1 2 3’s of Fall and Winter Lawn Care
There are a few keys to a healthy lawn through fall and winter. September and October are the perfect months to aerate your lawn. Core aeration is part of routine lawn care, and can fix many problems that threaten the life of a healthy lawn. If your lawn shows considerable footwear, drains slowly, or browns up quickly when dry, the soil is probably compacted. Thatch is the organic layer of material that wedges between your grass and the soil. If it gets thicker than ½” to ¾” it could lead to moisture starvation, foster insect growth, and festering lawn disease. In both cases, your lawn is most likely a strong candidate for aeration St Louis.
After your lawn has been aerated you should over seed your lawn with a Fescue, shade blend grass seed. The final step would be to apply a starter fertilizer. To spare yourself the cost of machine rental and labor, you could call your local lawn care or landscaping company to come out for a reasonable fee and perform these tasks for you.
Another important step during fall, is to routinely keep the leaves off your lawn. Leaves left on your lawn over winter can suffocate and damage your lawns root system. Leaves lying on your lawn all winter can prevent water from reaching the grass or trap too much moisture causing grass roots to die. Furthermore, getting the leaves raked up lets the sunshine in which is good for your grass.
Finally, your lawn St Louis needs a final mowing in November along with a winterizer fertilization application. The grass has stopped growing and the lawns should be mowed one last time for the winter. Mowing your lawn before the dormant season will allow your lawn to get the much needed moisture throughout the winter. Winterizing has the benefits of strengthening roots for winter, lengthening the time your grass stays green in winter and inducing an earlier green-up in spring.