When the weather cools and the leaves in your yard turn golden, you sigh with relief, knowing that your
weekly list of outdoor chores is about to get a lot lighter. However, you need to take care of a few
important things before the snow starts to fall, especially if you want your lawn to grow in lush and green
in the spring. Here are two essential lawn care tasks you should tackle this fall and why they matter.
1. Rake Leaves
Since leaves are organic, most homeowners figure that a few falling leaves may actually help to fertilize
their lawns. While leaves can decompose and return essential nutrients to plants, they can also cause a long
list of problems for your lawn, especially if you have several trees in your yard that produce large amounts
of foliage.
When leaves fall in large numbers, they can cover your lawn and become compacted, blocking sunlight and
water. When large accumulations of leaves become trapped under snow piles, they can even compress your lawn
so significantly that it makes it difficult for your lawn to absorb nutrients or let excess water evaporate,
paving the way for mold and fungal growth. In fact, leaf accumulations are so dangerous for your lawn that
they can kill large swaths of your lawn, which is why raking is so crucial.
Fortunately, preventing lawn damage in the fall is easy if you have a rake or a lawnmower with a bag
attachment. If you have trees in your yard that are actively dropping leaves, use a rake to move all of the
leaves into a single pile, then bag them up and remove them as soon as possible.
If you have limited mobility, one easy way to remove leaves is by mowing your lawn with the bag attached.
As you give your lawn one last mow before winter, the blade will deposit the fallen leaves into the bag,
making it easy to remove them in one fell swoop.
2. Aerate the Soil
Your lawn will only be as healthy as the soil used to grow it, which is why lawn care experts recommend
aerating your lawn in the fall. During professional aeration, landscapers use special machines that move
across your lawn and remove plugs of turf and soil from the ground, bringing them up to lawn-level.
Aeration provides several benefits to a growing lawn, including improving airflow within the soil. Over
time, turf can grow incredibly dense, making it difficult for the grass roots to get the moisture, air, and
nutrients they need. However, aeration gives the grass more space to grow, while simultaneously creating new
pathways for moisture to enter the root thatch.
As an added bonus, aeration also helps to level out the ground and support new plant growth, since the
deposited soil spikes contain soil and natural grass seed. Although many people worry about how those soil
plugs look when deposited on their lawn, they will break down when exposed to rainwater or melting snow,
allowing the dirt and decomposing grass to meld with your existing lawn.
Aeration is best performed in fall, and should be completed every few years if you have a relatively
healthy and attractive lawn. However, if your lawn isn't healthy, talk with your landscaper about having the
service completed every year or every other year.
Remember, if your lawn doesn't weather the winter well, you can always patch your turf with fresh sod.
Here at Novasack Turf Farm
, we have offered top-quality sod
for more than 35 years, helping homeowners and professional landscapers alike correct erosion problems,
beautify spaces, and create safe play areas for kids and pets. Give us a call today to start creating the
yard of your dreams.
