Fall Seeding and Fertilizing

Contrary to popular opinion, fall is the best time of the year for lawn care. Fertilization, weed and thatch control, establishment of new lawns, and renovation of poor quality lawns should be done over the next few weeks.

Seeding in the Fall
Your most successful seeding time is right around Labor Day. Seeding 2 weeks before or after that easy-to-remember holiday gives your new seedlings time to build strong roots. Reseeding in the fall gives you a thick, lush lawn at the start of spring. One that easily fends off weeds and stands up to summer stress. In fact, overseeding with grass seed and fertilizer in the fall can make your lawn up to 49% thicker next spring!

Blue Seal Lawn Seed offers an elegant, dark-green uniform lawn with the legendary durability and low maintenance requirements of tall fescues. Once established, it tolerates traffic, heat, drought, shade and poor conditioned soils, while requiring less fertilizer and water than other cool-season grasses. Germinates best in warm soil, early fall or late spring. Seeding Rate: 200 sq. ft./lb. (new lawns) 400 sq. ft./lb. (overseeding).

Fertilizing in the Fall
Fall conditions are great for lawns. Grass roots start to store nutrients the grass will need when it wakes up again in the spring. So you want to help those roots grow by fertilizing. Your best bet is to feed once in early fall (if you are overseeding, your starter fertilizer counts) and once more about 6 to 8 weeks later, around Thanksgiving. Deliver the nutrients grass needs to get through the winter and come up strong the following year.

Promote winter hardiness for quicker spring green-up with Bonide DuraTurf Winterizer. This slow release, phosphate-free fertilizer will help roots store energy for new spring growth.  Plus, it has iron for deep greening.

If your lawn is displaying compaction and the presence of moss plants, both are signs of soil acidity. Grass likes a neutral soil pH. You can solve this problem by liming your soil with Allyndale Pelletized Lime. If your lawn has been doing fine and shows no signs of suffering from acidity, don't apply lime. Liming is only a corrective measure, not a preventive measure.