As the weather gets cooler, we tend to spend more of our time indoors. For this reason, activities such as gardening and lawn maintenance are often forgotten about until the following spring. Even though a sheet of snow will soon cover your yard, it’s important to maintain your lawn in the fall to ensure it’s ready to go come spring time. For best results, follow these 6 fall landscaping tips to prepare your yard for spring.
1. Pull Weeds
We all know how annoying weeds are and how much of a pain weeding can be. If weeds are left alone, they will grow. If you are consistent with your weeding, it will make the job easier as you won’t have to spend hours at a time pulling weeds. While it might be easy to forget about weeding in the fall, it’s important to give your yard one last weeding. Weeds compete with your grass and other plants for food and nutrients, so leaving them be can harm your landscaping. Plus, if you do one last cleanup before the snow comes, you’ll have less to do come spring time. If doing any amount of weeding isn’t for you, you can always connect with a pro for help.
2. Aerate
The fall is a perfect time to aerate your lawn. After being walked on, danced on, and enjoyed during the summer, the soil can become compacted. This prevents air, water, and other nutrients from reaching the roots of your grass. Without aerating your lawn before winter, your grass will slowly die, leaving you with brown patches when the snow melts. Be sure to aerate your lawn before the first snowfall. Depending on where you live, this could happen sooner rather than later. Connect with a pro now to book your appointment before the snow starts falling.
3. Fertilize
After aerating, your lawn will be more open and ready for all the nutrients. Adding fertilizer one last time will provide nutrients throughout the winter, allowing your lawn to grow and come back green in the springtime.
4. Rake Leaves
Looking out at a nice blanket of leaves on your lawn in the fall can be very pretty. But if not taken care of, it can actually damage your lawn. Letting leaves pile up throughout fall and neglecting to take care of them will leave your lawn dead come spring. Blankets of leaves block the sunlight from reaching the grass, which prevents it from growing. Be sure to give your yard one last cleaning before the first snowfall and rake up all leaves.
5. One Last Mow
Maintaining the height of your grass is important for growth and preventing debris, pests, and other unwanted bacterias from growing. You do not want your grass too tall as this can cause it to mat. Matted lawns are prone to collecting unwanted debris as well as hosting unwanted pests and bacteria left from winter thaw. On the other hand, you do not want to cut your lawn too short before winter as this can limit the ability your lawn has to make and store food for the months ahead. Connect with a lawn care pro who can ensure your grass is the right height to make it through winter.
6. Shut Off Irrigation System
If you have set up an irrigation system to keep your lawn and other plants strong throughout the summer months, don’t forget to shut it down before the temperatures drop! Fully drain all water and shut off water access to your yard to prevent any lines or pipes freezing in the winter, leaving you a mess to clean up come springtime.
Maintaining your landscape isn’t an easy task. Don’t let your hard work during the summer months go to waste. By following these fall landscaping tips, your lawn will have a better chance of coming back stronger come springtime. Get connected with a pro to set-up regular landscaping maintenance for the fall so your yard is prepared for spring.
