The fall season can be a really busy time for a lot of Louisville homeowners. There’s often lots going on at school, work, and within the community, plus it’s a time of year when many are gearing up for the holidays.
While it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of fall weekends, you still want to make sure that you’re getting everything done with fall lawn care tasks.
The fall is actually an important time of the year to get certain lawn care services completed. When you properly care for your lawn in the fall, you set it up for success come next spring.
In this article, we’ll dive into what you need to know about fall lawn care. Making sure that you’re covering all your bases will help you have long-term lawn care success.
The following fall lawn care tasks should be completed before the season ends.
There are different weeds that are problems at different times of the year and it’s no different during the fall season. That’s why weed control needs to be part of your fall lawn care tasks.
In the fall, we’re addressing weeds like chickweed, ground ivy, and white clover. Sometimes homeowners think that they can ease up on weed control in the fall but weeds are still actively growing during this time. Some weeds are easier to get under control in the fall than they are during other times of the year.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to weed control. The best approach is one that is varied.
It’s important to partner with a lawn care pro that is going to use different weed controls at different times of the year. Having a well-stocked weed control arsenal will help ensure that your lawn continues to look its best no matter what the season!
We understand what a huge frustration those falling leaves can be. But a big part of lawn care for fall is leaf and debris cleanup.
Of course, if you’re like a lot of people, you probably feel like these tasks are mostly aesthetic in nature. While it’s certainly true that picking leaves and debris off your lawn will make it look nicer, there’s more to it than that.
When you leave fallen debris in your yard (including not only leaves but also sticks and branches), you are potentially blocking sunlight in those areas which can affect grass growth. You are also potentially blocking your lawn’s access to oxygen and smothering it under leaf cover.
This is why you want to make sure that you’re cleaning up.
When leaf fall is light, mowing those leaves into your lawn is preferable! Your lawn appreciates the extra organic matter.
Another important fall lawn care task is power seeding.
Power seeding, which has also been called “slice seeding” or “slit seeding,” is the process of using a machine to cut rows into the soil and plant seeds. It’s a service used by golf courses to achieve some of the thickest, healthiest turfs around. We recommend power seeding if you care about having a thick, healthy lawn.
Here in Louisville, Kentucky, the best time for power seeding is in the fall, after Labor Day..
The soil is still warm but the air temperatures are cooler. That makes for favorable conditions for new grass growth. Trying to grow new grass seed in the spring can be very challenging because your brand-new grass won’t have much time to establish itself before it has to contend with the hot summer sun and low soil moisture.
If you wait until the spring to power seed, it’s not only more challenging to grow grass, but it can also interfere with your weed control efforts. The same products that can stop weeds from growing, interfere with new grass germination, too.
At Limbwalker, when we power seed, we use a custom blend of premium turf-type tall fescues to fill in your bare spots and create a thick and healthy lawn. It’s important that you’re also using a high-quality seed when power seeding your lawn if you truly want to get the best results.
Late-season, fall fertilizer (also sometimes referred to as “winterizer”) is another important part of your fall lawn care routine.
This last lawn fertilization application of the season will actually help set your lawn up for success before going into dormancy. It will provide that final boost of nutrients that ends up being really vital for standing up to winter conditions.
Winterizer also helps your lawn grow healthier come spring. It is this service that actually contributes to the early spring color that you’ll see next year. Though it feels far off now, the steps that you’re taking for your lawn at the end of the season will have an impact once next year’s lawn care season rolls around.
It is important to note that this is not a round to skip.
Of the various rounds of Kentucky lawn fertilization, it is arguably the most important one! That is because of the way in which it not only sets your lawn up to survive the winter but also because it contributes to spring green-up.
Winterizer will also help your lawn to focus on proper root growth and suppress any stress that your lawn may experience during the winter season.
After all, your lawn can be subject to some pretty harsh conditions. You want it to be as healthy as possible.
Your grass will continue to grow in the fall and you need to keep up with mowing.
You’re getting close to that “final mow,” but you’re not quite there yet in early to mid-fall. October is a great month to move to a “once a week” schedule for your mowing, but we don’t recommend anything less until later into December. This will also have the added benefit of mulching a light leaf cover to reduce your need to blow or rake your leaves.
When it’s time, you’ll want to get that final mow in as part of your end-of-season fall lawn care tasks. This last mow is important to setting your lawn up for success in the winter.
We recommend cutting your lawn slightly shorter for that final mow in order to prevent excessively long grass, which can be more prone to snow mold.
As we said at the start, the fall season can be busy and you might not have time for all of these tasks on your own. At Limbwalker, we have lawn care programs that cover weed control and fertilization and we also offer professional power seeding.
We can help ensure that these fall lawn care tasks are performed properly so that you get the most value out of them. When you are giving your lawn everything it needs for the fall and winter months, you help ensure that your lawn is the talk of the town all season long.
You also eliminate the hassles and headaches associated with handling all of this on your own.
We want to see your lawn thrive year-round, which is why we are here to help. In addition to taking over many of your lawn care services, you’ll also have access to our professional expertise on tasks that you handle like mowing. We want you to feel confident that your lawn is getting everything it needs.
Are you ready to have a thick and healthy lawn that’s getting everything it needs at your Louisville, KY home? Get in touch with us to get a quote for our lawn care programs, which include three lawn care pricing options.