Preparing Your Yard for Fall Weather
As the weather cools and the temperatures drop, it can be difficult to keep a nice looking lawn. Naturally healthy lawn care generally requires plenty of water, good soil, and sunlight. Although the colder fall weathers bring two of these conditions, the sunlight can be lacking. Fortunately, there are ways to improve the condition of your lawn and prepare it for the coming spring.
Wait longer between cuts
By leaving your grass just a little longer, usually between 2 and a half inches and 3 and a half inches, you can usually improve your lawn?s health. Waiting a little longer in between cuts also provides you with additional advantages. You will cut your lawn care costs by not having to use as much gas for the mower or moisturizer for the freshly cut grass. Instead, the grass itself will act as a type of organic lawn care, acting as a growing soil for the grass. You are also helping out the environment with environmentally responsible lawn care. A naturally healthy lawn is one that does not use a lot of harmful products or excess use of mowers and weed whippers.
Plant natural growing plants
By planting natural growing plants, you can increase your naturally healthy lawn. These natural plants will also encourage further growth from surrounding plants and will improve the air quality of your yard. For example, in a well maintained, thick 10,000 square foot (929 square meters) lawn, there will be 6 turf plants per square inch (25.4 millimeters), 850 turf plants per square foot (30.45 square meters) for a total of 8.5 million turf plants. These turf plants contribute to a naturally healthy lawn and a low maintenance lawn care.
Avoid harmful lawn products
Lawn products with a lot of strong ingredients are never a good idea. However, using them in the fall can be even worse. The fall weather is usually met with an increase in rain. Approximately 40 to 60% of nitrogen from fertilizer runs off or leaches away, ending up in ground or surface water, including wells. As winter follows shortly behind, these same products are then frozen and reintroduced in the coming spring months. Your plants, come spring, can have a hard time growing because of this. Always use natural lawn care products and only use products if natural attempts have failed.
Complete a thorough lawn cleanup
There is a short period of time between the end of fall and the beginning of winter. At this point, you are left with a yard full of leaves and tree debris. It can be tempting to put off this task until spring. However, once the leaves freeze over and sit for many months, the spring cleanup task is much more difficult. For a naturally healthy lawn come spring, complete a thorough lawn cleanup right at the end of fall. If the task seems like too much, hire a professional cleanup company.
The fall brings colder weather, slower grass growing speed, and a desire to spend more time indoors. However, it is still important to maintain and keep up with your lawn care during these cooler months. Your lawn care activities during the fall months will make spring cleanup easier and will ensure that you have a beautiful and naturally healthy lawn, come spring. It is also important to avoid high chemical products during this cleanup time. Always go with a natural and environmentally friendly lawn care option.