5 DIY Lawn Care Cleanup Tips for Fall
Lawn Care Cleanup
The seasons are changing, and while it may not feel like fall quite yet in central Texas slightly more moderate temperatures are on their way. As the seasons change, so do the ways you should care for your lawn. When it comes to lawn care, autumn is an important time to conduct some clean-up and give your lawn a little TLC after the brutal hot summer months. From mower maintenance to lawn care cleanup to fertilizer, here are a few quick DIY tips to help improve your lawn this fall and set yourself up for success into the winter.
How To Care For Your Lawn This Fall
Fertilize
Fall is the best time to fertilize your lawn! While this tip is most important in more moderate climates, fertilizing your lawn in fall is also important for those living in the south. Cooler temperatures mean the grass isn’t so dry, and depending on the month you may even have some slight morning dew some days. This helps grass absorb fertilizer. Fall is a good time to fertilize as it helps keep your lawn growing strong, and ensures it will survive through the more harsh winter months ahead. While exact fertilize times vary, when it comes to warm-season grasses September is ideal.
Remove Debris
Before the fall and winter set in, it’s a good idea to do a cleanup on your lawn and remove any debris that may have gathered. From fallen branches to popped water balloons to anything else that might be cluttering your lawn, be sure to tidy up by going through the yard with a rake or a leaf blower. Debris blocks both air and sunlight from reaching the grass, which can lead to damage in the coming fall and winter months. Clearing up your lawn also ensures it’s safe, smooth and ready for pets and children to play now that it’s not so hot and more enjoyable outside.
Adjust the Mower
While moving high is generally a best practice in summer, when the seasons change it’s important to make slight changes to your mower as well. In the summer you should have raised your mower, but now it’s time to set it back to its standard level – or around 3 inches. Having a shorter lawn in fall will help your lawn avoid “matting down,” or getting damaged due to falling leaves or precipitation that come with the new season. You can even use your mower as a mulcher if you like, and leave a layer of chopped up grass on your lawn to function as a fertilizer. This can help provide protection to your lawn.
Water
For us living in warmer climates, we know that unfortunately temperature and drought don’t magically disappear with the seasons. As a result, it’s important to continue watering into fall to keep your lawn healthy and alive. Consider deeper watering, since there will be less evaporation than in summer and water will go father. While you should be able to adjust your watering regime slightly, it’s not quite time to eliminate it entirely.
Reseed As Needed
Summer is a hard time to do any intense lawn care or maintenance given the high temperatures and harsh conditions, and it’s unlikely you planted or seeded much of anything. As a result, fall is a good time to fix up dead patches in your lawn or apply lawn seed. Seeding will help restore your lawn to its normal appearance, and also help mitigate weed growth that can threaten your lawn all year long.
These are just a few of the things you can do to keep your lawn beautiful and green this fall. Looking for some help with your fall lawn care cleanup? See how the Grassworks lawn care professionals can help.
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.