While you may associate lawn care with summertime, maintaining a healthy lawn requires year-round care. To keep your lawn healthy during fall and winter, there are steps you need to take during the summer to prepare your grass for the cold-weather months ahead. These simple steps can help you ensure that your lawn is ready for fall.
Soil Test
As fall nears, get your soil tested. This allows you to correct any nutrient deficiencies or pH imbalances during the fall. By correcting early, your lawn will be healthy come springtime. Lawn maintenance companies in Reno can perform this test and recommend any needed changes.
Continue Mowing
Continue to water and mow your lawn during the fall until it stops growing. As you reach the final weeks of fall, gradually set your mower to the lowest blade setting. This will keep your grass alive and healthy as long as possible.
Repair
If you notice dry or sparse patches in your grass, summer is an ideal time to take care of them. Add seed or apply plant feed now so that your lawn is ready when temperatures begin to drop.
Fertilize
Since fertilization can interfere with the winter hardening process of summer turf grass, you should not fertilize your warm weather grass in the fall. Instead, you should fertilize it one last time in the summer before the cold weather sets in.
Rake
When thatch builds up in your yard, water cannot penetrate the roots of your grass. To allow your grass to grow as long as possible, keep thatch to a minimum by raking your lawn or any areas that have a layer of compacted thatch.
Lawn care doesn’t end with summer. To keep your lawn healthy all year, always think ahead to the coming season and take steps to prepare. As you follow these steps this summer, your lawn will be ready when fall comes. If you don’t have the experience or supplies to take these steps, contact professionals in Reno lawn maintenance for assistance.