You might think that the best season to get your lawn going is during spring. However, you may want to reconsider that thought. Professional landscapers recognize and believe that the best time to prepare and work in your yard is during Fall. Excellent growing conditions make this season perfect for the groundwork to produce beautiful flowers in the entire year.
Fall season's mild weather makes it enjoyable to push through bigger outdoor plans. Not to mention it is essential to prepare your yard during these times before winter sets in. That being said, here are a few of the best practices that everyone can follow to keep their yard looking good over the Fall season.
Remove Leaves
A ground full of autumn leaves may look amusing; however, they are not suitable for the grass. These leaves block the sunlight and trap moisture. This is why when leaves are starting to fall and build up, you need to use a leaf blower or rake to clean away these leaves. tIf you don't clean these leaves, the grass will be dead by spring.
When it comes to the removal of leaves, you need to make sure that you are equipped with a good leaf rake for you to be able to finish the task smoothly. It would be best to look for the type that is sturdy, lightweight, versatile, and comfortable enough to handle twigs, lawn thatch, and even small stones.
Maintain Cutting Your Lawn To A Correct Height
You might think that it is time for you to put your mower away, but not yet. In case you aren’t aware, grass continues to grow even if there is frost. Therefore, it needs a regular cut to keep its ideal height of up to 2½- 3-inch until then. If you allow it to get too long, it'll mat and become overgrown with harmful fungi such as snow mold.
Cutting your grass too short will also have the same risk as letting it grow too long. It cuts down the root system and obstructs the lawn's ability to resist dryness and winter cold. Mowing regularly also helps get rid of the leaves, cutting them and giving your grass a healthy soil.
It will be worth the effort to cut grass as often as possible to maintain its ideal height. When it comes to cutting your grass, the standard rule is not to cut more than a third of the total length of the grass blade in one cutting.
Water Your Soil
As summer transitions into fall, it is tempting to stop everything you do for your garden and call it over until spring. But, soil moisture is still essential for shrubs and perennials. Most people think of fall to be the finale of the growing season; however, that is not how plants see it. For perennials and shrubs, this season is the prime of their growth.
Usually, fall weather is the best for root growth. But, this season is noted to be unpredictable and sometimes gives everyone a dry fall. This is why you need to continue to water your grassroots for it to stay healthy and hydrated going into the next season.
Fertilize
Just as the grassroots need to be watered to survive the winter, they also need to taste plant sugars that protect the roots from freezing and allow the plant to recover in spring. You might want to achieve an abundant spring lawn by laying the foundation with fertilizer.
Potassium is essential at this time for your lawn as it helps in cold resistance, disease protection, root growth, and drought tolerance. A soil test would be helpful in determining the actual nutrient your lawn needs. Make sure to use a nutrient rich organic fertilizer present your yard into winter with all the nutrients it needs to get through the long and cold sleep.
Test Your Soil
A soil test is done for various reasons; some are to gain knowledge about your soil condition, manage soil fertility, minimize fertilizer expenses, prevent over-fertilization, provide soil degradation, and many more. But, some people would ask why is it essential to conduct a soil test during the fall? We will provide few of the answers.
The sooner you get your soil tested, the sooner you can begin your fertility plan. Also, buying fertilizers during spring will give you peak pricing due to its demand. One more thing you may want to remember is that it is difficult to get accurate samples during winter, so you would instead do it in fall.
Takeaway
Keeping an excellent yard during winter may be hard, that is why there are things that people need to do during fall in preparation for the upcoming season. There are many more useful and helpful ways to keep your lawn in good condition during fall, but we hope the list we provided also helps.
