Many people only tend to their lawn during the summer and spring season. The only time they take out their mower, spreader and other gear is when the weather gets hot and the grass starts to grow. But what many people don't realize is that if they care for their lawn during fall season, they can be able to repair damage caused by summer, fall and winter but they can also actually reduce weeds during the spring, thus resulting to a healthier and more improved lawn.

Caring for your lawn in the fall can actually help you get through the winter and prep it up for the spring season. To do this, it is important to feed your lawn. This can spell a huge difference to your lawn in the next spring. You can initially experience dramatic changes in your lawn, as you see it recover from summer damage. Do not just take it from there though, as you can notice real improvement in the second feeding during late fall.

The second feeding can help seal in early fall vitality into your lawn and carry them in the coming spring. This also allows your grass what it needs to get ready for the winter season as well. Underground root development will continue for the grass as it absorbs vital nutrients, until the ground freezes solid in the winter. Then, when spring arrives, the grass will immediately tap stored nutrition to enhance growth, thus turning it into a healthy and vibrant looking lawn. As a matter of fact, feeding your lawn twice during fall season can be the the first to become green in the spring.

Moreover, some of the most common mistakes homeowners do when prepping up their lawn for the winter are starving the grass, in which they deprive the lawn of its much needed nourishment in the winter; letting tree leaves thickly cover the grass, which robs the lawn off the sunlight needed for photosynthesis and when they stop mowing. Keep in mind that grass must not be showed unless it stops growing. You should maintain mower height all throughout the fall and not be tempted to mow the lawn short as the winter season approaches.

Furthermore, if you are using a mulch lawnmower and the leaves are somewhat heavy, you may want to store your chopped up leaves and grass clippings on a compost pile instead of allowing them to sit on your lawn. This way, you can avoid these residues from clumping and covering your grass.


If you are considering nutrients for feeding your lawn in the fall, try those that are rich in nitrogen and potassium. These nutrients work well together to provide nourishment to your grass especially in it root development stage. Phosphorus should be the very least in your lawn feeding as mature grass do not really need much of this nutrient, except when seeding, which requires a special fertilizer that is rich in phosphorus. Always make sure that the quality of your fertilizer is good.

In addition, fall is an excellent time to pull out weeds such as clover, dandelions and ground ivy. In fact, using a special weed and feed winterizer rather than a regular winterizer can save you time. Just make sure that you apply it to moist foilage on a 'no-rain' day. This can result to a weed-free lawn come spring.


Lawns also need about an inch of water per week in order to thrive, especially if there is not enough rainfall. You can use a rain gauge to measure the amount of rainfall you are getting and the amount of time needed for running your sprinklers. When irrigating, you may want to water about half an inch so that it can soak down and deep. Lastly, aerate your lawn if its thatch is longer than half an inch. This can help the thatch decompose and open the soil for oxygen to get through.

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