Fall lawn prep?

[Luck e 1]

Hey guys...

Jusyt wondering what I should be getting ready to do with my lawn this fall. This is my first fall in the new house, and I would love to do some things to help the lawn pop come spring time.

I see about overseeding and aerating...but don't know much about how to do them.

[TR21]

Luck e 1,

There are a lot of things to consider here. Is it a new lawn,

what type of soil, are there a lot of trees on the lot? Now is a great time to overseed if it's an older lawn or if it looks worn out. Just use your drop spreader and apply the seed at the prescibed rate. If you haven't fertilized in awhile now would be a good time to fertilize but not if you have seeded.

Actually Haloween is the best time to apply a winterizer fertilizer on your lawn. No need to aerate if your lawn is new.

But if you have a lot of trees on your lot the roots from the trees compete with the grass and bind the soil. Rent a simple aerator from the hardware store and follow directions.

[hotrod1]

If you plan on doing any seeding and you have broadleaf weeds (dandilions, clover, etc), I would suggest taking care of the weeds first. After a couple weeks, rent an aerifier which are easy to operate, broadcast seed and then drag the lawn with something like a piece of fence or even lightly rake if the lawn is small which will break up the plugs and move some of the seed and busted up plugs into the holes. Then I would apply a fertilizer. And water the lawn. Then towards the end of Oct I would apply another application of the fertilizer.

Do this and you should be happy with your lawn next spring.

Good luck

[Luck e 1]

The lawn is not new. House built in 1985. Was a foreclosure so it was neglected. I just put down a fertilizer before we got all the rain on Wednesday.

There is moderate tree cover and four crab apple trees ( lots of apples). I get lots of mushrooms in the fall.

In fact I do have some clover and other weeds that are there...So I was thinking of spraying here this week.

[Tom7227]

Biff the weeds now with a product like Weed-B-Gone or something that his Trimec in it. You may have to do this a couple times to get rid of them the best you can.

I would recommend that you wait until mid-September to do the work. Rent a plug style aerator and do the entire lawn. It will pill out plugs that make it look like geese have been out there doing their thing. After you've done that you can put down the seed. I strongly recommend that you go to a garden store and get a recommendation from them on the type of seed you need - sunny, shady or mixture. Then in mid-October you can put down a starter fertilizer that will help develop the roots.

I have had excellent success working with Steve at the Hugo Feed Mill. He'll take the time to get you the right stuff and if you ask he'll put you on a mailing list to get e-mails which give a lot of good timely information about what to do and when. The biggest mistake I see people making is putting product down at the wrong time and wasting it as well as adding chemicals to the environment when they aren't doing any good.

[Luck e 1]

Tom...why is it good to wait until mid-sept? It feels like the growing weather shortens down that it wouldn't be enough time. I am probably wrong..but just wondering.

Thanks for all the help guys.

[hotrod1]

One of the products I use to control weeds says to wait 3-4 weeks after the herbicide is applied to do any seeding so if you spray this week, that would put you around the middle of sept.

Read the label on the herbicide you use, It should tell you how long to wait before seeding.

Otherwise, the best time to seed is now through mid to late sept. I have seeded in early october and pushed it with starter fertilizer and had it growing good before freeze up.

[deerminator]

Once you take care of the weeds, I'm a big fan of going au natural and controlling them by setting your mower on the highest setting. Thick, healthy grass will choke out most of the weeds on its own. In addition to leaving our law long but well-manicured, we overseed in the spring and fall with a home-blended mix and fertilize with an organic fertilizer at the same time. I prefer this because we have lots of kids and dogs running around on it almost all the time. Also, I used to detatch in the spring before reseeding but I didn't get around to it and I honestly don't think it made a difference this year.

[Tom7227]

Tom...why is it good to wait until mid-sept? It feels like the growing weather shortens down that it wouldn't be enough time. I am probably wrong..but just wondering.

Thanks for all the help guys.

Less liklihood of overly hot weather, some rain (although we've had enough this late August). It's just what I've been told. I've done it and had very good results. Given the weather this year you probably could go ahead and do it now.

If you have any slopes consider putting down a erosion control blanket. I didn't in one project until about the 4th time I had to redo it. The blankets are pricey but they can really help solve the problems. If you have a flater area then consider putting down some straw after you've seeded. I have done this as well and it really makes a significant difference. Light covering so it shades an area. Too thick will inhibit the growth. Steve at the Hugo Mill even has had me put down some oats with the grass see to hold things together and stop erosion and keep things from drying out. Letting it dry out too much is nearly as bad as over-watering it. Honestly it takes some time to learn how to do it correctly, but spending that time will mean success vs repeated failure.

[RumRiverRat]

The lawn is not new. House built in 1985. Was a foreclosure so it was neglected. I just put down a fertilizer before we got all the rain on Wednesday.

There is moderate tree cover and four crab apple trees ( lots of apples). I get lots of mushrooms in the fall.

In fact I do have some clover and other weeds that are there...So I was thinking of spraying here this week.

I am confused about this part, if this is the first fall in the house how do you know about getting mushrooms in the yard?

[Luck e 1]

I guess what I meant was that this is the first fall where I have the opportunity to do anything about the lawn.