Fall Yard Cleanup Checklist: 9 Tips for Your Fall Seasonal Lawn Care in Texas
Inevitably, summer ends, making some homeowners think they are done with lawn care duties for a while. However, fall is the ideal time to prepare your lawn for the colder weather. When you take the time to care for your yard in the autumn, chances are that you’ll find a luscious, green lawn in the spring.
Why Fall Yard Cleanup Is Important
Fall maintenance is an important step in providing your grass with the oxygen and nutrients it needs to survive the winter. There are several benefits to making seasonal lawn care a part of your routine, including:
- Turf protection
- Decreased disease
- Protection for your plants
Completing this project before winter helps prevent your landscaping from looking tired and worn.
Fall begins in September, but the leaves don’t begin to collect on the ground until October or November. Some lawns require mowing into the early weeks of fall.
The best time to begin your fall cleanup is early November. Most leaves have fallen by this point, making the process easier.
9 Tips for Fall Lawn Care
Your lawn needs year-round TLC to ensure that it looks its best. Follow these 9 tips to learn how to effectively clean up your yard in the fall.
1. Remove Pet Waste
Pets are our loyal companions and furry friends. Unfortunately, they tend to leave little presents around the yard. Removing pet waste should be one of the first tasks on any fall cleanup checklist.
2. Don’t Quit Mowing Too Soon
The purpose of fall yard work is to prepare your grass for the winter weather. It’s crucial that you continue watering and mowing as needed.
After summer ends and temperatures dwindle, set your mower blades on the lowest setting for the remaining two cuts of the season. This allows more sunlight to penetrate the grass crown and dry out the soil in the spring.
3. Remove Leaves, Weeds, and Other Debris
Lingering fallen leaves and weeds create the perfect shelter for unwanted visitors like mice and groundhogs. Likewise, dead leaves and other debris can suffocate your grass and prevent it from growing.
As the leaves fall from the trees and pile up on the ground, use a rake to remove them. An overabundance of debris can also damage your lawn’s drainage system, which might create problems for you in the spring.
There are several methods you can use to keep your leaves under control. You can rake them onto a tarp to make transporting them to a compost pile easier. If you’re using bags, rake the leaves into rows instead of piles. This makes the debris more manageable.
Finally, you can use your lawn mower to shred the leaves and leave them on the ground as a natural fertilizer.
4. Mulch Instead of Bag
Bagging your grass and leaves means you collect them and place them into bags or a compost bin. Mulching grass clippings in the yard allows them to decompose over time, providing nutrients directly to the ground. Approximately 25% of your fertilizer can come from lawn clippings.
5. Remember to Aerate
This process of puncturing the ground to make tiny holes helps alleviate soil compaction and results in a more uniform lawn. The best time to aerate your yard is in the fall while your grass is still growing.
6. Give Plenty of Water
If your plants and grass are still living, they will be thirsty. They’ll still need plenty of water to ensure that they last through the winter. The best time to water your lawn is early in the day. This schedule helps you avoid evaporation and prevents diseases from developing.
7. Garden Maintenance
When you care for your garden in the fall, you’ll see a significant difference in the spring. Before the first freeze, remove weeds and other debris to prevent pests from making them their home. Water your garden plants and trim perennial vegetables and herbs.
If you have any seeds from your garden you’d like to plant in the spring, collect them as you’re cleaning up. Dry them thoroughly before placing them in an airtight container. Place labels on each bin and store them all in a safe place until spring.
8. Overseeding
If your lawn looks a little scarce this year, you should seed it before winter. Once you’ve completed your final mow, place seeds and fresh water all over your lawn to produce a luscious, green yard in the spring.
9. Clean Out the Gutters
You might be surprised by how much debris you find in your gutters. Removing this clutter is a crucial part of your fall cleanup. Ignoring the gutters could put your home at risk of significant damage caused by leaking and flooding.
If your gutters remain cluttered throughout the winter, you may have to pay for repairs to your roof and restore your home after water damage.
Grass Works has been providing Expert Residential & Commercial Local Lawn Care Services in Central Texas: Austin, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Avery Ranch, Bee Cave, Lakeway, Steiner Ranch & West Austin since 2007! Need help with your landscaping? Get a free estimate today!
Ferris MyCue is the founder and owner of Grass Works Lawn Care, LLC located in Leander, TX. As a former firefighter who maintained yards on his days off, he saw a need for a dependable, local maintenance company that knew the hill country climate and could deliver quality landscaping services for a reasonable price. Since 2007 he has used his leadership to grow the company into one of the top landscape maintenance companies in Austin and surrounding areas offering landscape maintenance, design, and irrigation services to both residential and commercial clients. Ferris is also a member of the Seasonal Employment Alliance (SEA) and an active participant in advocacy efforts to help promote cap relief.