5 Lawn Tasks You Should Never Skip (and 3 to Ignore)

Amidst all of the fun and frivolity that comes with the fall season (trick-or-treating anyone?) also comes some chores. The colorful leaves might look great on your Instagram feed, but they can wreak havoc on your lawn if you don’t take care of them before the snow flies. But getting your lawn ready for winter and giving it a great start in the spring requires a bit more than just a few hours with a rake. In fact, there are a few lawn to-dos that you should never skip.

5 Lawn Tasks You Should Never Skip

1. Keep Mowing
2. Weed Control
3. Aerate
4. Fill in Bare Patches
5. Fertilize

Here they are in more detail.

1. Keep Mowing

Don’t pack the lawn mower away just yet. As long as your grass is still growing, you need to keep mowing. Typically, grass will continue to grow until the first frost, so you could be mowing well into October or even later, depending on where you live. While it might be tempting to just forgo the mowing until spring, letting the grass get too long will encourage thatching over the winter, which only invites pests and diseases into your lawn. Cutting the grass shorter than normal (about 2 or 2.5 inches is ideal) not only helps reduce the amount of raking and thatch removal you will have to do in the spring, but also helps cut your fall workload, as your mower can easily mulch remaining leaves and other debris on the lawn.

2. Weed Control

Just because it’s getting colder doesn’t mean the weeds are going to wither and die. In fact, some perennial pests like dandelions are busy sapping nutrients from the soil and your grass to get ready for the winter. Get a head start on spring, and give your lawn a fighting chance over the winter, by treating problem areas now with an herbicide when weeds are most vulnerable to it. Just be sure that you follow the package instructions, and if you have warm season grasses (like Bermuda grass) ensure that they are completely dormant to avoid killing them too.

3. Aerate

Aerating your lawn involves using a tool or machine to punch holes in the soil and pull out small plugs, leaving small holes. Aerating allows more oxygen and water to reach the roots of your grass by breaking up tangled root systems and compacted earth, which can eventually kill the lawn. This fall lawn care task can easily be handled by a pro, or you can rent a walk-behind...

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