Fall Lawn Preparation
Summer and its hot scorching dry days may be starting to feel like a distant memory, but chances are the evidence is pretty easily seen in your lawn. We enjoyed a hot summer here in the GTA with little rain, which while nice for time at the cottage, can be very hard on your lawn. If you would like a thick green healthy lawn in the Spring, the time to start prepping for that is now. Here are a few tips to help repair some of that possible summer damage.
Firstly, you may want to confirm if you do have any damage. If your grass is straw coloured you are indeed showing signs of drought. However, your grass is still alive. Even with cooler temperatures, continue to water and cut your lawn. You may want to raise your mower from its often lower Summer height.
Next, you may want to do the three Fall lawn services that your grass will thank you for in the Spring.
Fertilize: Fertilizer provides plant sugars that help protect the roots from freezing and energize the plant to help it bounce back in the Spring after a hard Winter.
Aeration: Water, air, and nutrients can best reach the soil if every couple of years you aerate your lawn. This helps prevent the lawn from becoming too compacted and is most effective to do before fertilizing. All those holes you put in your lawn will let the fertilizer penetrate to the root where the most help is needed.
Spread seed: Fall is the best time to overseed because the ground is still warm, precipitation tends to increase and nights are cool. Seeding allows you to thicken and strengthen thin or bare patches. And remember, a dense lawn is less likely to be overrun with weeds. These seeds need time to take hold before it gets too cold, so timing is important.
These tasks can require heavy machinery and are time sensitive. You may want to look at delegating a couple of these chores to a lawn care company. If you call around you can find some very competitive rates. And the pay off for all this attention to your lawn... A thick carpet of green grass next year!
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