My friend was just sharing a story with me the other day about her neighborhood feud over which yard had the greenest grass. Her neighbors were always competing with each other to have the greenest, most golf course like grass. As soon as one neighbor mowed, fertilized or watered his/her yard, the other neighbors would quickly do the same. Apparently, having the greenest yard in her neighborhood, was as coveted as winning a gold medal at the Olympics! Does this story sound familiar to you?
If you are competing for the greenest grass in your neighborhood or if you are just trying to maintain your grass (like most of us), here are a few key tips for fall lawn maintenance according to Heather Rhoades, Gardening Know How:
Keep your grass longer
The first step to a health fall lawn is to know how high to mow grass in fall. During the summer months, the grass should be left longer. Once the cool weather has set back in, you can reduce the cutting height to around 2 – 2 1/2 inches. Any shorter than this, and you will risk killing the grass.
Fall lawn watering
Fall lawn watering is the next component in our lawn care tips for the fall. Normally in the fall, rain fall returns to a decent level. This means that your fall lawn watering needs should be less. Measure the rainfall during the fall months. Make sure that your lawn is getting at least 1 inch of rain a week. If the lawn is not getting at least this much rain a week, supplement with the hose.
Fertilize the lawn in fall
When you fertilize the lawn in fall, you should fertilize once from September to mid-October. After this, the lawn stops taking up nutrients from the soil and prepares for winter. You should fertilize the lawn in fall with a high nitrogen fertilizer. When you fertilize the lawn in fall, your lawn will be better able to survive winter damage and will become greener faster in the spring.
Fall grass seed planting
Fall grass seed planting is an excellent way to fill in the bare spots in your lawn. Typically, fall weather has an ideal about of rain fall and temperatures for grass seed germination. You have two options for fall grass seed planting. You can plant the seeds in September and the grass will germinate and establish this year, or you can plant the seeds after this, and they will stay dormant for the winter and germinate in early spring, when the conditions are ideal as well. The bonus of a late fall grass seed planting is that many of the local birds will have left by then, making the seed less vulnerable to them. Then the winter rain or snow will quickly cover it up until spring.
Follow these lawn care tips for the fall and your lawn will be looking fantastic come next spring!
Questions about your yard/landscape? Please call Matt at (651) 755-7901 or email matt@mcdonoughlandscapingmn.com