As the weather cools down, we often think we’re off the hook for our lawns until Spring. Though we may not have to worry about the amount of upkeep that comes with the warmer months, don’t make the mistake of thinking that nothing needs to be done to your yard this fall. There are still plenty of projects you can do when the weather gets colder and plenty of things you should do to ensure the health of your lawn throughout the fall and winter months.
Preparing Your Lawn
Fall is the perfect time to rejuvenate your lawn. The cool weather means you will have to mow, fertilize and water your lawn less frequently, giving you time to aerate and over-seed the grass. A fall fertilizer and routine watering before winter will give your lawn a head start for spring and maintaining a full lawn will also help you to prevent weeds, which will save you time once spring rolls around. Most importantly, be sure to rake up those leaves that fall onto your lawn during the fall. Left unattended, leaves will suffocate the grass and your lawn won’t be able to recover the following spring.
“Aerating your lawn, at an average cost of $60, in September or early October is a great way to help loosen compacted soil, which allows water and nutrients to penetrate the soil and help promote root growth, creating a healthier lawn less susceptible to fungus and drought,” explains Lee Schumacher with TDK Lawncare. “Also, if you found any bare spots in your lawn or your lawn looks thin, after aerating is a good time to overseed your lawn with drought and fungus-resistant seed. You will need about 5-8 pounds per 1000 square feet, which can be purchased for around $2.50 per pound.”
“Fall is our transitional season,” says Ken Svoboda of Ray’s Lawn and Homecare. “We are so lucky in the Midwest to have such beautiful falls with its colors and textures. Your lawn and landscape need your help in the fall even more so than in the spring. To prepare for winter, you should keep leaves from accumulating and matting on the lawn. This can smother your turf and if left under snow cover, can kill your turf under heavily matted areas. This of October, you should start lowering the mowing height of your mower by one notch on the wheels and at your last mowing of the season, cutting at 2” or usually the second notch from the lowest setting. Water frequently and deep. New landscape plants, especially trees, should be watered until the ground freezes.”
“Do not rely on the big box store for help,” Lee Schumacher continues. “Most of these individuals do not have the proper education. All lawn care specialists applying fertilizer are state certified and have a better knowledge of what works best in our climate and can tailor a program that meets your lawn needs. Remember, aerate, overseed, water and don’t panic. This year was tough on our lawns with the high heat and humidity, but most lawns will recover.”
Choosing a lawn care company or landscaper to help you with your fall needs is an excellent idea. Not only do they know the right things to do to your lawn at the right time, but they will also free up your time to enjoy the things you’d rather be doing on your days off than spending it in the yard!
Fall Planting
Surprisingly, autumn offers a much better climate for planting flowers, trees and seeds than the spring. The cooler and more predictable temperatures in addition to rainfall are much more nurturing to plants as they settle into your landscape. Planting in fall also gives seeds and roots the time to establish themselves in the soil before rough winter conditions.
You might also consider layering mulch over your freshly planted seeds and plants in order to give them protection from winter weather. Once spring returns, these plants will be at an advantage because they are settled, rested and ready to grow quickly.
The end of summer does not have to be the end of color in your landscape. Choosing plants for their fall color, persistent flowers, and ornamental berries will keep your yard attractive well after the first frost. Many trees and shrubs produce brilliantly colored foliage in autumn.
Why do the leaves change color? As temperatures drop, and days shorten in the fall, plants show off their yellow, orange and red pigments. These colors have been present in the leaves all along, but were masked by green pigments during the growing season.
In addition to fall color many trees and shrubs can provide fall and winter interest through their fruit and flowers. Several trees and shrubs also have interesting bark and silhouettes throughout the winter months.
Winterizing Annual Beds
After harvesting your fruits and flowers, remove old plant matter from the garden, placing it in your compost bin. Leaving it behind in the garden would invite plant diseases next growing season.
Next, you should rototill your garden soil. Rototilling now may seem premature, but it will make your spring rototilling work go much easier. Make a habit of rototilling each year both in the fall and in the spring. Drain the old gas out of the rototiller afterwards. If you are going to rototill, this is the time to apply lime (if soil tests have indicated that your pH is too low). The effects of liming don’t manifest themselves for several months, so liming in the spring is too late for next year’s crop.
You also need to protect your topsoil from the rigors of winter. To protect topsoil, you can either plant a cover crop for large beds or you can apply a mulch. Mulching is more efficient for smaller beds and landscapers have a ready source of mulch in the leaves that they rake.
Choosing a Landscaper
To have the best spring landscaping experience possible, you need to make sure you’re working with the right landscaper. Here are a few tips on how to choose the right one for you:
Decide what you are looking for Not all landscapers do the same thing, so you first need to decide what services you’d like your landscaper to perform. Are you looking strictly for lawn care or do you also want your landscaper to pretty up your yard with flowers, bushes or trees? Do you want any hardscape materials installed? Lighting? Do you want your landscape maintained throughout the year? Once you have decided this, you can choose a landscaper who fits in with what you want. You may even end up choosing two or more different landscapers who specialize in certain parts of your yard (one who is an expert in planting exotic flowers, for example and one who does general lawn care).
