The Ultimate Guide to Fall Lawn Care

When it comes to landscaping, you can have the most glorious specimen tree shading a perfectly manicured border garden, but if your lawn is less than ideal, that is all anyone will notice.

Having a stunning yard can be easier than you think and fall is the best time to get it done. After an exhausting summer of sweltering heat and frequent mowing, your lawn is in need of a boost. Cool-season grasses (Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and fescues) grow vigorously in autumn, constantly absorbing nutrients, water, and energy. All we have to do is provide them with some. So strap on your gloves and get to work, there is no time to waste.

Like your grass, weeds are growing a lot during the fall and will soak up anything you give to it: water and weed killer alike. With the help of Bonide Weed Beater Ultra, you can get rid of lawn weeds for good.

Perform a soil test on your lawn to determine what type and what amount of nutrients your grass craves. Commonly, a Calcium/Pelletized Lime supplement will do the trick of boosting success when overseeding later in the season.

The key to success for fall lawn care is two rounds of fertilizing. The first should be done at the end of September. We recommend Greenview Starter Fertilizer when overseeding, Greenview Fairway Fall when not seeding.

Throughout the summer, frequent use, mowing, and overheating, can compact your lawn and create a layer of dead grass and organic material that suffocates your lawn. Using a hard rake, remove as much dead grass as you can. Then aerate your lawn using a core aerator, aerating shoes, or pelletized gypsum, depending on your preferences and lawn needs. Aerating will not eliminate thatch, but merely delay its development. If you have a substantial layer of thatch, dethatching may be necessary.

Raking and aerating will likely leave your lawn in need of fresh, new soil. Apply leaf compost or topsoil about a quarter in thick, and rake into your lawn. You may want to mix the topsoil with compost for even more nutrients.

Now is the time to overseed. Using a high-quality fescue blend, apply based on the recommendations on the seed’s package. If you have patches that need extra love, fill them in first, but be sure to then seed the entire lawn so the new area grows and blends in with the rest.

In order to help retain moisture in the soil for the seeds, cover with a thin layer of mulch. A thin layer will eventually decompose naturally. For best results, add EZ Straw or Penn mulch after seeding.

The next few weeks are crucial to the health of your lawn. After seeding, six weeks of daily morning waterings, or moderate rainfall, is advised to achieve optimum results. If you live in an exceptionally hot and dry area, watering twice daily may be necessary. Grass seed must stay moist until germination or it will die.

As the grass continues to grow, cut it back to 3 and a half inches every time it reaches 5 inches. Gradually lower the blade each time you cut. This will be shorter than usual but it will indicate to your lawn that it is time to hibernate.

When you have moved your grass 4 times, apply a fall winterizer for an overwinter feeding. This will usually be done in early November. We recommend Greenview Fairway Fall fertilizer.

If you do not remove your leaves they will block the much-needed sunlight from reaching your grass and ruin all the hard work you have done in the past months.  It is best to use a blower to remove the leaves so that you don’t pull the tender grass plants from the soil.  If you choose to mulch your leaves rather than rake them, your lawnmower will do the trick. 

Follow these steps and you are on your way to an unbeatably healthy lawn in the spring that your neighbors will envy!