How to prepare your lawn for fall

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Cooler temperatures will happen soon, making way for falling leaves and beautifully colored foliage. However, the hot and dry summer may have left lawns across the Ozarks on the mend.

If that sounds like your yard, not all hope is lost. There’s plenty of time between the first frost and the lawncare season ending.

Some turf grass in various areas has already gone dormant but will likely revive itself with the added rainfall over the next several weeks. Kelly McGowan, a horticulture specialist from the University of Missouri, said it’s a great time to repair what you may have lost this summer.

“If you do notice you have bare spots on your lawn, September is a great time to overseed those bare areas. Just get some grass seed, put it in those bare areas, keep it well watered, and it will still have enough time to get established before we get to winter,” McGowan explained.

In addition to reseeding, McGowan clarified it’s still a good time for fertilizing. She recommends one to one-and-a-half pounds of nitrogen-rich fertilizer per thousand square feet of lawn. It’s important to apply fertilizer before the ground freezes.

As we progress closer to winter, raking becomes a chore, but it may not be if you use this tip.

“One thing homeowners might keep in mind as the leaves start to fall from the trees is that, once they fall to the ground, it’s good to keep those chopped up, just run them over with a lawnmower and chop them up, and those leaves will start to decompose and provide organic matter for the soil,” said McGowan.

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