Fall Landscaping Projects That Take a Professional Touch
Fall is the ideal time to prep your lawn for next season. Fall landscaping projects can capitalize on slowing above-ground growth and increased root development of your lawn. Homeowners can do many fall lawn care tasks, but these three are best left to the professionals.
Fall is a busy time for most homeowners. Between school starting back up and preparing for winter, there is little time left to spend on lawn care maintenance activities. Nevertheless, this time of year is vastly important for your lawn.
Because of the limited time available to most, homeowners find that their fall lawn care schedule never gets implemented. The problem that exists, however, is fall is the best season to develop a healthier lawn. It is when you want to aerate your lawn, apply fertilizer and stay on top of general lawn care maintenance as your grass prepares for winter. The reason all these fall lawn care steps are required is to ensure your grass wakes up in the spring happy, healthy and ready for an entire summer of use.
How to Get Fall Landscaping Projects Done
The number one way to be sure all your fall landscaping projects get done is to bring in a professional landscaper. There are three reasons why hiring a professional will ensure fall lawn care gets completed.
Fall Lawn Care Projects Better Handled by a Professional
There are just certain fall landscaping projects where a professional landscaper can do the job faster and more efficient. Mowing is one thing, but when you start talking about aerating, fertilizing and overseeding your lawn its hard for most to complete these tasks successfully themselves. These three tasks, especially, require a professional touch.
Lawn Aeration
Most lawns require aeration every year. Depending on how extensively you use your lawn and for what purpose as well as the soil type it may need aerated more often. A simple poke test with a screwdriver or other sharp object is an easy way to determine if its time to aerate your lawn. If you are unsure, a lawn care professional can quickly provide an assessment as to whether your lawn would benefit from being aerated.
Lawn aeration requires specialized equipment and the knowledge of a professional to be done right. Trying to aerate your lawn by yourself will be time consuming, more expensive and potentially damaging to your lawn if done incorrectly.
Feeding Your Lawn
Cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and others typically found in most Pennsylvania lawns thrive in cooler temperatures. Spring and fall seasons are the most active time of growth for many lawns, which is also the ideal time for fertilizing.
The optimal time to fertilizer in the fall is about six weeks before the average first frost in your area. In southcentral Pennsylvania, this is generally around the second or third week in October. The added nutrients will benefit awaking cool season grasses that will spur shoot and stem growth but more importantly root growth. Added root growth increases food reserves for winter and primes lawns for a jump start in spring. Weed control is also important and can be completed in conjunction with fertilizing. Cool season weeds will make an appearance and can gain a foothold without treatment before winter.
Overseeding
What is overseeding? It is the practice of spreading grass seed over and existing lawn. It helps to fill in bare spots and provides fresh growth for aging turf. Cool-season grass benefit the most from it so in Pennsylvania it is very important.
Overseeding your lawn helps to replace mature grass where individual grass plants start to naturally die back. A healthy lawn is a young lawn. One misconception many homeowners believe is that an old, mature lawn is best. On the contrary, a younger lawn produces new shoots quicker which means a thicker and greener lawn. To keep a lawn young, overseeding is necessary. Overseeding in the fall provides optimal growing conditions for new grass. It becomes successfully established and ready to make it through winter.
Save yourself the headaches and finding the time to complete fall landscaping projects by bringing in a professional for tasks such as aeration, fertilizing and overseeding. Plan these projects into your fall lawn care schedule, including the planning the costs, and your lawn will thank you come next spring.
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