Fall Lawn Care Tips

You’ve worked hard maintaining your lawn all summer, and now the fall season is right around the corner. Lawn care doesn’t stop once the weather gets colder; in fact, there are lots of things you can do to prepare your lawn for the winter months and help it thrive as soon as spring arrives! This blog covers our top 7 fall lawn care tips!

1. Mow Your Lawn Shorter – As the temperature starts to drop in the fall, lawn growth slows down. To avoid grass from becoming matted, which can lead to mold over the winter, cut your grass short when you do your final mow of the season (late October – early November). Cut it down to 1.5″ – 2.5″ at most, as this length will prevent matting while ensuring your grass can continue to photosynthesize.
2. Clean Up Leaves & Debris – As the leaves begin to fall in autumn, they may cover your lawn and block sunlight and nutrients from reaching the grass beneath them. We recommend raking up any areas with thick leaf coverage on your lawn, as well as cleaning up any sticks, garden tools, etc., that may be lying around. If left to decay on your lawn over the winter, leaves can become a soggy, gross mess, so it’s best to get rid of them in the fall.
3. Dethatch – “Thatch” is a layer of tangled grass, roots, leaves and other organic material that builds up over time, forming a layer between the soil and your actively growing grass. If left unbothered, thatch can make it difficult for new grass to grow and block nutrients from reaching healthy grass roots. Use a rake to gently scratch the top layer of soil on your lawn, pulling up the thatch layer in the process. Dethatching your lawn in the fall will make it much easier for new grass to start growing in the spring.
4. Water Your Lawn – As the weather turns colder in the fall, it’s easy to forget to keep watering your lawn. While growth slows down in the fall, the roots of your grass are still growing and developing and need water to remain healthy! Since you don’t have to worry about heat evaporation in the fall, your lawn doesn’t need to be watered as often as it would in the summer. If rainfall isn’t enough to keep it watered, water your lawn with at least a half inch of water once per week to prevent it from getting too dry.
5. Apply a Fall Fertilizer – Fertilizing your lawn in the fall will deliver nutrients to your grass, helping it to develop stronger roots and profound root growth. Excess nutrients will be stored over the winter so when spring arrives, your lawn can tap into these stored nutrients to help it start growing again. Avoid fertilizers high in nitrogen in the fall; instead, choose one with higher phosphorus and potassium levels, which help with root development and growth. Our experts recommend applying a 6-12-12 or 10-10-10 fertilizer in the fall, around 6 weeks before the ground freezes, for best results in the spring.
6. Aerate – Aeration is the process of creating thousands of tiny holes in your lawn to break up compacted soil, allow oxygen flow, and encourage root growth. Compacted soil stores moisture and prevents drainage, which can eventually lead to problems like root rot and fungal issues. Aerating your lawn before overseeding in the fall allows the new seed to settle deep within the soil and start growing strong roots.
7. Overseed Your Lawn – Overseeding is a great way to fill in any thin or bare spots on your lawn. When you overseed in the fall before the ground freezes, the seeds will have the chance to germinate and start growing strong roots so that when the snow melts in the spring, new grass will be ready to sprout! We recommend seeding your lawn in early fall (mid-August to late September) before it gets too cold to ensure your seed can germinate. Stop by your local Feeds’n Needs to grab a bag of lawn seed today!

By putting in the extra work in the fall, you’ll ensure a beautiful, healthy lawn in the spring, which you can enjoy for longer! Feeds’n Needs is your go-to store for lawn seed, fertilizer, and more. Stop in today and talk to one of our experts about how you can take your lawn care to the next level!

For more expert lawn care advice, check out these similar posts:
Overseeing Your Lawn in Spring
How to Maintain a Healthy Lawn

Sources:
10 Essential Fall Lawn Maintenance Tips | Green Drop
Fall Lawn Care Tips: 5 Easy Steps – Homedepot.ca
5 Easy Steps for Complete Fall Lawn Care | Eising Garden Centre