Keeping a Green Lawn
By Margareth Montenegro
As September approaches, it signals the end of summer and the beginning of the fall season and cold weather. We see the birds flying south and foliage turning colors, making us think it is time to go indoors and forget about the lawn. Do not make that mistake. You do not want your lawn and garden that you have worked so hard on to be ravaged by the cold weather. Think of fall season as the time to prepare your lawn and garden for the spring. Scotts Super Winterizer: Just what lawns need for the winter and spring. Available sizes: 5,000 and 15,000 sq. ft. coverage. -Helps prepare lawns for winter; promotes stronger root development, thicker and greener lawn in fall, and quicker green-up in spring. Scotts Super Winterizer with Plus 2 Weed Control: Controls weeds throughout the cold season. Available sizes: 5,000- and 15,000-sq.-ft. Do not use on lawns or mixed lawns of creeping bentgrass, St. Augustine grass, carpetgrass, dichondra or lippia. Do not use on shrubs, flowers, fruits, or vegetables. Under certain condidions, some temporary discolorization may result from use on bermudagrass, bahiagrass, centipede grass or zoysiagra. |
The ideal period for fall planting is roughly six weeks before the first frost. For most of us this means it is time to plant between September to mid-October. In the fall, plants begin to go into dormancy, as the soil remains warmer than air, encouraging the roots to stick firmly and settle. The fall season is also the time where there are fewer pests and disease problems, making it easier for your new plants and seeds to develop without interruptions.
The first thing you want to do is take a walk around your garden and take note of what plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees were successful during the spring and summer season. You'll want to remove the ones that did not grow and clean the area for new bulbs. Write down which plants were infected with diseases and where the weeds grew most. Theses are the areas you want to concentrate on. Take a look at your lawn and write about the patchy areas of crabgrass and bald spots found. Your goal here is to make sure your lawn will grow healthy in the spring.
Next, it's time to start cleaning your lawn up by pulling, digging and forking out weeds and looking out for cool-weather weeds. A weed left to produce seeds in the fall will return hundred-fold next spring. You can try weed control products but read the directions carefully; you do not want to destroy any nearby plants. You also want to remove any debris under shrubs, roses, and trees. By removing debris found, you would prevent some pests from hiding out as well as lessen the risk for diseases. As leaves start to fall, start to rake. Allowing the leaves to settle will block air from getting into the ground. When the snow falls, the leaves will cause your grass to dry up and become prone to snow mold disease. You may want to consider shredding the leaves and using it as winter mulch.Besides raking leaves up, you want to rake deep into the soil to remove thatch. You do not want thatch to grow into the soil because during the fall, the grass seems to stop growing, but the roots grow deeper to prepare for the winter. It is a good idea to keep mowing your lawn until that first frost comes. If the grass is left too long, it will lay over on to itself from the pressure of the snow cover. Air circulation around the plant is reduced, and snow mold can become a problem in your lawn. Do not cut your lawn down more than 2 to 2 1/2 inches.
You want to consider fertilizing and reseeding your lawn twice before the winter. The first feeding should be in early fall to prepare the lawn for the winter. The second feeding should take place in late October to keep the grass strong throughout the winter. This is the process of winterizing the lawn, in which nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium go straight to the roots and convert into food reserves for a quick start in the spring.
Winter fertilizers will provide more phosphorus to give stronger roots. A lawn low in phosphorus will have an unusual greenish tint that might even be on the purple side. When enough phosphorus is applied to the grass, it will fight diseases much better and become more tolerant to heat, cold, and drought.
Another nutrient that is important to boost while winterizing your yard is nitrogen. Nitrogen keeps your grass green and protects it from diseases. A sign that your lawn needs more nitrogen is an overall yellowish appearance. A dose of potassium is also applied to protect the lawn from the severe cold. Some products that can be applied to your grass during the fall for winterization are Scotts Super Winterizer Fertilizer or Scotts Super Winterizer Fertilizer Plus 2 Weed Control. These winterizer fertilizers will deliver the same ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to every square inch of turf for an even, consistent feeding.
Autumn is also the best time to start planting new bulbs for the spring. The plant root systems will have several months to grow and become strong before the soil cools. Common bulbs planted in the fall for the spring are tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, muscari, crocuses and perennials such as peonies, daylilies, hostas, and coral-bells. Bulbs should be planted at a depth three times their size - for example, f you have a bulb that is 2 inches in diameter, it should be planted at least 6 inches deep. If you are unsure what to plant, go to your local garden store and ask them what is good to plant in your area.
You should mulch around your bulbs, roses, trees, and shrubs. Mulch can be simply piled high on top of your plants, but a depth of 6 to 8 inches or more is ideal. The idea of mulching is to add a layer of insulation on top of the soil, preventing sudden changes in soil temperature from freezing or thawing, changes that can destroy the root systems of tender plants. Mulching materials should be organic matter that remains loose and will not pack down to suffocate your plants. Good choices are dried leaves, clean straw, chopped dead tops from other perennials, or evergreen boughs from pruning. Besides preparing your garden to sleep for the winter, it is a good idea to care for your gardening tools too before laying them aside. Once the mowing season is over, change the oil in mowers, edger, and trimmers. Drain the gas tank
or add a few drops of a stabilizing agent to the tank to keep the gas from getting old. It is also a good time to clean the underside of the deck and remove grass clippings and leaves. Clean your garden tools and apply a light coat of oil to prevent rust. Drain the hose, coil it up and put it away where it will not freeze and crack just in case some water remains. Shut off the water to prevent pipes from freezing and if you have sprinklers drain them out. It may be a lot of work, but remember, having a beautiful garden and lawn that will last from spring to late fall will be worth it.
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I am not sure where the person that wrote this article is from but being from New England, I disagree with the doubling up on fertilizer for fall feed and that nitrogen is needed to "keep" your lawn green. The winter is a time of rest, yes energy is used in the root system to get through the cold season, adding excessive N will give people problems like Snow Mold and Pink Snow Mold. Nitrogens job is to add green leafy growth, some thing you do not want to go into the winter months with long green blades. The lawn needs to rest in winter, turning brown is it's natural state. It will bounce back in the spring the way it is supposed to much faster than a lawn that has a fungus that you will need more inputs to control. Just let Mother Nature do her job and helping out when we can without forcing an ideal of the "perfect lawn" will go a long way in you pocket and for the environment.