Fall Lawn Care

At this time of year, many people are delighted they no longer have to mow their lawn. However there are a few concerns to watch out for, even in this cooler weather, and certain precautions will help you keep your lawn healthy in preparation for spring next year. This will result in less effort needed in following years.

Mowing
Make sure your mower blade is always sharp, to prevent ripping of grass blades. Regular mowing during the growing season should keep the blade height for most grasses at 1.5-2 inches. Keeping it shorter prevents disease problems, but don’t keep it too short, or it won’t grow a good root system. Try to cut the grass as soon as it reaches 1.5 times the height you want it, so you’re only clipping off a third of its height every time, and use a mulcher so you’re returning the nutrients to the ground. Towards fall, and depending on what type of grass you have, some people recommend mowing to leave slightly taller grass, so it can increase its root system over winter. Late October to mid November should be the last time you need to mow, when grass-growth stops.

Fertilizing
The early fall months are a good time to feed the lawn with a fall or winter type of lawn fertilizer. This is one of the most important applications of the year because it helps stimulate root growth through winter, which helps top growth for the following year. This fall feeding also helps keep the lawn looking nice throughout the fall, winter, and early spring. Most nurseries, garden centers, and garden outlets feature special fall or winter types of lawn fertilizer. A word of caution to those living in watershed areas, please do not over-fertilize as the run off ends up in the bodies of water closest to you and cause detrimental effects to aquatic ecosystems as well as drinking water.

Weeds
Weeds are unsightly and should be removed as soon as you spot them, to prevent them spreading like... er... weeds. This can include dandelions, chickweed, crabgrass, and even moss. Note that low mowing allows more sunlight to reach the soil, which encourages weed seed growth while a higher mowing height causes the soil to be in deeper shade, which discourages weed seed growth.

Mushrooms
Mushrooms are the spore-producing structures of some kinds of fungi. Most of these fungi are beneficial, as they break down organic matter and release nutrients that are necessary for plant growth. In fall, as the weather begins to cool, mushrooms often pop up in lawns, causing people to wonder where they're coming from and how to control them. Mushrooms develop on thatch (decomposing grass leaves and stems) or dead tree roots. The fungi that produce the mushrooms are harmless to grasses, but you may consider them unsightly, or you may want to get rid of them because young children play in the area. There are no chemicals (fungicides) that are effective in controlling mushroom-producing fungi, so you need to use cultural methods to control them. If the mushrooms are coming from dead roots, the best control is to dig the roots up. If excessive thatch is causing the problem, then dethatching the lawn in fall is the best solution. Dethatching removes the fungi's food source. Simply removing the mushrooms may make your lawn look better, but it will not kill the fungal mycellium from which the mushrooms grow. Never eat a mushroom unless you are sure it is safe.

Diseases
There are several lawn diseases you should watch for in the fall. Dirty, white, tan, or brown patches can indicate a sign of snow mold, fusarium patch, or pink snow mold. If pink spots or webbing appear on the lower blades of the grass, red thread is probably the cause. A good application of a fall fertilizer usually helps clear it up. This disease should not be mistaken for the redness caused by early frost damage. Keeping your lawn healthy through efficient mowing, fertilizing, watering and aerating, should help you prevent most of these problems. If the patches are small, removing the turf with a small buffer along with it should be enough, and easily repaired with a bit of turf, or grass-seed. As a last resort, lawn fungicides can be used, however keep in mind these sorts of applications usually end up in the ground-water, and finally in our watershed.

Finally, as leaves begin to fall onto the lawn from nearby trees, rake them and add them to the compost pile, because they offer no winter protection to the lawn. In fact, they become a wet, slimy mess if left on the lawn, ultimately smothering it and ruining its appearance.

Talk to your local garden centre for more tips on keeping your lawn healthy through the fall, and enjoy the winter months!