4 Lawn Care Tips For Fall
Now that fall has arrived, many homeowners tend to think that the season for maintaining your yard has come to an end. After maybe one or two more mows, things will slow down and you won't have to worry about anything else until spring comes back around. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. Making sure that you have a healthy and beautiful landscape is a year-round process, and with the onset of fall, it is time to switch up your lawn care regimen in order to ensure you have a healthy and thriving landscape again when spring finally comes back around. To help you in this task, our team of Atlanta lawn maintenance professionals have taken the time to put together this short list highlighting a few helpful tips you can follow this fall to put your landscaping to bed and ensure it has everything it needs to survive the coming winter and come out the other side healthy and looking its best.
Remove Leaves
While a carpet of autumn leaves can look beautiful, they are bad news for your grass. Anytime you have leaves covering your grass they tend to block the light and trap moisture, both of which can spell doom for your grass over time. This fall, one of the most important things you can do for your home's landscaping is to break out the rake or leafblower, or have a professional come out and do so, and get rid of those leaves as often as you can. Make sure that once you have the leaves gathered in one area that you have them completely removed, otherwise these patches of grass will be completely dead by the time spring comes back around.
Keep Mowing
While it might not seem like your grass is growing at the same pace it did during the previous months, it's still growing, and as such, you're going to want to make sure that you continue to mow it to ensure your grass stays at an ideal 2 1/2 to 3-inch height, as this is going to be best for your grass' root system. If you leave your grass too long, it becomes vulnerable to fungi and mold growth, but too short and you curtail its root system, stunting its growth. If you aren't confident in your ability to keep your grass at the right height, you can always call your local lawn maintenance company and have them take care of the task for you, as it won't need to be done as often as in the summer or spring, and accuracy is important.
Keep Watering
While many homeowners assume you should stop watering your grass when fall arrives, especially as the weather starts to cool down in the coming months, it's still important to keep your grass' roots well hydrated and healthy going into winter, and sometimes rainfall and other natural sources of water just aren't enough. Your lawn needs about 1 inch of water each week at least, so make sure that you keep your sprinklers or irrigation system up and running throughout October at the very least.
Loosen Your Soil
Having your soil regularly aerated at least once every couple of years can go a long way in helping to keep your lawn healthy and keep your soil from becoming too impacted or from becoming blocked by layers of roots, stems, or debris which can block water and other nutrients from getting into the soil. Having a lawn maintenance professional come out and properly aerate your soil during the fall, as well as prepare your lawn for property fertilization so the nutrients can reach directly to the roots.