Tending To Your Lawn In The Fall

When the air starts to cool down and you start to enjoy hot tea instead of ice tea you know it is time to start thinking about fall lawn care.  Fall lawn maintenance is important to keep your lawn growing healthy year round. When you properly mow, fertilize, water and seed in the fall your lawn will be a glowing indication in the spring when the air transitions from crisp back to balmy. This article will give you fall lawn care tips to take you through the season and prepare your lawn for the fall and winter seasons.

Mowing is essential to keeping the exterior of your home looking its best.  The curb appeal of your home is what sets your home apart from the rest of the homes in the area.  You want people to drive by and be inspired and in awe.  A healthy fall lawn needs to continue to be cut.  Just because the weather is chilly does not mean that you stop mowing the lawn.  You will however need to adjust the length in which you cut the lawn.

When the temperatures are hot we tend to leave our lawns a bit longer to avoid burning the grass and root with the heat of the sun’s rays.  Once summer comes to an end and the rays of the sun are farther away and less intense it is time to start mowing the lawn to about two inches.  Don’t go any shorter than this as you will run the risk of killing the grass.

The grass in the fall naturally stays greener in the fall then the summer even without constant water.  This however does not eliminate the need for watering your lawn throughout the fall season.  Normally the water levels are naturally higher when the weather turns colder.  If however the rainfall is less than an inch a week you will want to go back to watering your lawn with the sprinkler. Water is needed to keep your fall lawn lush and full.

The next area we will look at is fertilizing the lawn.  This process should be done in late fall perhaps the perfect time would be the end of September through the middle of October.  When you fertilize your lawn it is better suited to handle the harsh winter weather and become a healthy lawn quicker in the spring.  Fertilizer gives the lawn a high nitrogen content that will help achieve all of this for your lawn.

You will want to fill in any areas of grass that have thinned throughout the summer by adding seed that will help to fill in bare spots and make the lawn more lush in the spring.  The temperatures and rain fall levels in fall are usually ideal for the seeds to germinate.  There are two schools of thought with fall planting.  One is to plant the seed in September so that it is able to germinate for this year the other is to plant it in mid October when it will stay dormant and establish itself when the spring season comes around.  In late fall birds and seed eating critters are less likely to steal the seed allowing a greater chance for more seeds to become viable.

Fall lawn care involves a lot less maintenance than summer lawn care but is such a key element in keeping your landscape design fresh and appealing.  It is important when using products on your lawn that are new to you that you read all labels and don’t abuse products like fertilizer.  More fertilizer will not give you a healthier lawn. In fact the opposite affect can happen rather quickly if fertilization of your lawn is not done properly.  Contact local lawn care professionals who are available for hire to care for your lawn year round.