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Fall Season Lawn Care Maintenance Checklist for North Texas

As the summer season comes to a close, many North Dallas homeowners are starting work on their fall-season lawn care maintenance checklist before welcoming winter. Fall season lawn care can be a blank area for many homeowners, so we have provided a list of ways you can keep your lawn fresh and healthy during the autumn. These ways include raking leaves, inspecting sprinkler systems, fertilizing grass, preventing lawn weeds as well as treating them, and aerating your lawn. Although these may not all be required to maintain a good yard, they will contribute towards the goal of having a low-maintenance lawn and offer better health and visual appearance during this fall season.

Rake Leaves

As the fall season begins, it is not uncommon to see leaves piling up everywhere you go. Although these leaves may seem harmless, they could actually be affecting the well-being of your lawn. Raking your leaves for the fall season comes with many benefits, one of them being preventing thatch buildup. Thatch is a layer of living and dead material that can develop between the grass and soil, which, if left unchecked, could affect the overall health of the grass. Raking leaves can also improve sunlight to soil and grass, as well as prevent bare spots in the lawn. Lastly, raking and removing the leaves increases the amount of air, water, and nutrients to soil and grass, promoting a visually appealing and healthy lawn. Leaf raking should be done at least once in the fall but may need to be done again depending on the inflow of leaves.

Sprinkler System Inspection

In the fall season, it is important to inspect your sprinkler system and adjust it if necessary. You can do this easily by activating and inspecting the sprinkler heads in each zone, ensuring proper operation and coverage. You will likely need to adjust the irrigation system watering schedule in early and late fall. In order to retain your sprinkler timer programming and settings, it is a good idea to check and replace the external backup battery, if you have one.

Fertilize Grass

In order to maintain a healthy lawn, it is recommended to routinely fertilize your grass. You can do this by applying a granular slow-release lawn fertilizer to help warm-season grasses recover from summer heat stress. Slow-release fertilizers make sure that the grass is not overstimulated with nutrients all at once and is instead designed to release them periodically as the turf needs them according to time, temperature, and moisture levels. It also helps to prevent the long-term effects of drought and increases the amount of energy within the grass. Fertilizer needs to be applied with enough time for the lawn and soil to properly absorb its nutrients before its dormancy in the winter season. An opportune time to treat your lawn with fall fertilizer, specifically for the North Dallas area, is usually somewhere between mid-September and mid-October.

Prevent Lawn Weeds

It is always disappointing when you are doing everything you can to care for your lawn and stubborn lawn weeds pop up out of nowhere. Thankfully, there are easy ways to prevent these weeds. One way to prevent them is to apply a pre-emergent weed control application to the soil. A pre-emergent lawn treatment prevents future lawn weeds by creating a barrier above the soil to keep unwanted weed seeds from germinating. By doing this, you can prevent weeds from invading your grass. There are several synthetic pre-emergent herbicide treatments available to accomplish this task. If you choose to prevent lawn weeds using natural or organic products, there is a granular corn gluten meal available as well.

Treat Lawn Weeds

One way to treat lawn weeds is to apply a post-emergent weed control application to the foliage. A post-emergent lawn treatment is intended to kill existing lawn weeds by interrupting the plant’s survival process. There are several synthetic post-emergent herbicide treatments available, but make sure to choose a selective herbicide treatment. A selective herbicide treatment is engineered to kill unwanted weeds and not the grass. If you choose to treat lawn weeds using natural or organic products, there is a horticulture vinegar (20% acetic acid) available and many other natural lawn care methods you can implement. It’s best to spray lawn weeds with horticulture vinegar during sunny hot days to help burn the unwanted weeds. Be aware that horticulture vinegar is a non-selective weed treatment that can burn grass as well if not carefully applied to unwanted weeds.

Aerate the Lawn

One of the best ways to loosen compacted soils and help introduce nutrients deeper in the soil and to the grass roots is to aerate your lawn. Although raking your lawn is greatly beneficial to the grass and soil, aerating your lawn is a more efficient way to help deliver nutrients deeper in the soil and grass roots. As time goes on, your soil can become stressed and compacted, which can influence how grass grows. By aerating your lawn, you can loosen the compacted soils to encourage deeper grass root growth. Similar to raking, aerating the soil will reduce thatch buildup, increase air, water, sunlight, and nutrient delivery in your lawn.