how do i treat my lawn in the fall

How to treat your lawn in fall

• Aerate your lawn – Over time, your soil becomes compacted by your lawn mower, foot traffic, and the weight of the soil.
• Pull weeds – Remove weeds in the fall to improve the health of your yard and save time next season.
• Rake and remove leaves in your yard to avoid damage to your grass so you can enjoy a healthier lawn next summer. When...

Full Answer

What lawn care should be done in the fall?

Fall Lawn Mowing and Composting. Tackle your fall lawn care by mowing, composting and mulching. Mowing your lawn slightly shorter in the fall stops your grass from matting under heavy snow and leaves, while mulching and composting protect your lawn against temperature and moisture changes. Mulching is when you put a protective layer of ...

What is the best lawn treatment for fall?

Important Lawn Maintenance Projects for the Fall

• Feed Your Lawn. The difference between a so-so stretch of grass and a truly beautiful lawn both now and next spring is two fall feedings.
• Spruce Up Your Lawn. ...
• Mulch Your Leaves. ...
• Check the Gutters. ...
• Mow Your Lawn Shorter. ...
• Stow Your Lawn Furniture. ...
• Clean Up your Tools for a Fresh Start Next Spring. ...
• Help Is Just a Click or a Phone Call Away. ...

How should I care for my lawn in the fall?

Mid-Fall Lawn Care

1. Weed One Last Time. If you spend most of the summer pulling up weeds, they should begin slowing down in October. ...
2. Dethatch. Particularly hot and humid summers can lead to an overgrowth of thatch—the natural barrier that forms between your soil and grass blades.
3. Aerate. ...
4. Overseed. ...
5. Fertilize Cool-Season Grasses. ...

How to renovate your lawn in the fall?

When is the best time to renovate a lawn?

• Seed cool-season grasses (bluegrass, ryegrass, fescues) anytime from March through September. ...
• Seed warm-season grasses (buffalograss, blue grama) April through July. ...
• At high elevations (greater than 7,000 feet) do not use warm-season grasses. ...
• Seeding after the first fall frost is not recommended, as young seedlings may be winterkilled. ...

What should I spread on my lawn in the fall?

A high-nitrogen fertilizer, such as Pennington UltraGreen Lawn Fertilizer 30-0-4, helps lawns establish vigorous roots, increase energy reserves and survive winter. Overseed thin lawns. Fall conditions are ideal for germinating cool-season grass seed. Overseeding thin lawns pays off with thick, strong, spring grass.

What should I do to my lawn before the fall?

Fall Lawn Care TipsRemove the leaves. A carpet of colorful autumn leaves may look nice and be fun to play in, but they're no good for grass. ... Keep cutting, but to the correct height. Don't put that mower away yet. ... Continue watering. ... Loosen the soil. ... Add fertilizer. ... Spread seed. ... Stay on schedule.

How do I take care of my lawn in the fall and winter?

Tips for Winter Lawn Care (Snow-Covered)Supply adequate nitrogen in the fall. ... Cut the grass shorter on your final cut of the season. ... Use fallen leaves to your advantage. ... Aerate your lawn just before winter hits. ... Spray pre-emergents. ... Clean off the lawn. ... Keep mowing until the grass stops growing. ... Water your lawn.More items...•

When should I start fall lawn care?

Fall is the best time to fertilize your lawn if you live in the North. Cool-season grasses, such as bluegrass, fescue, and ryegrass, respond well to feeding in early September and again in late fall (late October or November). It helps them green up earlier and look better in spring.

Is it too late to fertilize my lawn in October?

Apply fall lawn fertilizer 2 to 3 weeks before the ground freezes. To find an exact date, look for the first frost date in your area. That date is typically a good time to fertilize since the ground hasn't frozen yet. More generally, mid-October is a good time to apply lawn fertilizer.

What should I put on my lawn in November?

While this fall lawn fertilizer dose is important, an application at the end of October or early November is essential. At that time, apply a fertilizer with a formula of 13-25-12. The push of phosphorus will stimulate root growth through November and even into early December.

What should I put on my lawn in October?

Apply a nitrogen-rich fertilizer. If you want your lawn to look better and be healthier, fertilize in the fall. This process will give your lawn plenty of nutrients to get it through the winter and help the grass grow stronger in spring.

How do I treat my lawn in September?

September, NOT October, is the prime month for autumn lawn renovation because there is warmth (usually), good rainfall (hopefully) and fewer seeding weeds (definately)....This Month in a NutshellAutumn Fertilising.Final Weed Control.Raking, scarifying and over-sowing.Aeration.Seeding.

