How to Prepare Your Lawn for the Fall

After keeping your yard looking good through spring and summer, it’s important to continue caring for your grass as cool weather nears. To help your lawn in Sunnyvale remain healthy into the fall and prepared for the change in weather, use the following tips:

Mow

When summer begins to wind down, homeowners are often tempted to retire from their mowing duties. Unfortunately, when you back off from mowing during the late summer and fall, this can leave you with longer trimmings that can hinder the growth of your lawn and encourage disease. Instead, continue to mow normally and gradually lower your mower’s blade height as it gets cooler. Then, move the blade to its lowest setting for the last 2 times that you mow this year.

Water

As with mowing, it’s essential that you continue to water your lawn as fall nears, even if the temperatures are beginning to cool down. As a general rule of thumb, you should continue watering your lawn until the ground freezes to help keep your lawn healthy.

Weed

If the spring and summer seasons have left you with a yard full of weeds, then now is the time to combat the invasion. Plan to weed after a rainy day so that the roots come up more easily. Next, apply herbicide when the weather is drier so rains won’t wash it away before it has a chance to work.

Aerate

Aerating your lawn is an excellent way to provide your soil with more water, nutrients, and oxygen. Fall is the best season to aerate your lawn, so either rent an aerator or hire a landscaping contractor around this time.

Fertilize

Many landscapers feel that if you’re going to fertilize your lawn only once per year, that it should be done in the fall. The reason for this is that the grass roots continue growing normally while the blade growth slows, allowing a treatment with fertilizer to help your roots grow deep. This root growth will give your lawn a better start come spring.