Prepare Your Landscape For Winter with Fall Lawn Care

Cooler weather will be here before we know it!  And while it’s tempting to assume that the change of seasons means you can take fall lawn care off your to-do list, this isn’t the case. Continuing upkeep and maintenance on your landscape is essential during the cooler months, especially if you want to have a healthy, lush lawn by the time spring rolls around.  Here are some simple steps to winterize your landscape.

Soil Testing

Soil testing your yard is one of the easiest ways to determine the overall health of your landscape. Measuring the pH and nutrient levels of your property allows us to prescribe the best fall and spring lawn care plan for your soil’s specific needs.

Mowing and Maintenance

Cool weather grasses will continue to grow in Central PA in the fall. It’s important to continue to cut your lawn until the first frost of the season. You may even want to cut the grass slightly shorter than usual. This makes it easier to aerate and fertilize.

Aeration and Fertilization

This is the best time to aerate and fertilize your lawn. Fertilizing the grass now will ensure it has the nutrients it needs to thrive in the spring, while aeration will allow the roots easier access to those nutrients. The aeration and fertilization one-two punch is one of the best ways to prepare your lawn for the winter ahead and the spring to follow.

Removing Dead and Dying Plants

Pruning and removing dead trees does more than improve your landscape’s appearance. It also prevents possible property damage from falling limbs and branches. As an added bonus, removing smaller dead plants from gardens and composting the remains is a natural way to give your garden beds a boost for the spring.

Remove Leaves and Debris

Ailing limbs and branches aren’t the only dead things that need to go when prepping your lawn for winter. Removing leaves, which prevents bald spots on your lawn and reduces cleanup after a snowfall, is essential for a healthy lawn in the spring.

Mulching

As temps cool in mid to late Fall covering temperature-sensitive plants with mulch will help insulate your garden from the dropping temperatures of the season. It will also help reduce weeds come springtime.

Herbicide

It may seem strange to worry about killing weeds in the fall, but using a well timed pre-emergent herbicide now will leave grass with more room to grow and minimize early germinating weeds in mulch and planting beds

Ready to prep your lawn for winter? The experts at Hively offer fall lawn care services so you can have a beautiful landscape by spring. Contact us today.