Top Five Fall Tips for Your Lawn and Yard
Fall yard care means putting your yard to rest for the winter so that it will come back looking better than ever next spring. Here are the top five things you need to do this fall to have a great lawn and yard next year.
- Mowing and fertilizing for the last time
Mow your lawn as long as it is actively growing. Continue to follow the one-third rule – cut only one-third off the height of your lawn each time you mow. Your final fertilizer application is typically done in October. Choose a slow release nitrogen fertilizer and apply according to package directions (see how in our video tutorial). This will get your lawn off to a strong start next spring. - Kill dandelions now!
Fall is the best time to kill this perennial broadleaf weed. Next spring’s dandelions begin to grow in the fall. Because it’s always easier to kill weeds when they are very young, use a post-emergent herbicide now, either alone or in a weed-and-feed fertilizer product, that you can apply with your spreader. - Now is the best time to seed your lawn
Autumn, with its warm days and cool nights, is the perfect time to seed your lawn. Also, the sun and heat won’t dry out the seeded areas as quickly as in summer. Learn to seed those bare patches correctly in our video tutorial. - Take care of your lawn mower
Give your lawn mower its annual tune up now and you’ll be ready to go next spring. Do it yourself with a Briggs & Stratton Service Kit which contains everything you need, or have this service done at a dealership. Don’t forget to either run your gas tank dry or add fuel preservative to the gasoline to keep it fresh over winter. Check out the Fresh Start® gas cap which automatically keeps your gasoline fresh. - Handling the fallout
If you have lots of leaves on your lawn, you’ll have to collect them via rake, blower or vacuum attachment on your riding mower. If you don’t have many leaves, you can mow over them, which chops them and leaves them on your lawn as a natural fertilizer. Leaves also make great compost. Learn how to add them to your compost pile as “brown material” to be layered with “green material.” Don’t allow wet leaves to lay on your lawn for more than a day or two – they rob your turf of oxygen and can kill the lawn in a matter of days.