Lawn Care for Fall and Winter

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Lawn Care for Fall and Winter

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Most folks don’t realize that fall is actually the best time to work on your lawn grass to prepare it for winter, spring and summer. When fall comes a lot of people are really tired of cutting their grass and just want to shove the mower in a corner until the spring. This is the wrong attitude. Just a few weeks of work in the fall can get your lawn through winter and into its best shape for the spring season. Here are five lawn care tips for the fall and winter season that’ll put your yard miles ahead of the neighbors come spring.

Fall is prime time for cool season lawn owners to go nuts caring for the lawn.  Those of us with warm season lawns are almost ready to pack it in - but there’s still a few things left to do.

Fall and Winter Lawn Care Tip #1: Remove The Leaves And Mow

Don’t leave leaves on the grass until they all fall. You are suffocating your lawn and depriving the grass of needed sunlight, resulting in dead spots. Rake them up at least every two weeks; preferably every week. It’s a great idea to use the mulching option on your mower if you have it. Mulching, or finely shreeding the horde of leaves on the ground along with the cut grass and leaving them on the lawn is a great fertilizer.  This lawn care tip for fall and winter can save you hours of raking.  Freshly mulched grass clippings contain measurable amounts of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium needed to feed your lawn.

How you mow is also key to lawn care for fall and winter. A lot of folks will have you believe that you should lower your mower’s blades in the fall when cutting to kill weed seeds.  Baloney. Weeds like sunlight to germinate.  By mowing more frequently at the proper height you effectively smother and deprive the weed of needed light. For cool season grasses (fescue, bluegrass) which continue growing into spring 2 - 2 1/2 inches is fine.  For warm season grasses like bermuda and St. Augustine you may even raise the blade as much as 1/2 inch but not past 2″ for the final fall mowing in late October/early November.  Warm season grasses go dormant in fall and winter and will not need mowing until spring.

The general rule is that when mowing any type of grass, mow when the grass is dry and only remove one-third of its height at any time to encourage its health.

Fall and Winter Lawn Care Tip #2: Aerate

Aeration has maximum benefits in areas of your lawn that bear the most activity and traffic. The soil in these areas can become compacted and air can’t get to the grass’s roots. Those roots need oxygen to grow and absorb nutrients and water. Compaction can lead to thin or bare patches in your yard. Basically with aerating you are punching holes in the soil so that water and nutrients can spread all the way down to the roots.  Cool season lawns are aerated in the fall, while warm season lawns are best aerated during June and July.

When it comes to aerators there are several options to choose from. Look for aerators, manually operated or mechanized, that remove a small plug or core of soil from your lawn and re-deposit it on the grass’s surface. The aerator shoes that you strap over your footwear with large spikes in the soles are not recommended as you can actually end up compacting your soil even more. After you’re done aerating the plugs will be re-absorbed in a few days as organic matter or compost. If you like, you can also spread a thin (1/4 inch) layer of compost over the lawn, fertilize and water.

Fall and Winter Lawn Care Tip #3: Reseed

If your cool season yard looks a little thin and bare, reseeding may be the answer.  After aerating you will have nice holes and fresh compost in your yard which is an excellent time for any necessary reseeding.  Fall is the best time for cool season grass growth since there is less weed competition. As warm-season grasses are dormant, no need to reseed now. After spreading the fresh seeds you need to remember that the key to fall lawn care is to keep them moist. Use a misting spray when irrigating so as not to disturb the seeds and wash them away.

Fall and Winter Lawn Care Tip #4: Fertilize

No set of lawn care tips for fall and winter would be complete without mentioning fertilization. Fall’s an excellent time to feed cool season grasses as they are entering their season of rapid growth. Spreading compost is a wonderful fall lawn care tip for fertilizing the grass without harsh chemicals.  Corn gluten meal is also a fine natural “weed and feed” fertilizer; but do not use it if you’ve reseeded. You will kill your newly planted grass. Choose a slow release fertilizer, follow all use instructions as written on the fertilizer bags, and water your lawn lightly after fertilization to help the grass absorb the nutrients.

To encourage strong root growth and help my lawn through winter, I lightly apply fertilizer on my GA bermuda grass just before Labor Day.  There’s still enough warm weather for it to help strengthen the root systems. After that, better wait until Spring to fertilize warm season grasses.

Fall and Winter Lawn Care Tip #5: Water

Remember, cool season grasses are still growing in winter, albeit slowly.  If you’ve had no rain or snow for two weeks or so, and none forecasted, apply 1″ - 1 1/2″ of water to the yard.  You can measure by leaving an empty tuna can marked for the 1″ depth on the grass under the sprinkler and checking the water level.  Here in my Southern neck of the woods there’s a drought, and all outdoor watering is banned.  The good thing is that I have a dormant warm season lawn, so I’m off the hook - for now.

Doing lawn care for fall and winter only takes a few extra days or weeks. You’ll enjoy the benefits of a beautiful yard come spring and all year long.

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