Tips For Late Fall Lawn Care

Fall is filled with autumn colours, sweaters, and all things pumpkin-spice, but it's also a great time of year to help your lawn get a head start on next spring. The shorter days and cooler nights with heavy dew each morning and usually regular rainfall are the ideal conditions needed for starting new grass. You can wait until spring, but you'll have to create or mimic the conditions naturally present in the fall to start new grass growth. Whether you're planting from seed or laying new sod, we have some of our best tips here for a great spring lawn.

Keep Mowing

Even though the season is drawing to a close, don't stop mowing your lawn through October or even into November if necessary. The grass will keep growing and grass left long over the winter is prone to snow mold and winter kill. Don't mow your grass too short either. If the blades are cut too short the plants will struggle to retain enough resources to survive and thrive through winter and spring.

Fall is also a great time to do a little maintenance on your mower or manual push mower. If you have the time, it's one less thing to worry about in the spring.

Winter Fertilizer

Grass produces a kind of sugar that sustains the plant through the winter and provides resources to grow and green up in spring. Fertilizer in the late fall helps gives grass that additional boost. Fertilizer will help your grass survive snow mold and winter kill and any disease or insects that may attack early in the spring. Fertilized grass will thicken up more quickly in spring which will help prevent weeds.

Overseeding

If you have bare patches or thin grass in parts of your lawn, fall is a great time to overseed your existing lawn. The great fall weather will do all the work of helping the seeds germinate for you. Remember that grass seed needs direct contact with soil to germinate, so spread the seed with that in mind. Be sure to give the lawn a good rake beforehand and remove any leaves or other debris that may hinder the grass seed reaching the soil. The heavy dew and regular rain along with the warm-enough daytime temperatures should do the rest of the work for you.

Laying Sod

Some homeowners prefer to lay sod instead of planting a new area with grass. Sod is definitely the faster way to have a great lawn though it is more expensive. Protect that additional investment by spreading a good layer of soil before you lay the sod so the soil is rich and full of needed nutrients to help the grass take root quickly and get a good start in the spring.

Have you winterized your irrigation system yet? Don't hesitate to call our experts and have a professional do the job so it's done right the first time. And if you would like to learn more about Nutri-Lawn Inground Sprinkler Systems winterizing services, contact us today!