12 Fall Lawn Care Secrets for Healthy Grass in the Spring

Adjust Your Mowing Height

If, in summer, you raised the height of your lawn mower to reduce heat stress to your lawn, return the mower deck to its normal height in fall (about 3 inches is best for most grasses). Cutting your lawn slightly shorter in autumn helps prevent the grass from matting down under leaves and snow. However, avoid cutting the grass too short. Tightly clipped turf has fewer roots and allows weeds to get a foothold.

Give Your Grass Plenty of Water

If a summer drought persists into autumn, consider watering your turf deeply a couple of times before frost sets in. Fall lawn care that includes a couple of soaks several inches deep helps the lawn transition to winter before the soil freezes. Frequently, the fall weather pattern will change, and nature will provide the moisture for you. But if you have to water, do so in the morning, when the winds are lighter, which will limit evaporation.

Apply Fertilizer

If you live in the north, fall is the best time to fertilize your lawn. Cool-season grasses, such as bluegrass, fescue, and ryegrass, respond well to feeding in early September and late fall (late October or November). It helps them green up earlier and look better in spring.

In the south, on the other hand, avoid fertilizing dormant warm-season grasses unless they've been overseeded with winter ryegrass.

Attack Weeds

Creating a healthy, lush lawn is the best way to choke out weeds without relying on chemical herbicides. Focus on mowing at the proper height, aerating as needed, and adding fertilizer to provide essential nutrients. Smaller weeds usually will be shaded out when your lawn is in top shape.

For larger weeds, break out your weeding tools and pull up these pesky plants, roots and all. If you must use a weed killer, follow the label instructions carefully and target just the weeds you want to kill rather than treating your entire lawn.

Repair Dead Patches

Early fall lawn care should include reseeding dead or thin patches in cool-season lawns. If you seed in autumn, you'll have fewer weeds next year. And the seedlings will become established before stressful hot weather conditions arrive. A mulch product embedded with seed and fertilizer is a convenient way to fill the gaps. Be sure to prepare the soil bed with a rake before seeding, and encourage quick germination by watering the new seed regularly for a couple of weeks after application.

Lay Sod

Fall is an excellent time to start a new cool-season lawn or patch existing turf with sod. Moderate temperatures and abundant moisture get sod off to a quick start. High-quality sod will be thick, dense, and weed-free. It's a convenient way to get an instant solution to bare spots. If conditions turn dry, be prepared to water new sod daily.

Check for Thatch

Thatch is a layer of dead organic matter near the soil surface. A thick layer of thatch can lead to disease and insect problems as well as damage from drought and cold weather. Thatch may develop when you over-fertilize your lawn or water too frequently. Check for thatch by turning over a small area of turf with a spade. One inch of thatch or less is not a problem. If there's more than that, your lawn will benefit from removing some.

Remove Excess Thatch

Dethatching involves cutting through the thatch layer and ripping out the debris. Power rakes or vertical mowers are effective tools for this and can be rented from hardware stores and rental agencies. Use a hand rake to remove the thatch from the lawn after it's been pulled out by one of these machines. Compost the removed thatch.

Aerate

Aeration is fall lawn care that reduces thatch, improves drainage, and loosens soil. Core aerators are the preferred type of aerators. They remove plugs of soil, or cores, breaking up thatch and improving soil structure. The cores are left on top of the turf and slowly break up depending on rain, mowing, and traffic on the turf. Aerate cool-season grasses in early fall and warm-season grasses in spring.

Apply a Topdressing

Topdressing means applying a thin layer of soil or compost to your existing turf. The process improves growing conditions by reducing thatch, increasing the amount of organic matter in the soil, smoothing bumps in the lawn, and lessening the need for fertilizer. Spread a ¼- to ½-inch layer of high-quality soil over the entire lawn, especially in problem areas where grass is thinning. Be sure to dethatch or aerate before you apply a topdressing during fall lawn care. Then work the topdressing into the soil by raking it in.

Remove Fallen Leaves

Remove fallen leaves by raking them or mulching them with a mower before they mat down and smother your grass. A mulching mower works well to shred small amounts of leaves and returns the shredded organic matter to the soil, much like topdressing. Stay on top of mulching fallen leaves by running over the lawn with a mulching mower every few days for late fall lawn care. When many leaves are present, rake them off the lawn and compost them.

Drain Irrigation Lines

Completely drain your lawn's irrigation system before freezing weather arrives. You can empty the system with compressed air or use drain valves. For best results, shut off the water to the system and drain each zone separately. Also, drain the main supply line from the house. If you use an air compressor, don't exceed 50 psi of air pressure.