Autumn A Good Time To Nurture Lawn

One way lawn lovers can tell the advent of fall is that spreading, pesky, annoying crab grass has stopped invading the turf and begun to retreat.

Because crab grass is a mere annual and most lawn grasses are sturdy perennials, this is our opportunity for a counterattack: Scatter grass seed over spaces occupied by crab grass during the summer. A good stand of young turf can be relied on to beat back crab grass coming up from seed next spring.

Early fall is the ideal time both for repairing well-established lawns and for launching brand-new ones.

To overseed existing lawns, you must scratch the soil with a rake before applying fresh seed. If half or more of your lawn is bare or weedy, the rule of thumb is to start over.

To establish a new lawn or to patch an old one, skim off the old vegetation with a sharp shovel and then work the soil, adding organic matter such as leafmold or peat moss before seeding. Two to three large bales of peat moss per 1,000 square feet, worked into the top few inches of the soil, can do wonders.

Fall also is the time to eliminate holes, dips and other depressions by filling them with sand. Otherwise, rain and snow and winter melts accumulate in such areas, freezing and killing the grass underneath.

After seeding a new lawn, or overseeding a scraggly one, lay clean straw thinly, about one-eighth of an inch deep. Birds seem to dislike stepping on the straw and, more important, it preserves moisture, which is a must for the germination period of one to three weeks. Lawn experts consider fall fertilization the most important feeding of the year. The objective is to encourage new root growth and the rejuvenation of old roots that declined over the past year. Roots continue to grow and to store food reserves until the winter.

Fall irrigation also is important. The roots respond to a thorough soaking that penetrates the soil.

For the final cut of the fall, the mowing height should be lowered just a little below the standard summer height. The idea is to have the lawn grasses face winter with a well-trimmed foliage that is less vulnerable to snow mold and other winter diseases.

Also, we need to keep in mind that even a few scattered fallen leaves deprive the grass blades of sunlight. Also, lawns can suffocate under a covering of dead leaves.