It is extremely common for lawns to suffer from heat stress, drought, and high traffic during the summer. This can lead to dormant and patchy areas. The good news is that the worst is behind us!
Now that the extreme heat and humidity are in the rearview mirror (hopefully!), fall is the ideal time to restore your lawn to its former glory. With increased rainfall, warm days, and cool evenings, fall is the best season for your lawn. In fact, fall even surpasses spring due to its warmer ground temperatures, which are perfect for seed germination.
We will walk you through all the fall lawn care tips that the Lawnjunkie team uses on our own lawns. We start with general fall best practices and then provide a fall lawn renovation guide for those who want to go all out!
Proper watering of your lawn is half the battle. Fortunately, in the Niagara region (and likely in your area as well), fall brings considerably more rainfall than summer.
The best time to water your lawn is early in the morning. This helps minimize evaporation from the sun. The goal is to water less frequently but deeply. Deep watering means applying water for a longer period, encouraging the roots to grow downward. A lawn with deep roots is significantly more drought-tolerant because moisture remains in the soil for a longer time.
The optimal water volume for a lawn is approximately 1 inch per week (including rainfall). You can measure your water volume for irrigation or manual sprinklers using the Tuna Can Test.
Make sure to adjust your manual watering based on the amount of rainfall. Your local weather website can tell you how many inches of rain you’ve received in the past 7 days!
Lawn Mower Maintenance
Fall is a great time to have your lawn mower blades sharpened, especially if you skipped it in the spring! Sharp lawn mower blades ensure that the grass is cut cleanly and evenly. Clean cuts allow the grass to heal faster, helping to prevent fungi and diseases from entering the blades. This is especially important in the fall, with the added moisture from rainfall and morning dew creating a perfect environment for diseases to spread.
Mowing
If proper watering is half the battle, then proper lawn mowing is the other half! With increased fall rainfall and cooler weather, cool-season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass will start to grow significantly faster.
Fall mowing best practices are similar to those in spring and summer, but with a few additional considerations.
When mowing your lawn, you should follow the “1/3 rule,” which means setting your mowing height so that you are only cutting a third of the height of the grass blades. This method promotes your grass to grow outwards instead of upwards, leading to a thick and healthy lawn. This practice also ensures that you are not suffocating your lawn by leaving too much grass if you are mulching. If you want to learn more about mulching, check out our article “Do I Have To Pick Up My Grass Clippings?”.
The two main ways fall mowing differs from summer mowing are pre-mow cleaning and mowing timing.
With fall comes falling leaves and other debris. Be sure to rake any leaves and pick up any branches before you mow. Diligent raking of leaves, even when not mowing, will greatly benefit your lawn. Leaves can smother grass and block it from receiving much-needed sunlight. Leaving leaves on the ground for too long is even worse. As leaves start to break down, they can suffocate the grass, and the decomposition can attract diseases that may spread to your lawn.
Another difference between fall and summer mowing is the timing.
For summer mowing, the best practice is to avoid mowing during the hottest times of the day to reduce stress on the plants. In fall, the cooler temperatures make this concern less critical, so mowing during the hottest part of the day does not cause significantly more stress.
However, fall does come with one mowing restriction (more of a suggestion): wait until the morning dew has evaporated. Morning dew is a form of moisture, and moisture creates ideal conditions for molds and diseases to grow. Mowing when the grass is wet carries a small risk of exposing the vulnerable cut blades to these molds and diseases.
Fertilizer, Herbicides, & Other Products
Fertilizer
Early fall is one of the peak growing seasons for cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, fine fescue, and tall fescue. It’s an excellent time to promote growth and improve density with proper fall fertilizing. This can also help your lawn recover from the stress and damage caused by summer heat.
You’ll know it’s time to apply your first fall fertilizer when the weather is consistently in the low 20s°C (low 80s°F to high 70s°F) and other plants and lawns are starting to naturally green up.
The first step in fall fertilizing is selecting the right fertilizer. People often ask us, “What is the best fall lawn fertilizer?” There is both a difficult answer and an easy answer.
The difficult answer involves purchasing a soil testing kit. Although this requires additional work and expense, it is worth it if you want the perfect lawn. A soil test will reveal exactly what your lawn needs, making it easier to choose the right fertilizer.
The results of the soil test will indicate exactly what your lawn is deficient in, making it simple to choose the right fertilizer. For example, if your soil test results show that your lawn has high phosphorus levels, you should select a fertilizer with zero phosphorus. An additional benefit of a soil test is that it can potentially save you money by allowing you to purchase only the amounts of fertilizer you need. This means you won't be spending money on unnecessary products or ones that could cause damage.
For those who prefer an easier approach, mainstream fertilizer manufacturers provide an “N-P-K ratio” on the bag. The N-P-K ratio indicates the amounts of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) the fertilizer contains.
Soil tests often show that lawns already have sufficient phosphorus, so it is usually best to choose a fertilizer with zero or low phosphorus levels (1-4). In fall fertilizing, the focus should be on Nitrogen and Potassium.
On average, look for a granular fall fertilizer with Nitrogen levels between ~20-30. Nitrogen helps promote plant and root growth and assists the roots in recovering from summer heat.
For Potassium, a granular fall fertilizer with Potassium levels between ~5-15 is recommended. Potassium is a “healing” nutrient that activates enzymes and, along with Nitrogen, supports root growth for winter and increases disease and mold resistance.
