Autumn is a comforting season, full of crisp breezes and brightly colored leaves. But for the same reasons, fall can also be tough on your lawn. Lawn care is fairly obvious in the summertime: mow your lawn often and water it frequently. But once fall rolls around, the rules change.
Landscape design experts share the top ways of preparing your lawn for the unique challenges of fall and the coming winter, too.
Water Your Lawn
Watering schedules need to change in the fall. But even if this is a cooler and wetter season, you still need to water your lawn occasionally. That’s because the change in season triggers slower grass growth. While this may sound like a good thing, this actually means that your grass can start to lose its healthy, green look. Continue watering until the ground starts to freeze, then immediately cease watering.
Fertilize Your Lawn
You should also fertilize your lawn in the fall. This provides it with nutrients through the winter so that it can still be healthy and green come springtime. This type of future planning is essential to maintaining a healthy lawn. Fertilize with a 4-1-2 fertilizer, which is generally good for fall, or ask a hardscape and landscape expert for their product recommendations based on the type of grass and soil conditions in your lawn.
Winterize for Cooler Season
Why should you winterize in the fall? Because by the time winter has begun, it’s already too late! Winterizing prepares your lawn and lawn equipment for the cold, frosty temperatures that are looming. Also, keep in mind that the first frost can often happen in late fall rather than December or later.
Drain your hoses by shaking the water out of both ends and then stretching them out on a sloped surface like a driveway. Put them away in an indoor closet or garage for safekeeping. Winterize your mower, too.
Shorten Your Grass
It’s ideal that you cut your lawn very short in the fall to prepare it for winter. Cut your grass to about 1.5 inches — a bit shorter than you’d usually cut it. This helps prevent snow mold from forming during the winter and also prevents longer growths from smothering any new shoots that sprout in the spring. This essentially gives all of your grass a chance to thicken when the warmer season hits.
Rake Leaves
Most people assume that raking leaves is just about aesthetics. They prefer to retain leaves in their lawn, assuming that the leaves will add a festive touch to the grass. In reality, leaves actually block sunlight and moisture from the grass causing it to lose nutrients and die. Always rake leaves, especially before the first frost, when wet leaves can sodden your grass because it’ll cause more damage to your lawn.
For more advice on caring for your lawn, or to hire the services of a landscape and hardscape design team, call Stoeckig Landscape Group today. We offer landscape and hardscape ideas to improve your lawn and also offer maintenance services to help your lawn stay in great shape throughout the fall season. Call us at 770-831-1790 to help install or maintain landscaping and hardscaping in Roswell.