Do One Thing This Fall for a Healthier Lawn

Boost your lawn’s health, reduce maintenance and be kinder to the environment by doing just one thing in fall.

Fertilize with a low nitrogen, slow release fertilizer around Labor Day. As the temperatures begin to cool, the lawn focuses its energy on root growth and spreading outward instead of growing upward. This one fertilization can boost your lawn’s density to better compete with weeds and tolerate environmental stress.

Continue to leave clippings on the lawn. These return nutrients, moisture, and organic matter to the soil.

Increase the quality and improve the lawn’s ability to withstand and recover from use with a second application. Apply fertilizer between mid-October and Thanksgiving, but before the ground freezes. Those growing warm season grasses should make the last application in early October at least one month prior to the first killing frost.

A bit more information: Mowing high is another way to improve your lawn’s health and reduce weeds. And mow often enough, removing no more than 1/3 the height of the grass. Then leave these short clippings on the lawn. A season’s worth of clippings is equal to one fertilizer application.