To stay healthy and green, all your lawn needs is a little tender love and care throughout the growing season. But, you should know that brown or yellow grass isn’t always an indicator of poor lawn health. Depending on the grass species, a yellowish hue might simply mean that the grass has gone dormant due to external reasons like a long drought. With proper lawn care and regular irrigation, however, you should be able to bring your lawn back to life!
The transitional period between summer and fall is the perfect time to ramp up your landscape maintenance game to prepare your outdoor space for the impending cold weather. When it comes to fall lawn care, there are several things you can do to help bring your lawn back to life.
Remove the Weeds
As you already know, weeds are a huge detriment to the overall health of your grass and other plants. Not only are they unattractive, but they also steal away nutrients and vitamins that your other plants need to survive. On top of that, weeds also attract annoying and potentially harmful pests like leafhoppers, beetles, earwigs, cabbage white caterpillars, and more. All of these insects are harmful to your garden and eat away at your plants.
With that said, however, some weed species like milkweeds, also attract pollinators like honeybees, native bees, bumblebees, butterflies, and wasps, which are very beneficial to your garden and the environment as a whole. So it might be worth your while to keep a few weeds around, but keep the weed population in your garden under control.
Watch Out for Thatch Buildup
Thatch is a layer of organic and dead materials that naturally accumulate on your lawn. While some thatch buildup is perfectly harmless, too much of it can give the appearance that your lawn is completely dead. Additionally, an overabundance of thatch can actually act as a barrier and prevent your lawn from receiving and absorbing the nutrients and vitamins that are essential to its survival and growth. Since fallen leaves add to the thatch buildup on your lawn, fall is the perfect time of year to either manually rake your lawn or use a dethatching machine to remove the excess organic matter.
Water Your Lawn Regularly
Just like the human body, grass needs optimal hydration to stay healthy. But, that doesn’t mean that you should necessarily wait until the next rainfall to let your grass have a drink. If it hasn’t rained in a while or your region is experiencing a drought, then you should take the time to water your lawn at least two to three times a week to keep it hydrated.
Aerate the Soil
Aeration is an important part of fall lawn care because it facilitates proper water drainage, oxygenation, and nutrient absorption for your grass and other plants. You can use an aerator machine, a mechanical core aerator for larger lawns, or you can manually do it with a hand aerifier.
Mow Your Lawn
You might think that by mowing your lawn extremely short, also known as scalping, that you’re saving yourself a lot of time in the coming weeks because you won’t have to trim it for a while. But what you’re really doing is exposing the top soil to harmful invaders like weeds and predatory insects that feed off the nutrients in the ground. This will also cause the top soil to dry out a lot faster. When it comes to mowing your lawn, you need to find that sweet spot between giving it a buzz cut and letting thatch build up on it. Ideally, your grass should be at about 2.5 to 3 inches at all times. The best way to ensure that it stays within that height range is to come up with a regular mowing schedule and stick to it.
Topdress Your Lawn
Like mulching, the purpose of topdressing your lawn is to give it a natural essential nutrient boost when it’s looking a little dry and brown. Topdressing can also change the composition of the soil. Be sure to aerate the soil before topdressing the lawn so that it can easily absorb the nutrients of the compost or fertilizer you use. Through regular watering and natural decomposition over time, the grass will absorb the nutrients on its own as well. This process will help your grass grow much thicker and greener in the coming weeks.
Apply Lawn Fertilizer
A high-quality nutrient-dense fertilizer might be just the thing your lawn needs to regain its health and density. Talk to a lawn care professional at your local garden centre or consult with a landscaper in your area for the best recommendations.
Need help reviving your lawn this fall? Call on the professional landscapers at FOREVER GREEN LAWN & LANDSCAPE INC. for all of your gardening and lawn care needs. We’ve been serving Toronto and the GTA for almost 25 years and our work speaks for itself. Book a complimentary consultation with one of our landscapers today.
