Get Started as Fall Arrives...10 simple tips to a better, healthier yard. When fall starts bringing on colorful autumn leaves, frost can’t be far behind. Whether you garden where winter is mild or where blizzards pile up the snow, take steps in early fall to prepare your lawn for cool weather. Giving your grass some autumn TLC ensures you’ll be seeing healthy green come spring. Adjust Mower Height Don’t scalp warm-season grasses as cooler weather arrives. This includes St. Augustine, Bermuda, centipede and zoysia grass. Raise the mower one-half to one inch during fall. This helps the grass increase leaf area. More leaf area capturing sunlight leads to more stored food in grass roots as winter arrives. The lawn will also become more dense as leaf area expands, which helps prevent weeds from establishing during the grass’s dormant season. Fertilize Cool-Season Grass Most lawn care professionals recommend fertilizing cool-season turf once per year—in fall. This typically means October or November in cold-winter areas. Get your fertilizer down before grass blades start to discolor with the arrival of cold air. Feeding in fall fuels leaf blade development, which results in more food stores in grass roots. Those food stores help grass survive winter and are responsible for a quick green-up in spring Deal With Weeds Get a jump on perennial cool-season weeds, like dandelion and henbit, by treating lawns with a pre-emergent herbicide in early fall. This trick works well in cool-season lawns. Treating in fall prevents seeds that dropped onto the lawn in early summer (before temps soared) from sprouting. It helps reduce the number of weeds you’ll see next spring. Repair Bare Spots Tackle small bare spots in cool-season lawns with simple seeding. New grass takes off in autumn’s cooler temperatures, sinking roots and adding top growth quickly. Don’t forget to water newly seeded areas of the lawn. Keep off newly planted lawn so roots can establish. Rake Leaves Stay on top of leaves through autumn. Don’t allow leaves to accumulate and lay on your lawn for more than a few days, or you risk damaging grass blades. This is especially important for turf that’s still actively growing in fall. You want leaf blades to receive as much sunlight as possible so grass can store heavy food reserves in roots. That’s the secret to ensuring grass survives through winter. Stay Off Too-Wet Grass If fall rains have your soil chock-full of water, stay off the lawn to avoid compacting soil. Don’t rake when the lawn is too wet or you risk pulling up grass by the roots. Mow Leaves Forget the manual labor of raking and try mowing fallen leaves. Use a mulching mower and you can let leaf pieces lie. Or, attach the grass catcher to collect chopped leaves for the compost pile or mulching planting beds. Leaves mow best when they’re dry. You can also rake leaves out from around shrubs onto the lawn so they’re accessible for mowing. Aerate The best time to aerate grass is just before it enters its most active growth phase. For warm-season grasses, the timing is late spring-early summer. For cool-season grass, it’s early fall. Aerate so that grass will have at least four weeks to recover and grow before frost arrives. If possible, spread fall fertilizer on cool-season lawns shortly after aerating. It helps fuel recovery growth in the lawn. Overseed With Ryegrass If you want to keep your zoysia lawn green through winter dormancy, overseed with annual ryegrass. Avoid using perennial ryegrass. The annual type dies out as summer heat arrives, while the perennial type keeps growing—and might outcompete your desired turf grass for water and nutrients. Before overseeding, ask yourself which you can’t stand more: the sight of a dormant lawn or more months of (ryegrass) mowing chores.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 23:02:21 +0000
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