Lawn care might seem to be a spring and summer season chore, however your grass wants love throughout fall, too. In order to get a greener, more healthy garden subsequent spring, there are just a few easy steps the professionals recommend earlier than grass goes dormant for winter.
If you spent the summer season neglecting the grass and mowing your garden with reckless abandon, you may take motion now to assist your yard spring to life subsequent yr. With some assist from two consultants at Lowe’s and Scotts, we have rounded up 4 steps on methods to kickstart your garden post-winter.
1. Fertilize
A fertilizer spreader is nice for guaranteeing a good distribution throughout your garden and can be useful when spreading grass seed.
Going to sleep for months with out correct meals wouldn’t bode properly for something, together with your garden. Ensuring it’s correctly nourished is important to its well being year-round, however particularly within the fall and winter.
According to Matt Koch, the director of biotechnology, genetics and seed at Scotts, you need to apply two fall fertilizer feedings. Doing so will help strengthen the grass and restore the roots broken by the summer season warmth.
It’s additionally a good time to do away with weeds earlier than they go into hibernation. Applying a fertilizer like Scotts Turf Builder WinterGuard in early fall each feeds the garden and kills weeds, so that you’re forward of the sport come spring.
After about six to eight weeks, Koch suggests making use of one other fertilizer designed to assist your garden throughout winter so it may well retailer power for spring development. He recommends doing this two to a few weeks earlier than the primary anticipated frost.
2. Make repairs
Bare spots in your yard can come from varied causes, however with a little bit effort and the precise seed, you may repair it up very quickly.
Overall, my garden is in good condition. However, after some work I had completed on my residence, there are areas the place the grass has been torn up. Fall is a superb time to repair these spots and another locations in your yard the place grass has died or should you simply need to overseed for a extra lush yard.
According to Lowe’s lawncare knowledgeable Brian Shaunfield, fall is the proper time to reseed naked spots or aerate since lawns are inclined to obtain much less exercise because the climate cools. This time of yr does not all the time have good rainfall, so you may should be positive you’re watering your seed regularly to assist it prepare for the change of seasons.
An aerator is the proper device to assist break up a compacted yard to let the grass develop higher.
Brian recommends utilizing Scotts Turf Builder Rapid Grass to restore bigger areas of your yard. This combine can be nice for thickening up an already-established yard. For smaller patches, strive Scotts EZ Seed Patch and Repair Sun and Shade, which is designed to develop just about anyplace so long as it’s correctly cared for.
In yards which have been well-established or areas with a number of visitors, the bottom can develop into compacted, making it tough for grassroots to develop correctly. This is the place aerating your garden will be helpful. There are a number of instruments for this job, however a easy push aerator just like the Gardenised Spike Lawn Aerator can care for it simply positive.
3. Keep mowing, however shorter
Ego Power+ sells a preferred line of electrical garden mowers.
During the warmth of summer season, when the rain stops coming down and the bottom is dry, it is a good suggestion to maintain your garden longer –around 4 inches. As the season modifications to cooler temperatures and extra favorable climate, we have to maintain mowing the grass however make some alterations to how we mow.
Koch says it is necessary to chop your grass to about 2 to 2.5 inches, however not . Gradually decrease your mower’s deck or program your robotic lawnmower to chop shorter because it will get nearer to winter. This helps cut back the chance of illness and permits the grass to retailer power extra successfully. However, chopping it too quick has the other impact.
4. Rake properly so grass can breath
Fall can be when leaves on the timber start to show shades of orange, yellow and crimson. Eventually, that lovely foliage will find yourself on the bottom. While decaying leaves can act as a pure fertilizer, an excessive amount of generally is a drawback.
When layers of fallen leaves develop into too thick, they’ll smother smaller vegetation and grass. Plus, an abundance of leaves in your patio is a wonderful place for bugs to construct houses — and you don’t need that close to your private home.
Using a great leaf rake or leaf blower to wash up your leaves is a good way to get them off your delicate vegetation. If you have got a great lawnmower that mulches, then mowing over your leaves to go away a skinny layer in your garden is okay, however too thick will be detrimental. These leaves will be mixed with compost to behave as a pure fertilizer and mulch to assist heat some vegetation, like perennials and evergreen roots.
