Fall care for heat-damaged yards

Talk about it

Extreme weather over the summer left a lot of lawns and landscapes showing signs of damage. With some time, patience and work, it’s possible to get your yard back in order and ready for the winter.

Assess

Thoroughly inspect the lawn, trees and shrubs. Also look for weed and plant pest infestations and overgrown trees and shrubs, especially those with the potential for interfering with roof and power lines.

Replace

Fall is the right time to seed bare lawn areas and overseed existing grass to improve lawn thickness and density. Inspect your lawn’s trouble spots, and try one of several reseeding techniques:

Spot Seeding — fills in small areas that are thin or infested with weeds.

Overseeding — generally used for larger areas where the turf is thin, but not bare.

Slit Seeding — a premium service using a specialized machine to cut slits into the soil and sow turf seeds directly into the slits.

Feed

Fall feeding gives roots of lawns, trees and shrubs the energy needed to prepare for a healthy spring green revival. Be sure to keep fertilizer on target to prevent run-off. If you fertilize your lawn, make sure you read and follow the product directions and sweep all fertilizer granules that may reach pavement back onto your lawn.

Maintain

Throughout the fall, there are things you can do to maintain your yard’s appearance and health:

Rake and clean. Keeping leaves and debris cleared off your lawn will keep your lawn healthier.

Clear away debris that can become matted and damage your lawn.

Inspect your landscape mulch in the fall. Clean up beds, refresh mulch and make sure that no more than two to three inches of mulch remains in the beds.

Do not walk on frost-covered lawns. This causes brown footprints to appear later. These footprints may remain visible until spring green-up begins.

With these tips, your lawn and landscape can recover from the difficult summer and spring back into shape next year.

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