The final fertilizer application, known as lawn winterizing, is a crucial task and the last lawn care job of the year. This late fall fertilizer application can help you achieve the first green lawn on your street. By applying enough nitrogen before winter, you give the soil a head start for spring, as almost none of the nitrogen will be used while the lawn is dormant in winter. This last application also provides several additional benefits:
- Boosts drought tolerance
- Helps store carbohydrates in the grass's stolons or rhizomes
- Improves winter color (for those mid-winter warm spells)
- Reduces winter diseases and stress
- Provides available nitrogen for spring, so your lawn greens up first
Check out our lawn care blog for more information on best practices for fertilizing.
Herbicides
Herbicides are a complex topic that requires specific knowledge about lawns and weeds, so we will cover them briefly at a high level.
The good news is that most weeds are annuals that die off during the winter. A thick and healthy lawn is the best way to prevent weeds, but herbicides and their organic substitutes can help eliminate weeds once they are established.
Regulations for residential herbicide usage vary significantly between Canadian provinces and even more between American states.
When you need to kill an area of your lawn and reseed, many provinces offer non-selective herbicides. Residential products usually contain glyphosate and are sold under brand names like Roundup. These come in pre-mixed, ready-to-use products such as Roundup Weed Killer with a Battery-Powered Wand, as well as concentrates that need to be mixed with water. Be aware that Roundup products will kill everything.
Most provinces allow the sale of some forms of selective herbicides. Selective herbicides target specific types of weeds without harming residential turf varieties. The best selective herbicides contain 2,4-D and are available for sale in the western freedom loving provinces.
.These herbicides are effective for targeting common lawn weeds like clover, dandelion, ground ivy, ragweed, blueweed, wild lettuce, mustard, and more.
Availability varies by province, but some common brands include Killex and Weedex. If you are fortunate enough to live in Saskatchewan, you may even find some landscaper-grade products available, such as Trillion.
Other Products
As you delve deeper into lawn care, you’ll discover a wide range of fertilizers and soil amendments that can elevate your lawn to golf course quality. For fall, we recommend two key products: humic acid, which supports soil nutrients and root growth, and an iron application to achieve a dark green lawn by the end of the year.
A fall lawn renovation is the perfect way to breathe new life into an aging lawn. Instead of starting from scratch, lawn renovations enhance your existing lawn without the need for complete removal.
A lawn renovation is a cost-effective solution to rejuvenate your lawn at a fraction of the cost of a full replacement. A significant part of the cost of a new lawn is the removal and disposal, which can often amount to $500-$1,000 alone. Renovating your lawn allows you to achieve a lush, healthy lawn without these additional expenses.
Consider a lawn renovation if:
- Your lawn has 25% or fewer weeds.
- Only specific areas of your lawn need attention.
- The existing soil is in good condition.
- Only a few specific processes are required (e.g., topdressing and overseeding, leveling and fertilizing).
A lawn renovation is a customized strategy tailored to your lawn’s unique needs. It may involve a combination of the following:
- Leveling
- Topdressing
- Overseeding with existing or new grass varieties (rolling with a lawn roller to ensure seed-to-soil contact or lightly raking to ensure it reaches the soil)
- Soil testing and custom fertilizer applications
- Lawn aeration with a lawn aerator to reduce soil compaction
- Lawn dethatching with a lawn dethatcher to remove thatch (dethatch before overseeding to improve seed-to-soil contact)
Fall’s cooler nights, warm days, additional rainfall, and warm soil temperatures make it the perfect time for full lawn renovations or even simple overseeding. These conditions create an ideal environment for establishing new grass (seeding and sodding) and for promoting growth in your existing turf.
Cooler temperatures in fall bring cool-season grasses (Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, fine fescue, and tall fescue) into their high-growth phase, similar to spring. This growth phase is crucial if you are performing sand lawn leveling or topdressing because the grass needs enough strength to push through the applied topsoil or sand.
Pro Tip: Cut your lawn extremely low (almost scalping) before you level or topdress. This prevents topdressing materials from bending the blades sideways and smothering them. The very short blades will grow straight up, and the grass will push through the topdressing. This also helps with leveling, as you will have a smoother surface, and low spots will be more visible.
Fall’s moderate temperatures and warm soil temperatures are also ideal for seeding. Cool-season grasses require the following approximate soil temperatures for high germination rates:
- Kentucky Bluegrass: ~60°F to ~75°F (~15°C to ~24°C)
- Perennial Ryegrass: ~50°F to ~65°F (~10°C to ~18°C)
- Tall Fescue: ~60°F to ~75°F (~15°C to ~24°C)
The best seeding results are achieved by seeding during the appropriate ground temperature, keeping the soil moist, using premium starter fertilizer, ensuring seed-to-soil contact, and covering the seed with a thin layer of peat moss to retain moisture.
Using best practices for each step of your renovation will significantly improve your chances of success in establishing new grass and improving the health of your existing grass. You can learn more about best practices on Lawn Junkie’s lawn care blog.
Conclusion
Following proper lawn maintenance techniques in the fall will pay dividends in the spring. A thick and healthy lawn in the fall is significantly more durable and will better withstand the stress of winter. Proper fall lawn maintenance and fertilizing will give you a delightful green surprise in the spring when the snow disappears!
We would love to revamp your lawn with a custom fall renovation. We can also assist with overseeding, new sod installation, lawn aeration, dethatching, custom fall fertilizer applications, lawn leveling, and more!
Getting the perfect lawn is A LOT of work. If you want to quickly get the nicest lawn on your street, then give the lawn care nuts at Lawnjunkie a shout for a free consultation today!