Autumn Lawn Maintenance Tasks That Encourage Strong Spring Growth

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One good thing about the arrival of autumn is you don't have to mow your yard as often, since grass growth slows down. However, it doesn't mean you should neglect your yard. In fact, taking good care of your yard in the fall helps your grass get off to a good start the next spring. Here are a few fall lawn maintenance tips that keep your grass healthy.

Rake Leaves

It's important to get leaves off your lawn shortly after they fall. That means you may need to rake your yard a few times before all the trees are bare. If you don't remove them, the leaves will form wet clumps on top of the grass and smother it. This could leave dead patches in your yard next spring. If you have a big yard and a lot of trees, raking could be a big job. In that case, you can hire a lawn service to pick up the leaves with a vacuum attachment if you don't have the necessary lawn equipment yourself.

Aerate The Soil

When you aerate your lawn, it thins out some of the grass so nutrients can reach the roots better. Even though the blades of grass on top of your lawn will die out as winter approaches, the roots under the soil stay alive. You can help keep them healthy by making it easier for fertilizer and water to reach them in the soil. To aerate your lawn properly, you'll need special equipment. You can rent an aerator with tines on it that you walk behind like a push mower. However, if you get lawn care from a landscape contractor, you can save yourself some work and let him or her aerate your lawn with an attachment that fits on the front or back of a commercial mower.

Nourish Your Lawn

Late fall is a good time to fertilize your lawn for the last time of the year. Your lawn won't be spending energy growing grass; instead it focuses on absorbing nutrients to build strong roots underground. That makes it the perfect time to apply fertilizer. It's also a good time to apply weed killer. Just like the grass roots are busy taking in nutrients applied to the soil, the roots of weeds will soak up weed killer and die off before spring growth of your lawn begins. Fall is also a good time to spread around grass seed in bare spots and areas that may have been killed due to wet leaves. By filling in spots now, you'll have a better chance of growing a lush, beautiful lawn in the spring.

Once you've completed your fall lawn maintenance, or hired a landscaper to do it for you, you can retire your lawn equipment until the spring growing season begins. Hopefully, the steps you take in the fall will encourage the vigorous growth of a healthy lawn, and put you a step ahead of weeds and dead spots in your yard next spring.

Visit a website like http://www.headmanlawncare.com for more information.


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