How to Prep Your Lawn for Fall/Winter

Maintaining a yard is just as crucial as maintaining your home. It takes time & care, but the payoff is exponential. In spring and summer, you’re fertilizing, but you should still continue to feed your lawn all fall. In fact, it is the best time to fertilize. Do a light application in early fall, & then again in late fall. Odds are you are getting rain to help the nutrients soak into the soil.

Aerate – Aeration is crucial in helping nutrients sink into the soil. It allows water & fertilizer to easily reach the root zone beneath the grass, helping ensure a thick, luscious lawn.

Thatching – An ugly process in my opinion, but necessary. Thatching pulls all the dead grass up (it's hideous), but it allows for new grass to grow.

Overseed your lawn – Fall is the best time to overseed and grow new lawn because the risk of it drying out is low, unlike in the summer months. You will want to overseed at least a month before the first frost so the grass can get established.

Ask me for a special concoction we use at home that we combine our grass seed with.

Continue mowing – Rain and feeding will have the grass grow faster, so it's important to keep mowing as part of your regular lawn maintenance through the end of the season.

Attack weeds – Weeds grow just as grass grows in the fall… fast. It is important to tackle them in the fall to avoid them coming back in the spring/summer. Depending on the variation of the weed, there are ways to attack them organically without hurting the lawn or endangering your household pets.

In December – Make sure you’re applying a winter fertilizer. This is when you will stop mowing until it warms up. Keep continuing to rake leaves and debris from the yard. Things like these will smother your lawn by blocking out air, sunlight, and water, and weaken or kill your grass. It will also allow these items to mold and allow fungi and pathogens to thrive.