One of the misconceptions about building a lush, green lawn is that the process starts in the spring. Yes, that season is a critical time for proper lawn care, but right now – right before winter sets in is just as important.
“Preparing your lawn for winter is also a key time so it can wake up healthy again in the spring,” said Chrissie Segars, a turfgrass specialist and professor at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.
After you’ve aerated your lawn for the last time and you’ve given your lawn time to recover before the winter,the next thing to think about is fertilizing and overseeding.
When it comes to applying the last fertilizer of the year, timing is everything.
“It should be 4-6 weeks before the first average frost in your area,” Chrissie advises. “Say you traditionally get a frost November 1-15. Technically, we should stop our nitrogen fertilizer application 4-6 weeks before that to give our grass time to uptake our last bit of nitrogen; conserve it for the winter when it goes intodormancy.
“If we make our fertilizer application too late, especially when the soil temperature is below 50-55 degrees, we see our root activity pretty much stop at that point; if we’re putting nitrogen or another type of fertilizer down, we will see a lot of that lost to the environment because the roots are just not active and are not taking it up.”
Check with online weather data to find out when your area traditionally gets its first frost. Or you can consultwith your local independent lawn care dealer or landscaper.
Overseeding is simply the practice of throwing down grass seed on an existing lawn.
One myth about overseeding is that it’s done only to fill in bare spots or help a thinning lawn. Not true. In healthy lawns, especially in places that have cooler climates, overseeding in late fall will help promote a thicker lawn in the spring. A thicker lawn, of course, also crowds out pesky weeds from growing.
The time to overseed generally is when daytime air temperatures are consistently in the low 70s – October isa perfect month for many homeowners.
Which type of grass seed you need depends on your goals and the current grass variety that makes up your existing lawn. Again, your independent lawn care dealer or landscaper can help you choose the right seed toget the kind of lawn you want.