“Check with your neighbors, friends, family and co-workers,” states Ken Svoboda. “Chances are someone you know has used a professional. Referrals are normally a reliable source. Don’t be afraid to ask for references. A professional should have several at their fingertips.”
Set up appointments Once you have narrowed down your list of potential landscapers, invite each out to take a look at the work you want done. Don’t be afraid to ask them lots of questions, ask for references and get at least a ballpark estimate on the work you’d like done. Remember, if you’re comparing estimates, you need to make sure you are comparing ‘apples to apples’ by having each company bid on the same work.
Work with the same professional year-round Did you work with a professional help you get your spring landscaping done? Did you have a lawncare service help you out throughout the summer months? Have you used a professional in the past whose work you liked? If you’ve already found a landscaper who you like, there is no reason to change now. The benefit of consistently working with the same landscaper is that they will get to know your yard and what works best for the environment, as well as what your personal likes and dislikes are. Additionally, showing this type of loyalty might give you the best pick of trees, plants or other items that the landscaper has to offer or may even qualify you for discounts.
Trees
Many people may be surprised to find out that tree services work every day during the winter. “While our trees in Lincoln are dormant during the fall/winter, it is a great time to have trees trimmed,” says Ed Lankas with Blue Ox Tree Service. “It is also a good time to have trees removed because the ground tends to be frozen. A third service to consider during the fall/winter is to have an precarious limbs over houses, garages, or electrical lines removed or thinned if home owners think these limbs may be susceptible to falling or breaking during winter storms.”
There are different types of tree pruning and each is done for different reasons. “There is crown cleaning, crown thinning and crown rising. Crown cleaning is when our crew removes the dead, dying, and diseased branches of the tree to improve the tree’s health, safety, and aesthetics. Crown thinning is done primarily to reduce the density of the tree to allow better air flow and light penetration resulting in a healthier tree. Crown thinning also stimulates growth and vibrancy of the remaining limbs. Crown rising entails removing the lower branches to provide vertical clearance for people, cars, boats, and RVs.”
If you are considering working with a tree service this fall, make sure you put some time into choosing the right one. “I strongly recommend arranging a face-to-face meeting with any arborist you are considering hiring to work on one of your most treasured investments (other than your family) – your personal property. I suggest people get recommendations from neighbors, friends or business associates who have had professional tree care work done in the past. I’d also highly recommend people pay attention to their instinctive feelings when contacting tree services by phone as well as when the tree service sends a representative to meet with you and look at your trees. A few other suggestions include verifying the tree service is licensed and insured, is a member of the Better Business Bureau, a member of Tree Care Industry Association, LIBA or Chamber of Commerce, as well as being contributors to our local community through volunteering and participation in civic activities.”
Other Outdoor Projects
Fall is a great time to focus on outdoor projects because the weather is generally decent (unless we get an early snowfall or cold snap) and you can work outdoors without getting overheated. It’s an especially good time for ‘hardscape’ projects (those that don’t involve live vegetation). Here are some ideas:
The most common hardscape features of most landscapes are the driveway and the walkways. These elements are almost necessary. The driveway provides a place for the homeowner to park his or her car, and the walkways are important in providing a place to walk without damaging the rest of the landscape. There are many different types of projects that can be accomplished when putting in a driveway or walkway. However, many people simply choose to use concrete. Other surfaces can be just as useful, and more attractive, though. For a driveway, gravel is low cost alternative to concrete. It can be annoying, however, as the small rocks tend to be transferred to other parts of the property. Asphalt can be used if you have a bigger budget. It will not wear as quickly as concrete, and it has more give. For walkways, you can create a very attractive walk by laying down flat stones. These look more natural, and they are less of an eyesore than are concrete sidewalks.
Decks and Patios
Other common hardscape features include decks and patios. These are great projects that serve a number of purposes, most notably being places where the homeowners can sit and enjoy their landscape. They also make great platforms for entertaining and outdoor cooking. Most patios are simply squares of concrete in the back yard. Decks, of course, come in all shapes and sizes. Some are built low and in the front, serving as porches, and others are built in the back and high, like a terrace. In any case, these projects can be tailored to fit the needs of the homeowner, and they also serve another purpose: to decrease the amount of lawn that needs to be maintained.
Fall is a great time to focus on your landscape, not just to prepare your lawn, trees and gardens for winter, but also to do some improvements that will make your home more beautiful and enjoyable year-round. Remember, if you’re unsure which projects you should undertake or don’t have the time or knowledge to work on your landscape, you can never go wrong with hiring a professional to do the job for you!