When should I start treating my lawn after winter?

Groom the Grass at the Beginning of the Season. As soon as the soil dries out a bit, carefully clear away leaves and dead grass using a regular leaf rake. This will break up any matted areas and improve airflow the surface of the blades. Wait to begin raking until the ground has dried out and firmed up in the spring.

What do you put on grass before winter?

Pre-winter lawn care consists of aerating the turf—to reduce compaction and make it easier for fertilizer and water to reach the roots—and reinvigorating thin areas with compost and seed.

Should I cut my grass lower in the fall?

The best height to cut grass in the fall Focus on striking the right balance in fall so your lawn's ready for winter. Shorten your cool season grass to about 2.5 inches before the first frost in winter. Mow warm-season grasses to 1.5 or 2 inches in fall.

When should I winterize my lawn?

Many lawn care experts recommend that if you choose to fertilize your cool-season lawn only once each year that you should do so in fall. The lawn fertilizer typically available in fall is called winterizer fertilizer. In most locations, you should aim to apply winterizer fertilizer in October or November.

How do I prepare my yard for winter?

13 Ways to Prep Your Yard Before Winter BeginsSkip your fall cleanup. ... Run your lawnmower over your leaf-laden lawn. ... Cover your winter vegetables. ... Stop your usual watering schedule. ... Avoid walking on your grass. ... Shelve your fertilizer. ... Add salt-tolerant plants to areas that face the road.More items...•

When should you stop mowing your lawn before winter?

If you must mow your lawn after a frost, the best practices are to ensure that your lawn does not have a lot of moisture from snow or ice and make sure to not mow the lawn when the temperatures are below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

When should I seed and fertilize my lawn in the fall?

Fall is a great time to grow grass, and thus is also a great time to feed your lawn! An application of Winter Survival Fall Lawn Food is great at this time. Fertilizing twice in the fall, once in late August and once in late October, will keep your lawn green throughout the rest of the year.

Why Fall?

While there are no rules as to when you should start your lawn (or renovate it), fall is undoubtedly the ideal season, especially for cool season lawns.

Fall Lawn Care Big Project Weekend (what I do every other year)

Now that you have undergone all preparations for the fall, you can begin to build your annual fall lawn care routine with key projects to maintain and improve your yard over time.

Creating a Fall Routine for Your Property

The Fall lawn care project weekend I’ve outlined above will set your lawn up for success the following season, and for years to come.

Fall Lawn Care – Important & Fun (if you embrace it)

One of the most important takeaways from the fall lawn care guide I’ve shared above is that maintaining your yard is a continuous process and the work you put in this year will pay off the following season.

Fall Lawn Fertilizing

Fall is the perfect time to do some yard maintenance and fertilize your lawn. Fall morning dew provides much-needed moisture to your grass and helps it absorb the fertilizer, giving your grass time to gain strength before the cold winter months.

Controlling Lawn Diseases, Weeds and Insects

To help prevent lawn diseases during the fall and winter, remove leaves from your yard. Leaves left on the lawn encourage disease by preventing sunlight and air from reaching the grass. Use a rake or blower to collect the leaves and add them to a compost pile.

Fall Lawn Mowing and Composting

Tackle your fall lawn care by mowing, composting and mulching. Mowing your lawn slightly shorter in the fall stops your grass from matting under heavy snow and leaves, while mulching and composting protect your lawn against temperature and moisture changes.

Maintaining Cool-Season Grasses

If you have a cool-season lawn, there are some additional lawn-care tips to think about. Plug aeration (also known as core aeration) and spike aeration are two options for reducing soil compaction in your lawn, helping nutrients, oxygen and water reach the grass roots. Lawn thatch can also keep water and nutrients from reaching the grass roots.

Winterizing a Warm-Season Lawn

With the first freeze, a warm-season lawn begins to change from green to brown. This period of dormancy is part of the natural life cycle of turfgrass. If you don't like an amber field, don't worry. Fall is a great time to overseed, or spread grass seeds over your dormant lawn with a cool-season grass so it maintains a green appearance.

Using Ground Covers as Lawn Options

There are options for locations in your yard that may be too shady or moist to grow healthy grass. Fall is a great time to plant perennial ground covers, such as mondo grass, liriope and juniper, to fill the void. They'll cover the area year-round and reduce the amount of grass you have to maintain.

What is the best way to keep grass roots healthy?

