To keep your yard healthy, here are 5 essential tasks
It’s easy to forget about your lawn once the weather turns and the grass stops growing. But ask any of HomeAdvisor’s landscaping pros, and they’ll tell you that if you want your yard to stay healthy throughout the growing season, fall is the critical maintenance season.
Cooler weather allows turfgrass to absorb the nutrients it missed while dormant during the dog days of summer. Fall is also the ideal time to tend to overgrown trees and shrubs. And, of course, there are all those leaves to deal with.
It can feel like a lot, but by focusing on the essentials, you’ll minimize the workload while maximizing the lushness next spring. Our checklist includes estimates from HomeAdvisor’s Landscaping True Cost Guide, in case you decide to hire a pro for some of the work.
A fall application of fertilizer will help your lawn develop deep, vigorous roots ahead of winter, ensuring it will come back thick and green in the spring. For best results, our pros recommend two applications about a month apart.
If your lawn is rock-hard from a lot of summer activity, it’s a good idea to loosen it up with an aerator, a machine that pulls plugs of soil from the ground. Aerating before you fertilize will help the nutrients reach your lawn’s vital root system.
A rake and a leaf blower are the traditional tools for removing leaves from the lawn. But savvy, eco-conscious homeowners are turning the leaves into mulch instead with help from their lawn mower. Most new mowers have a special mulch setting that deposits finely cut clippings back onto the lawn. This is so much easier than raking, plus the clippings return nutrients to the soil, so you’ll be able to cut back on the fertilizer, typically by about a third.
Trimming trees and shrubs helps them look their best and stay healthy over the long haul. If you do it in the spring, however, you could end up shocking their systems. Fall is the best time, ideally after the leaves have dropped, providing a clear view of the boughs. A combination of loppers and pruning shears should be enough to cut back most dead or dangling branches. Large branches might require a chainsaw.
For most plants, fall is a great time to get them in the ground, since the cool, wet weather will give their roots time to establish. Just be sure to soak the root ball once a week or so if a dry spell hits your region. Our garden pros suggest saving time and money by choosing perennials, plants that come back every year and require less maintenance.
If you want your mower to start up next spring, it’s important to take a couple maintenance steps before storing it for the winter. First, clear the deck of grass clippings with a garden hose; this will prevent rust from forming. Next, either run the tank dry or add fuel stabilizer to avoid engine clogs and corrosion. It’s also a good idea to have the mower blade sharpened so you’ll be ready to go when the lawn returns, lush and healthy, next year.