Autumn is here. This means the chilly fall air, freshly baked apple pies, Halloween decorations, shorter days and autumn leaves falling on your lawn. It can certainly be agreed upon that when the leaves fall from the trees, it provides a beautiful scene, but does it hurt lawn care maintenance?
This month, homeowners will be celebrating the fourth annual National Inspect and Protect Week presented by the Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE). The purpose of this yearly week is to assist homeowners in protecting and defending their homes from unwanted pests, keeping their outdoor areas safe and leave their lawns healthy for the spring.
With cooler temperatures and dreary days transpiring at this time of the year, it’s understandable that homeowners may want to refrain from taking care of their lawn and participating in pest control. However, by spending a small amount of time, your home’s lawn will look immaculate come April.
Here are five tips for lawn care practices you can utilize this fall.
Maintenance continuation
Instead of completely giving up on your lawn care because it’s October or November, try to mow and water your lawn as usual. What professionals suggest is to modify the mower’s blades to its lowest setting for the final few times you mow the lawn before you’re completely done for the winter.
Soil test
Homeowners and lawn care professionals can perform a soil test to evaluate what your lawn needs to maintain growth and ensure green grass in the next few months. This will also facilitate in saving money because you will not persist in purchasing a wide variety of products. By preparing your lawn now, your home’s lawn will look amazing by the time everything is reborn.
Rake
Again, it is beautiful to see a lawn full of red and yellow leaves, but this is unhealthy for your lawn. The best idea is to rake regularly because leaves that are not removed will become wet, stick together and then suffocate the grass and possibly even cause fungus to grow if not properly raked.
Fertilizer (again)
If your lawn is already damaged then be sure to add fertilizer with a mixture of nitrogen and potash. This will remedy the damage caused by the summer sun and drought and provide the grass with plenty of nutrients. Later, just before Old Man Winter makes his triumphant return, fertilize your lawn again because it will allow your grass to survive those extreme cold days – professionals really caution the timing.
Special treatment
All of this is voluntary, but now is the best time to plant trees. Autumn is usually the preferable season for tree growth because they don’t enjoy the summer drought. Whatever tree or shrub you want, you can plant a tree now, whether it’s redbuds or dogwoods.
Furthermore, punching some holes, otherwise known as creating air pockets, is great for your soil because then it can create and breathe new life into your lawn. This is important to promote lawn growth.
Keeping an eye on your lawn, maintaining it and not being afraid to take care of your lawn in the winter time is crucial to lawn care, especially by the time spring arrives.