Fall Lawn Care

Tired of mowing yet? Here are a few late & growing season turf tips;

• your last mowing, should the shortest of the season
• shorter grass in winter will be less likely to get 'snowmold' & other grass problems
• shorter grass also lets more sunshine hit the soil to warm it up in the spring, ever wonder why your neighbors grass is green before yours?
• rake extra hard this fall to remove debris when grass plants are tough, lightly if at all in the spring when plants are new and tender
• mow over some of your leaves, this is worm food. Healthy soil should have 10 earthworms for every cubic foot of soil, no food = no worms.
• you can use a winterizer fertilizer as late as Halloween
• you can eliminate using any fertilizer if you use a mulching mower, the nitrogren released from the clippings will be more than adequate for healthy turf
• maintaining a healthy lawn is the best weed control strategy
• during the growing season, grass should be maintained at a height of 3 inches. Don't scalp your lawn. Longer grass equals longer healthy roots that will sustain plants thru dry times
• if grass turns brown during dry times, it is going dormant - not dead. Do NOT water unless you intend to water 1-2 times a week to sustain it, if it doesn't rain. The grass uses a lot of stored energy to come out of dormancy. So if you water once and the drought continues, now you may have some plant death. Either leave it...or maintain it.
• aereating your compacted lawn; generally only need every 4-6 yrs. if at all. A few clues: lawn is feeling spongy, you have a lot of plantain weed (loves compacted soil), poor drainage
• using a dethatching blade a couple times a year also keep the lawn healthy. But if you use a mulching mower, you may not need to dethach.