have zero competition while you prepare it for the fall and winter months. And by attacking perennial weeds now, the less likely you are to see them in the spring when they are most visible.

Remove excessive Thatch

Thatch is a layer of of dead grass components between the living vegetation and the soil surface. A thatch layer of 1/2 inch is acceptable but anything more should be removed as excessive thatch can lead to disease, infestation from insects, and can amplify issues in the event of drought or cold weather.

Fertilize, Reseed, and Aerate

Investing in your lawn during the fall can have a dramatic impact on the condition of your turf come springtime, and ultimately the more work you do now in the cool fall weather the less you’ll have to do in the heat and the sun of the summer months!

As the temperature cools grass plants begin to focus and develop their root systems. You can encourage this growth with a winterizer fertilizer. Use a 7-3-2 ratio of Nitrogen – Phosphorus – Potassium or N-P-K. To learn more about the fertilizer numbering visit the Garden Counselor. The robust root systems this type of fertilizer promotes helps your lawn winter over successfully and a strong root system helps it stand up to the hot and dry summer months.

If you have bare patches in your lawn, it’s not to late to reseed and aerate. The winterizing fertilizer you apply will help the new seeds thrive and by aerating your lawn you’ll ensure you maximize the effects of the seeding and fertilizer. It’s best to over-seed thin and bare patches of the lawn and increase watering gradually.

Mowing your lawn in the Fall

Mow the lawn at your mower’s highest setting around 2 inches, no less than 1-1/2 inches, by leaving a tall grass you insulate the lawn in the cooler temperature and ensures the grass can compete against weeds in the cooler darker months of fall. The taller blades also prevent fallen leaves from matting down the lawn.

Continue to Water your Lawn

Just because it’s cooling down doesn’t mean you lawn doesn’t need water to thrive, in fact regardless of temperature, your lawn needs water when it’s dry so continue a watering schedule into the dry fall months.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

About the author

Phil Benevides

Carpenter / Assistant Editor

Phil is a 28-year old Air Force Veteran who decided to transform his passion for construction and home improvement into a career. Inspired by his Grandfather who built his home from the ground up with his bare hands in Portugal, he received his formal training in Carpentry at the North Bennett Street School in Boston, MA.Phil continues to grow his skills as a carpenter and leader, while exploring new products, methods, and tools!

All posts by Phil »

Not what you're looking for?

Search for more articles here. Enter keywords like roof leak, bookcase, deck, etc to find your topic.

© Copyright 2019 A Concord Carpenter · All Rights Reserved