Can you believe that fall is almost here? It will soon be time to trade in swimming suits and sandals for sweaters and boots. The days will shorten and our minds will drift from the outdoors projects to back to school and the approaching holidays. Still, before we wander too far down that road, we need to stop and think about the outside of our homes. Can’t you hear your lawn, trees, and shrubs screaming, “Don’t forget me! There are a few jobs that need to be done to prepare me for the long, cold winter!” That’s what this article is about: putting our yard to bed for the winter.
You may be thinking, “Why do I need to know this?” The answer is two-fold. First, it is every Christian’s
responsibility to be a good steward of what God has given them. If God has blessed you with a lawn, He expects you to
maintain it and take care of it. Colossians 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for
the Lord,” This includes yard work. A well-maintained yard can be a way of saying, “Thank you God for what you’ve
given me.” It can also be an inviting witness to those around us. They will see that we are grateful for what
we have and that we want to maintain it to the best of our ability. Thus, learning to care for our lawns is an act of
worship.
The other reason you need to learn this is simple: Knowledge is power. When you know what needs done
and how to do it, you can make intelligent decisions about whether to do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. If you decide to hire someone, you may decide to take your knowledge and purchase the materials yourself and hire a teenager to do
the work. This would cost much less than hiring a professional and it’s easy to buy the materials. Whether
you do the work yourself, or hire someone, the important thing is you know what needs done and you arrange to have the tasks completed.
The next question you may have is “Why do I need to take care of my yard in the fall? Isn’t everything getting ready to
go dormant for the winter?” That’s what I used to think! Then I did some research and learned that the most
important time to do yard maintenance is in the fall. Although you can’t see it, during the winter your lawn is very busy
below the surface. While everything looks dead, there is a lot going on underground. During the colder months, root systems
are being established and your ground is preparing itself for new life in the spring. The more work you do now, the healthier
your lawn will be in the spring. So where do we start?
The first thing you need to remember is that you need to continue
cutting your grass through the fall. It is also important to rake your leaves? Why? Leaves
block sunlight, which your lawn desperately needs as it stores food for the dormant winter season. So the next time your
kids ask, “Why do we have to rake the leaves?,” you’ll have answer to give them.
Another thing that many experts recommend
is aerating your lawn. Aerating loosens up the compacted soils. This allows your lawn to more easily absorb nutrients, air,
and water into the roots of the grass. Our family learned about aerating a few years ago when someone gave us an aerator
that you attach to you riding mower. If you don’t have an aerator, you may want to borrow or rent one, because it
isn’t something you’ll use very often. For those of you will smaller yards, you can avoid using an aerator by simply stabbing
a pitchfork into the ground and wiggling it every few feet. It is best to aerate your lawn just before you fertilize it.
The
next step is fertilizing your yard. This is very important. Let me be honest with you, for many years my family
did not fertilize our yard and it looked very rough. It was one of those things my Dad said wasn’t important. Guess
what! He was wrong!
Year after year, our lawn continued
to look worse while our neighbor's lawn looked lush and beautiful. Finally, my Mom decided to find out what we needed
to do to improve our dying yard. The answer was simple. We needed to start fertilizing.
Fertilizer is food for the lawn. Like all living things, grass needs food or it will starve to death. When
you fertilize your yard, you are giving it the necessary food. When we started feeding our lawn, we saw dramatic improvements. Not only did our lawn look better, but lawn maintenance became easier. Now we fertilize our lawn every spring and fall. However, in my research for this article I learned that if you are only going to fertilize once a year, it is best to do it in the
fall. Why? Fertilizing allows your lawn to store the needed nutrients to stay healthy through the long dormant winter
period and there will be nutrition waiting for it in the spring.
What kind of fertilizer should you use? There are many brands of fertilizer from which to choose. Personally, we
use Jonathan Green fertilizer because it has given us excellent results. In the spring, we use a green-up product that contains
high nitrogen content. Nitrogen helps our grass grow green and lush. In the fall, we go with a winter preparatory mix
that helps strengthen the grass roots to help them survive the winter. My advice to you would be to contact your local nursery
and ask them what fertilizer mixture is best for your locations and conditions. Different parts of the country need different fertilizers,
but your local nursery or garden center will know what your area needs and they will be able to recommend what will be best for your
yard. Then just follow the directions on the bag, pull out the spreader, and give your lawn the nutrition that it needs. Again, if you are unable to use push the spreader, I recommend hiring a young person to do it. The work isn’t complicated
and this will be less expensive for you than hiring a professional.
One last thought about fertilizers: Did you know that
fall is the best time to use a weed and feed type product? I did not. However, I have learned that it is best
to apply this type of fertilizer in the fall so that the weeds and dandelions are killed before they germinate and take root in the
spring. It’s like stopping them in their tracks before they get started. You may want to mention this at the
garden center when you are buying the fertilizer. I’m sure they will be able to help you find a fertilizer that will help
you accomplish this task.