Keep Your Yard Looking Its Best During Maryland, DC, & Northern Virginia Autumn’s With Fall Lawn Care
You can use fall lawn care tips to keep your grass and your entire yard healthy and looking amazing as the seasons start to change. They include seeding and fertilizing grass, removing dead plants, trimming overgrown plants, planting fall annuals, and protecting your plants that hate the cold.
Let’s see what Will is going to do for his fall lawn care.
*Crack-crack-crackle-POP!* “Ungghhh,” sighs Will as he cracks his back.
It’s a beautiful Saturday morning and he’s readying himself for some fall lawn work. “Gotta get loose and stay limber if I’m going to be moving and bending over a lot,” he thinks with a pained expression.
“Hopefully Christina gets back before I end up doing everything on the list. Alright, let’s go down this lawn care list for fall and see what it says,” Will says to himself.
*You can have us maintain your lawn >>
12 FALL LAWN CARE TIPS
- Test your soil
- Remove leaves from your grass
- Seed and fertilize your grass
- Aerate your grass
- Cut your grass to about 2½ inches tall
- Edge your lawn
- Remove your dead plants
- Trim your overgrown plants
- Plant your trees, shrubs, or fall flowers
- Mulch any of your new plants
- Move leaves and mulch away from your tree trunks
- Protect your cold-hating plants
“Yeesh, I forget just how long this thing is,” he thinks with exasperation. “Just one bite at a time Will, one bite at a time,” he says encouragingly.
6 TIPS FOR A HEALTHY, GRASSY LAWN
1. TEST YOUR SOIL
Will gets out the soil testing kit he bought and uses it. “Slightly acidic, huh,” he says, raising an eyebrow. “Looks like we’ll be using more acidic-soil plants this year, which is fine with me. I like a nice change-up.” He texts his wife to talk to her about the best plants for this type of soil.
If your soil isn’t the pH you want it to be, use the appropriate fertilizer to change it.
2. REMOVE LEAVES FROM YOUR GRASS
Will starts raking the leaves to keep them from killing their grass.
Lawns need to breathe and leaves make it harder for them to do so.
It’s like the leaves are smothering the grass.
3. AERATE YOUR GRASS
“Since we didn’t throw a lot of lawn parties this year I can go ahead and check this off the list,” Will says with a slight smile.
Aeration is when you put holes in the dirt so the roots of your grass get a direct channel to water and nutrients. You’ll want to aerate your lawn if it sees a lot of use, is part of a new construction home, if your soil has layers, or if it dries out easily and feels spongy.
4. SEED AND FERTILIZE YOUR GRASS
Will gets out the grass seed and starts scattering it. “No lawn parties means no bald spots which mean less seeding this year,” he thinks with a grin. After he’s done he fertilizes the lawn.
Seed new grass where needed and fertilize the entire lawn.
Generally, cool-season grasses should be fertilized September through November and warm-season grasses should be fertilized a bit earlier.
*You can also overseed your lawn to get denser grass with a richer color.*
5. CUT YOUR GRASS TO ABOUT 2½ INCHES TALL
Will gets out the riding mower, just because he can. “Might as well have some fun with this,” he says excitedly as he cranks the engine.
Grass taller than 3 inches will matt and can lead to winter lawn diseases like snow mold.
Less than 2-inch grass can’t make and store as much food as it needs for spring growth, which means it can die and lead to weed growth.
6. EDGE YOUR LAWN
*Vroo-vroo-VROOM* goes the weed wacker as Will starts trimming the lawn edges.
Edge your lawn with a weed wacker to keep it looking neat and reduce weed growth.
Will wipes the sweat from his forehead as he puts the weed wacker back in the shed. He turns around to see Christina walking towards him, saying “I’m back, you ready for a break? I come bearing the gift of lunch!” She’s holding a Zaxby’s bag so he knows it’s one of his favorites.
“Sounds perfect, I’m starving and it’s hot out here. We can pick this back up once it starts cooling off.”
They go inside and eat, preparing to march back out and finish their fall lawn care.
FALL YARD CARE FOR THE NON-GRASSY AREAS
“Alright, let’s do this!” Will hears Christina say with determination. They both walk outside, ready to finish what Will had started.
1. They begin by planting fall annuals to keep their yard looking colorful and alive. (It’s also a great time to plant any trees or shrubs.)
*You can find 3 amazing fall flowers here >>*
2-3. Christina then starts removing all of the dead plants and trimming back any wild areas and overgrown parts.
4. Meanwhile, Will starts moving leaves and mulch about 3-6 inches away from any tree trunks. He also piles the mulch about 2-4 inches high.
5. While he’s at it, Will also mulches around their new plantings to help the root systems stay warmer during the cooler temperatures and add a finished look to their beds. It’s also great for discouraging weeds.
6. Christina comes in behind him to wrap or cover their cold-hating plants to protect them from winter’s icy fingers. They end up bringing one or two inside with them.
*Slap* goes their hands as the couple high-fives each other, albeit tiredly. “Alright, time for a shower,” Will groans. “You can go first hon, I’ll prep for dinner and then we can trade.”
“Let’s do it,” Christina replies as they both stagger into the cool AC.
Their yard now looks amazing and fall-ready thanks to their fall lawn care list.
