7 Fall Lawn Care Tips You Should Be Using Now
The seasons are changing, does that mean you should change your lawn care routine too?
Fall brings so many fun things! Football, fires, good food, leaves changing, cooler weather, and so much more.
With those changes, also comes changes in the way you should care for your lawn. Much like how athletes take care of themselves in their off-time determines how they play during the season, how you take care of your lawn in the Fall and Winter months will determine how well your lawn performs in the Summer months.
Here’s 7 tips to keep a happy, healthy lawn year-round:
1.) Although it’s tempting, WAIT before you reapply pine straw
If you have deciduous trees (trees shedding leaves) in your yard, you’re better off waiting to add new pine straw until after all the leaves have fallen. Usually this means waiting till around the first week in December to add new pine straw. Your flowerbeds will thank you for your patience when your pretty new pine straw is covering up all those fallen leaves rather than have them fall on your new pine straw.
2.) Fall is the sweet spot for planting trees and shrubs
During the Fall months, soil temperatures are typically warm enough for root growth but the air temperatures are cooler, which means that it’s less stressful on the foliage of the plants. Don’t blame the plants, nobody likes to be hot all the time!
(P.S. - Stakes and Guying support on new trees can typically be removed after one year.)
3.) Now is the time to apply that fertilizer
If you take the time in the Fall months to apply a winterizer fertilizer to your lawn, you’ll reap the rewards come spring time. This fertilizer will improve root growth so that your grass comes back greener and better than ever during the growth season.
As an FYI, winterizer fertilizers typically don’t contain Nitrogen (N) or Phosphorus (P). They only contain Potassium (K). So when you’re out and about shopping, that’s what you want to look for. Sometimes it’ll be written as a number format indicating the amount of each nutrient in the fertilizer.
Here’s an example → (N) Nitrogen - (P) Phosphorus - (K) Potassium would read 0-0-15 in winterizer fertilizers as it should contain zero nitrogen and phosphorus, but a decent amount of potassium.
4.) Gather up those leaves
We know, we know... it’s not the most glamorous landscaping job but it’s definitely an important one! When you let those leaves pile up in your yard, you’re restricting airflow to your lawn which could leave you with dead or bare patches in your grass when Springtime comes around. One good option for those fallen leaves is to add them to a compost pile. For more information on that, you can visit the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control .
5.) Adjust your irrigation
Once the Fall weather rolls in it’s time to turn back that irrigation system. It’s no longer 600 degrees, so your lawn won’t require as much water. (Your water bill will thank you.) The trick here is not to cut your irrigation off completely, but just cut it back enough to keep your lawn healthy during dormancy.
6.) Adjust the time of day your running irrigation
Not only do you need to cut back on the amount of water you’re using, you’ll also want to adjust when you water your lawn. During the colder months you’ll want to swap to only watering later in the day. If you are watering early in the morning like you normally do in Spring or Summer, you put your lawn at risk of icing.
7.) Inspect your irrigation system for coverage and leaks during the Fall Months
The Fall months are the perfect time to do a little inspecting of your irrigation system. It’s also a good idea to work now to prevent freezing in the super cold months.
** BONUS TIP: Remember to winterize your irrigation pumps before it gets too cold! You usually want to have this done by December 12th **
In a nutshell, your lawn needs your attention year-round, not just in the Spring and Summer. Just taking a few steps now can make a big difference in your lawn in the future. Don’t forget to show your landscape some TLC in the off season and it’ll show off for you in the growth season.
