With temperatures dropping and leaves beginning to change color, you may think that maintaining your landscaping is over until spring. But not so fast. By staying proactive throughout the fall, you can minimize spring lawn care tasks, control weed growth and greatly improve the health and appearance of your lawn.
Five Ways to Prepare Your Yard for Fall
During the fall, homeowners need to perform maintenance and clean up — so don’t put away your rakes and hoses just yet. Keep your lawn and plants thriving and healthy with these landscape cleaning tips for the fall:
- Mow later: Continue to mow your lawn throughout fall until grass growth finally starts to slow. For the last cut of the season, readjust your mower blade setting to about one or two inches and give the lawn a close cut before the cool winter temperatures set in. Shorter grass heights will help the soil dry out quickly in the spring and produce a more lush lawn.
- Remove top layer debris: Manage leaf litter and other debris settling on the top layer of your grass. Keep some leaves and debris to allow helpful pollinators like butterflies to settle throughout winter, but remove thick layers of fallen leaves. These leaf layers will block sunlight and air from reaching your grass while also encouraging disease and pest infestations.
- Keep watering grass and plants: Even though summer temperatures are a distant memory, it doesn’t mean your plants and grass no longer need water to stay healthy. Keep watering early in the morning to maintain the health and condition of your landscaping.
- Aerate and feed the lawn: One of the most important fall cleanup tips is to aerate your lawn, breaking up soil and making sure necessary nutrients reach grassroots throughout the winter. As you aerate, apply a fall lawn fertilizer with a high phosphorous content to encourage root growth when spring arrives.
- Prune trees and protect sensitive perennials: Inspect your trees and shrubs — trim any large or dead tree branches that could cause damage after heavy snowfall. Divide any healthy perennials you’d like to see in the spring and start to prep sensitive perennials and shrubs for winter temperatures and conditions. Add fresh mulch to the base of plants and wrap them in cloth barriers for added frost protection.
Keep Your Lawn Pristine With Fall Lawn Cleanup Services From Shearer Patio & Landscape Services
For almost 20 years, Shearer Patio & Landscape Services has offered the most complete landscaping and lawn care services for residents throughout Columbus and its surrounding communities including Marysville, Upper Arlington, and Worthington. Our team of experienced lawn care and maintenance professionals are dedicated to keeping your home’s landscaping healthy, lush and pristine with our personalized care plans, quality products, and knowledgeable solutions.
We offer comprehensive cleanup services to prepare your lawn for fall including shrub and tree pruning, flower bed cleaning, weed control, debris removal, and aeration. Schedule fall cleanup services today by filling out our contact form or calling us at 614-889-9981.
