You put a lot of care and effort into your lawn. You spend countless hours sweating over it all year long to keep it looking great. With cooler weather coming in, it is time to start preparing your southern grass. Cool-season turf grasses thrive in the cool weather and require less care. You can re-seed your lawn with cool season grass right before the weather starts to change to help prevent bald spots. On the other side of the coin, warm-season turf grasses grow best in the warm weather and require more care during autumn.
Lawn Care Basics
Regardless of the type of grass you have, you should consider these basic fall lawn care tips. Let’s look at these:
- Apply herbicides that target broadleaf weeds as they can compete with the grass and kill it; this can also make your grass more susceptible to damage by the cold.
- Correct soil pH to make sure the levels are set properly for your lawn. In order to reduce acidity, apply lime. If the soil is too alkaline you should apply sulfur.
- Dethatch and rake out the dead grass so that the new grass can grow in – especially if you are re-seeding during the fall.
- Keep up with leaves and pines needles – they can be used to insulate the grass from frost and freezes. However, make sure they are not too thick or they can smother your grass and kill it.
Maintenance All Season Long
Consider these three basic points to keep up with scheduled fall lawn care:
- Watering schedule
- Fertilizing technique
- Setting mower height
Fall yard care hinges on your grass getting enough water. Just because the weather is cooler doesn’t mean you can stop watering your lawn. While you won’t need to water it as frequently as you do during the summer, you still need to turn on the sprinkler during dryspells.
Another fall lawn care tip to keep in mind is the use of special autumn and winter fertilizer. It is widely recommended to apply 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn. There are also many specially designed Winter Guard fertilizers. You will want to select a fertilizer that has a low phosphorus number – such as an NPK fertilizer with a number of 32-0-10.
The mowing requirement changes during the fall and winter months because the grass is not actively growing. Adjust the lawn mower height to keep your grass at a healthy level. This puts less stress on your lawn during the cooler season. The best advice is to set the mower height to at least a half inch higher than normal.
Follow these simple fall yard care tips for a healthy lawn all year long!