Many years ago it was believed that fertilizing a lawn in the fall could cause more problems that it solved, but things have changed. In my experience, fertilizing your lawn in the later fall or early winter is the best way to ensure a thicker, greener, healthier turf the next year.

Once cold weather strikes, your lawn will stop sending nutrients into the grass blades. By fertilizing in the fall, the nutrients applied go straight to the roots allowing a stronger and more complex root structure. This will keep your grass healthy through the winter.

Fall Lawn Fertilizing Is Simple

First, select a high quality nitrogen fertilizer. You don’t need a special fertilizer for the fall. In fact, if you fertilize regularly, your standard fertilizer will do the trick. Apply liberally to your lawn in late October or early November. Remember that the best fertilizers will contain a time release nitrogen formulation which ensures that your lawn will get the nitrogen it needs over time, rather than in one quick spurt. Time release formulas generally won’t burn your lawn and can produce thick, green grass easily.

After fertilizing, make sure that you give your lawn a heavy watering to help the fertilizer make it into the roots. In most cases, you’ll get some rain that will do the trick!

Many folks also choose to apply seed to their lawns in the early winter. If you are seeding this late in the year, we call that a “dormant seeding,” and I highly recommend you aerate the lawn prior. The idea is to get down your fertilizer, aerate and then seed.

Taking the time to prepare your lawn for winter now will result in a greener more vibrant lawn next spring. If you want your lawn to be the envy of the neighborhood next year, take a little time now to fertilize your lawn before winter strikes.

This time of year the weather is blazing hot and many of you are about to give up on your lawn care for the season. I understand that feeling believe it or not.

I believe it because you are tired of mowing, watering, trimming, fertilizing and whatever other chores your turf requires. You are at the end of the summer and you really want to try and enjoy that last few days before the cold weather rushes in.

But let me encourage you to press on and work hard until the end; it will pay off.

Right now, I need you to plan on fertilizing your lawn this weekend. Use a solid organic lawn fertilizer such as Milorganite or Ringer that will release nitrogen and some phosphorus slowly into the soil. This slow-feed will encourage the lawn to strengthen its root system heading into fall.

In addition, don’t stop watering no matter how high that water bill gets! Your grass needs sufficient moisture to stay healthy and green during these stressful end of summer months.

Finally, and most importantly, don’t slack on your cutting. It is very tempting to let the lawn grow longer than normal this time of year, but keep in mind, cutting too much of the grass blade off during periods of heat and drought can stress the lawn into early dormancy.

The main point here is to press on guys! Don’t give up on your grass, and your grass won’t give up on you!