Prepping your lawn for Fall

Today is the first day of Fall.  Although it may not feel like Fall in Texas, now is the time to prepare your lawn for the season.

Here are some tips to help:

1. Fertilize.....Fertilizing in the fall will help prolong your fall colors and it also helps your lawn bounce back in the Spring. Fall fertilizer should be higher in potassium & nitrogen and lower in phosphorous.
2. Watering....Yes, you should still water when your grass goes dormant if it doesn't rain for a long period of time. Grass is still living and needs moisture to survive. Watering before a hard freeze is helpful in reducing freeze injury to the grass. It takes much colder air temperatures to lower the temperature of a
   moist soil than that of a dry soil.
3. Mow....Continue to mow until the majority of the growth has stopped. If you have some leaves on your property, this will mulch them up and provide nutrients to your soil.
4. Aerate....aerating your lawn will break up compacted soil which will allow it to "breathe". It allows oxygen, water and fertilizer to easily reach the roots of the grass.
5. Rake the leaves....Face it, raking leaves is NOT fun but it is necessary. By allowing them to blanket your lawn, you are opening yourselves up to fungal diseases and root rot. If you don't like to rake, try bagging them with a mower and then mulching the small amounts left into the soil.
6. Fill in bald patches....This is a good time to fill in all the bald spots in your yard.
7. Winter Rye....If you like green grass all year long, have someone come out and prepare your yard for application of Winter Rye. There is a very short window to get this to take. Texas weather needs to learn to cooperate! ​