Winterizing Your Yard

Let's face it. You can stare at your lawn all you want, but it's not going to winterize itself. Do you really need to do it? Do you really need to rake those leaves and fertilize and pull weeds? You'd rather be inside, watching sports or shopping for the upcoming holidays, but there really is no time like the fall to get your lawn ready for next spring.

Now that your bubble has been burst, where do you start? Start winterizing your lawn by giving it a good mowing and watering. To provide good mulch for your lawn, as well as to save yourself some time picking up leaves, mow the lawn without the bag attachment. This will chop leaves into smaller pieces, which can be left on the surface of the lawn as primo mulch. Worms love the stuff, who will take bits and pieces of the leaves down into the dirt with them before a hard freeze, providing a wealth of nutrients both for lawn roots, and earthworms.

Many people don't realize that natural, organic materials offer lawns the ability to conserve water, offer better drainage and essential minerals and materials that will help to create a greener, healthier lawn come spring.

When it comes to tackling those weeds, fall is the best time to take care of them. Most are in "full bloom", meaning they have grown over the warmer summer months despite your best efforts to stay one step ahead of them. However, in a way, this is a good thing, because now is the best time to spray with weed killers or herbicides. Larger blades or stalks enable more weed killer to absorb down into roots, striking where it counts.

Now that you have the leaves and weeds taken care of, it's time to think about fertilizing. Most people fertilize their lawns twice a year; once in the spring, and once in the fall, before a hard freeze. A good fertilizing in the fall will nourish lawn roots to store extra supplies of foods and nutrients to hold them through the long, cold winter months. Indeed, fertilizing in the fall will not encourage growth during winter months, but will help your lawn to stay greener for a longer period of time.

Now, you don't want to fertilize just any old time. You have to plan it right for optimal benefits. The best time to winterize your lawn is late fall. It is a time when your lawn is still green, but you may not have to mow it any longer as cooler weather sets in. For best results, choose a fertilizer that has the word "winterizer" on the package, or one that is high in nitrogen and potassium, and low in phosphorus.

So hop to it, get the job done, and then you can go inside to enjoy the sports or shop to your heart's content. Better yet, call Brawley’s Landscape and we can do the work for you!!