Your lawn is an important part of how your home presents itself. This is why making sure to take the best care of it is essential. Here are some of the top tips to go with when it comes to making sure your lawn is in great shape for the fall months. Caring for your yard now will not only help it look great this fall, but you’ll be giving it what it needs to flourish in the spring.
Mowing Your Grass
You should always keep grass around 2 inches tall throughout fall. You want to make sure it doesn’t get much taller than 2.5 inches. This will cause the grass to mat down and even bring on disease during the winter months. Cutting it any shorter could mean it won’t survive the winter.
Rake Up Your Leaves
This can be done to remove any debris that need to be moved in order for the grass to get enough water. Any freezing of the leaves, then thawing can cause things such as leaf mold or diseases in the grass, as well as phosphate that can get into the water supply. Keep the clippings and leaves off the driveways, yard and streets. Bag them and take to your local yard waste disposal site, or use them to mulch your garden if you don’t have a compost pile.
Recycling Your Leaves and Grass Clippings
Your leaves and other yard debris can be put to good use. They can be turned into compost or used to mulch your garden beds as winter insulation. Some communities have spots where you can bring your yard waste free of charge or for a minimal disposal fee.
Watering and Fertilizing
You can water your lawn up until the ground starts to become hard and frozen. You will also want to add a bit of fertilizer to it. This provides the lawn with the nutrients that might be needed to sustain life throughout winter. Giving it appropriate nutrients now will give it a head start in the spring.
Controlling Weeds
Remove any weeds now, before they go to seed. You can do so by pulling them up by hand or using a mild herbicide on them. You want to ensure that you do not spray your garden or other areas where growth is needed or wanted. This should be done before a hard freeze – you want to give the herbicide enough time to work.
Repairing Your Lawn
Seeding and sodding your lawn can be done in the fall since the temperatures are cool and you have enough time to fix those bare spots. Make sure to complete this task before the really cold weather comes knocking at your door.
Having a great lawn can take a lot of work, so if caring for your lawn takes up more time than you’d like, perhaps now is the time to talk to us about low-maintainance landscaping solutions. We offer landscape maintenance, but we also have low-maintenance landscape ideas on our Pinterest board if you’d like to cut down on your yard care chores permanently. Now is a great time to get the ball rolling by planning your landscaping changes before spring. We provide custom landscape design and installation in the greater Minneapolis and St. Paul MN area. Give us a call for a free consultation – 952.292.7717.
