Now that September is fast leaving us (can you believe that?) and October is about to blow in, it’s time to consider our fall lawn care strategy. Now it does not matter if you have been reading this lawn care blog for a long time, or if you just started, this advice will apply to you. It also applies to those of you who have already forked over the $7 to buy my lawn care book that gives you step by step instructions of what to put down on your grass and when to put it down.

The reason this all applies to all of you is that I know for a fact that the majority of you have NOT been caring for your lawns like you should; and that’s ok. I understand that summer gets hectic and your lawn care maintenance practices can take a back seat. But now that fall time is almost here, you can make up time and catch up to where you need to be fairly easily. With that in mind, here are some very basic tips on turning your lawn around this fall.

1) First off, your mindset needs to change, and what I mean by that is you cannot think about “starting next spring.” No Way! In fact, starting a lawn care program in the early Fall will yield much faster and long-lasting results than the alternative of waiting until next year. This is because lawns spread out and thicken their root systems in fall and we can take advantage of that by feeding the turf properly at the right time. In addition, there is less weed pressure in the fall, making our efforts that much more effective.

2) Next, you need to get my book. Seriously, it has changed the way a lot of people think about lawn care. You see, the products you put on your lawn (fertilizers, weed controls, etc) are what make the difference, but many of you think that you either need some industrial strength witches brew, or you think that some basic 4-step generic plan at the local hardware store will work. The truth is that neither of those extremes will help your lawn. My plan, which provides a balanced approach, shows you the products to use and where to get them. Of course, most if not all of my recommendations can be found at the local Home Depot, Lowe’s or Menards, but you just don’t know what to look for. In addition to that, I tell you exactly what time of year to use each particular product, and that makes a huge difference as well. Get the book ok?

3) This is in the book too, but it bares mentioning here: YOU MUST AERATE YOUR LAWN THIS FALL! This is not a choice but rather a necessity. My lawn here is as thick as Buckwheat’s Afro but you can dang skippy expect that I will be aerating my lawn this fall and every fall to come. Aeration is just one of those things you need to do at least once a year, like visiting your dentist for a tooth scraping!

When you aerate your lawn you loosen soil and allow those expanding grass roots to get in deeper and wider. You also allow the nutrients you put down in the form of fertilizer to penetrate into the zone faster, thus maximizing your results. Finally, and most importantly, you help release soil microbes that will be spread around to different areas of the lawn, making the soil healthier, Healthy soil is really the foundation for everything else ya know?

Get an estimate to have aeration done by a pro: Click Here For Estimates

So here’s what I want you to do guys: Resolve in your mind that you are going to get out starting this weekend and begin a program to revamp and rejuvenate your lawn this fall. You’ll find that a little work now will really help you have to do less work next spring, no kidding! just get out and do it guys… you will love the results… I promise!!!!

Ok, so you just now found my site and your lawn looks terrible from the long summer. Or maybe you tried hard to take care for it, but you just couldn’t keep up with the watering, fertilizing and cutting. FEAR NOT! We can get your lawn back in shape in just a few short months. In fact, if you have a decent amount of grass in your lawn currently, we can get it thickened up by the end of November!

Here are the Lawn Tips that will help you rehabilitate your lawn this fall. Please follow ALL of these instructions and you will see results. Even if your lawn is thinner and full of weeds, you can revamp your lawn quickly.

DO NOT skip any of these steps! You can break each task down by doing them 7 days apart. If you start this weekend, you will be on a good track to getting things done! In addition, we are not mentioning anything about weed control here. We need to focus on the grass right now and just let the weeds die when it gets cold! If you want to spot spray the weeds you have, go ahead, it won’t hurt, but be careful not to use too much or you will harm your new grass seed.

Take this as a prescription for the lawn, and I am your doctor! If you don’t follow my instructions, I’m gonna break out the rubber gloves!!!!!!!

Step 1, Week 1, DO this NOW:

Right now, September 10, 2008, you need to get down some Milorganite Organic Fertilizer. This will add slow release nitrogen and iron into the lawn to help the soil biotics.

Step 2, Week 2:

Next, you need to have the lawn aerated and overseeded. You can rent the aeration machine for about $50 per day or call a lawn pro to do it for you. Over seeding is very important as the seed is going to add to the thickening process. I recommend 2 lbs of seed per 1,000 square feet of lawn, and use your spreader to lay it down. You can spread it by hand if you have to. You should water the lawn properly after the seeding. Seed won’t grow without moisture!
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Step 3, Week 3:

After aerating put down some 20-20-10 or 10-10-10 fertilizer to jolt the lawn’s root system. You can learn about the numbers on the bag of fertilizer here. You can learn how to apply fertilizer here.

Step 4, Week 6:

Pay attention folks, this is step 4 but it is completed 3 weeks after Step 3. You get that? This step involves another application of 20-20-10 fertilizer. This is what we call a “winterizer.”

Further Tips:

If you have big bare spots in the lawn, here is an article on seeding bare spots in the lawn. I also have an article that tells you what type of grass seed to use.

All fall long, you need to cut the lawn the right way. During the fall, you should definitely mow high and mulch the clippings! Be sure to mow every week all the way to the end of the fall time.

It is that simple! If you follow these tips for fall, you will see huge results in your lawns’ appearance! Feel free to leave your questions below.