Gardening: Preparing Your Lawn for Autumn

Cary, NC — It may not feel like it yet, but tomorrow is the beginning of the fall season and that means you should start thinking about how the coming weather changes will affect your lawn.

Here are some quick tips for making sure your lawn is ready for autumn.

Get Your Rakes Ready

Autumn means falling leaves and they can hurt your grass by preventing sunlight and other nutrients from reaching them. Worst of all, as the fallen leaves rot and get wet, they will create a pulp that can spread throughout your lawn and garden and cause more problems down the line.

Rake your lawn as much as you can to keep it clear. You can have your leaves collected or you can mulch them to create a natural fertilizer for future use.

Strengthen Roots & Protect Through Winter

The main thing to consider when preparing your lawn and garden for Autumn is you are waiting for winter. That is the season that will really cause problems for your plants. So what you are aiming to do is fortify your lawn for the cold temperatures and possible frost and snow.

Continue to water your lawn on the regular schedule so it will have enough water saved up in its roots when it may get harder to absorb water in winter. The same goes for fertilizer and any nutrients you have been giving your lawn. Also, sugars and nutrients will help protect the roots from freezing.

Another way to help your lawn ready itself for winter will be to aerate your lawn. Plugging in holes will bring in more oxygen and also loosen the soil to get roots and other debris out of the way.


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