Just as soon as summer arrived, it’s now time to start thinking about fall. With September 22 marking the official first day of fall, we’ll talk in this issue about getting your lawn ready for the cooler months.
Fall is a fantastic time to aerate your lawn – especially if it gets a lot of foot traffic. Compacted soil can make things difficult for water, fertilizer, and oxygen to be absorbed by the roots.
To see if your soil needs aerating, try pushing a stick 6 inches into the ground. If you can’t do it easily, it’s time to aerate.
The best time to fertilize your lawn is during the fall. That’s because grass leaves tend to grow more slowly in the fall, even though the grass stems that are just beneath the soil surface continue to grow quickly.
Fertilizing in the fall means that the grass will have a reserve of nutrients to feast on so that it can stay healthy and ready to grow in the spring.
For right now, keep mowing as you normally would. But as fall itself draws to a close, it’s a good idea to drop the mower’s blade to its lowest settings for the final two mowings of the season.
Fall is not the time to de-thatch. Thatch is that collection of dead stems and debris that builds up along the soil surface. You’ll know its time to de-thatch when it gets thicker than a half-inch, but keep in mind that your grass will recover from de-thatching more quickly if you do it in the warmer spring months.
If you need help with your lawn, call us here at Juniper Landscape Company. We’re a complete landscaping provider with a host of services – including pest control programs.
To see what we can do for your lawn, call us; our number is (619) 334-9464.