Aeration will bring much-needed oxygen to the grass's root systems. But you should also add healthy organic matter to the soil in the form of a quarter-inch top dressing of compost. In addition to improving the soil structure, the compost will help the soil hold water during extreme weather.

When is the best time to aerate a lawn?

Fall is the ideal time because you won’t have to worry about kicking up weed seeds, as you do in the spring. Aeration involves a pretty heavy-duty piece of outdoor power equipment—called a core aerator—that removes plugs of soil from the ground, allowing air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the lawn’s root system.

How much does it cost to do a soil test?

If you want to go the extra distance, send a soil sample to your local cooperative extension so that it can perform a soil test, usually for a fee of around $10. The test will tell you exactly which nutrients are missing from your soil and how to fix the problem.

Is aeration a good treatment for lawns?

The ground in many American yards is as hard as a rock, thanks to years of whiffle ball tournaments and backyard barbecues. That’s why aeration is one of the most important treatments you can give your lawn.

1. Remove the leaves

A carpet of colorful autumn leaves may look nice and be fun to play in, but they’re no good for grass. They block the light and trap moisture, potentially fatal knockout punches for the unlucky turf underneath.

2. Keep cutting, but to the correct height

Don’t put that mower away yet. Grass continues to grown up to the first hard frost, and so will need regular cuts to keep it at an ideal 2½- to 3-inch height. If you let it get too long, it will mat and be vulnerable to fungi like snow mold.

3. Continue watering

Frith says that people tend to let up on watering in the fall as the weather gets cooler. “They figure that nature will take care of things for them,” he says. While it’s true that there’s more rain, more dew, and less evaporation at this time of year, that may not be enough to keep the grass roots well hydrated and healthy going into the winter.

4. Loosen the soil

Regular aeration—once every couple of years, according to Frith—prevents soil from becoming compacted and covered with thatch, a thick layer of roots, stems, and debris that blocks water, oxygen, and nutrients from reaching the soil.

5. Add fertilizer

Just as grass roots need water to last the winter, they also benefit from a shot of the plant sugars that protect roots from freezing and give the entire plant the energy to bounce back in the spring. Those sugars are produced by chlorophyll, which grass produces in abundance when there’s enough nitrogen.

7. Stay on schedule

Each of the steps above has to be done at the right time for the best results. Otherwise, it’s wasted effort. For instance, overseed too late and the seedlings will be too tender to survive. Fertilize too early and the grass will send up tender blades that will get hammered by the cold.

When should I fertilize my lawn?

Fertilization, especially in the autumn, is quite effective and can help you in this regard. Apply quality lawn food anytime in the months of October and November. The best time for fertilizer application is when you’ve just mowed the lawn. If you’re looking for suggestions on a good lawn fertilizer product, our lawn care experts in Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities can help you with this.

When is the best time to apply lawn weed control?

The ideal time for lawn weed control service is anytime in the month of October. It’s best to do two applications that are applied two weeks apart. During this time, the weeds are fully in food storage mode that’s needed for surviving in the winter. Taking weed control measures during this time will hinder this process.

What weeds invade warm grass?

Some lawn invaders you should treat in the cooler days of the year are Annual Bluegrass – a troublesome weed common in warm-season lawns. Another weed that invades warm as well as cool-season grass is crabgrass. As crabgrass sets seed through the entire growing season, applying a pre-emergent herbicide for crabgrass control will prevent the germination of any seeds released in the late season.

What is All American Turf Beauty?

All American Turf Beauty provides complete services ranging from lawn care to Christmas lighting. We are dedicated to making your yard and home look its best. Let us do the work, so you can enjoy your home and the things that matter the most to you.

What is a turf specialist?

When you become a customer at All American Turf Beauty, a Turf Specialist is assigned to your account. You will have the same person treating your lawn each time. It is their responsibility to service your lawn, make sure it is receiving the correct applications as scheduled , and to provide you with the best personalized service possible. Their jobs depend on it.

When do annual weeds grow?

An annual weed, such as winter annuals, germinate between late summer and early fall. They grow during fall, through warm spells in the winter, and into early spring. The seeds start to be active between mid and late spring, just before daytime air temperature becomes warmer. Some of the winter annual weeds are Henbit, lawn Burweed, Chickweed, Annual Bluegrass, and corn Speedwell.

When was the first lawn care company in Iowa?

In 1976 All American Turf Beauty was the first company in Iowa to offer programmed lawn care. The company founders literally invented and developed the industry in Iowa. Get a beautiful weed-free lawn with our professional lawn care services!