How to Prepare your Lawn/Plants for Fall

Caring for your lawn in the fall is as important as in spring and summer. Regular care is the key to an attractive and healthy lawn through the fall and winter months.

Fall fertilization is the key to prolonging fall color and promoting early spring recovery of the lawn. It helps produce a dense turf that resists winter weeds. Fertilizer used in the fall should be higher in nitrogen and potassium and lower in phosphorus. Grasses fertilized this way have shown greater survival during winter months than those fertilized with high phosphorous.

Also, when your lawn goes dormant during winter months, it is important to remember the grass is living and needs moisture for survival. During the winter, if it doesn't rain for several weeks, then the lawn should be irrigated. Irrigation before a hard freeze is helpful in reducing freeze injury to the grass. It takes much colder air temperatures to lower the temperature of a moist soil than that of a dry soil.