The growing season, and with it lawn care tasks, are winding down for the year. As the grass stops growing and landscape plants die down, there are a final few yard care tasks that will help your landscaping overwinter healthily and come back strong in the spring.
Clean Up The Landscape
Throughout fall, rake leaves on the lawn every few days. This keeps the lawn healthy by making sure enough sunlight get to the grass and removing places where mold and rot can develop. In the landscape bed, you can either remove fallen leaves and dead foliage now or wait until spring.
If you let leaves stay in the landscape bed, they can help insulate the plants, but it’ll look messy. For a more attractive alternative, you can clean up the flower beds and then use a shredder to turn fallen leaves into mulch. Use the shredded leaf mulch in the landscape bed to insulate delicate plants from frost. As the mulch decomposes, it will also add nutrients to the soil.
While you’re working on the landscape, pop some spring-blooming bulbs in to add color next year. Fall is the best time to plant spring bulbs since it gives them a head-start on the growing season. If you live in USDA growing zones 8 through 10, chill bulbs like crocus, tulip, and hyacinth before planting. Just put the bulb bag in the refrigerator for 6 to 10 weeks, then plant during the coolest part of the year.
Mow One Last Time
In late fall, mow the lawn one last time and cut the grass short. If you live in an area with snowfall, this helps prevent the grass from getting matted down. Even in locations without snow, the final mowing puts the grass at a uniform height and makes it easier for you to notice winter weeds that grow while the lawn is dormant.
Take care not to fertilize too late in the year. The last time you can fertilize your lawn depends on the local last frost date. If you were following a schedule to prepare your lawn for fall and winter, most Texas homeowners applied the final fertilizer application in September or October. Do not add any more fertilizer late in the year.
Many autumn lawn care articles advise aerating lawns in the fall. This advice applies only to lawns with cool-season grass. Most Texas lawns are warm-season grass, and you should wait until late spring or early summer to aerate these lawns.
Winterize Equipment
Before storing lawn equipment, make sure it’s clean to help prevent rust. Wipe shovels, spades, pruners and other metal with an oily cloth for additional rust protection. For gasoline-powered equipment, drain the fuel before storage. If you want to use any equipment during the winter, you can keep it filled with fuel that contains a fuel stabilizer.
Sprinkler systems should also be winterized. Dormant lawns need very little water, so there’s no reason to have the water system on over winter. Turn off the water, and then drain as much water as possible out of the system to prevent damage from freezing weather.
