Fall is upon us, and we want you to finish your landscaping season strong and well prepared. Take a look at our 10 late fall turf tips to wrap up with…
1. Apply PJC ProHealthy Turf Products —
Depending on your program, you are in the last application of fertilizer or soil amendments—or both! A fall fertilization is the best way to enhance leaf blade development, encourage, a healthy root system, and add necessary food to the soil biome. Try our PJC Boost+S3 for your last application. This product was designed specially for fall, as chelated iron helps ‘harden’ off turf before the winter. The added BOOST comes from the gypsum and humates, which improve soil structure and add soil nutrients!
2. Fall Seed —
Your seeding window is rapidly closing so choose a seed blend high in perennial rye grass to get it established quickly before the cold weather comes. Accordingly, be sure to visit our Grass Seed for Fall blog for more details on seed.
3. Repair and Regrade —
A safe field is a level field. You may find that field traffic, weather, or water has caused damage to your field or lawn. Therefore, be sure to take the time to top dress, repair and regrade these areas. Damaged areas are like tooth decay – they don’t get better on their own. Get on top of these areas when the project is small and avoid major problems down the line.
4. Adjust your Water Cycles –
Follow our 1-2-3-2-1 watering suggestions for your Irrigation System. If needed, give your grass one long water cycle per week and let nature do the rest.
5. Mulch Your Leaves –
Raking and bagging removes valuable nutrients and organic matter away from your soil biome. In addition, these practices are labor intensive. So, save time, money, and energy by mulching your leaves as long as is practical. Keep the mower deck high and mow slow. Lastly, be sure to finely chop up those leaves until they are all off the trees and may need to double cut.
6. Lower your mowing height –
As we head into winter, you want to start to gradually take the mowing height down. For that reason, decrease height from 3 ¼″ all season to about 2.5″ Pre-Winter. This should be done for your last two mows of the season and once all the leaves are off the trees.
7. Irrigation Blowout –
Make any final adjustments and repairs to your irrigation system before you blow out the system. Irrigation systems are a major investment and valuable tool in growing organic turf grass. Thus, make certain to do a thorough blowout before soil temperatures drop below freezing by early December.
8. Winter Turf Blankets –
We’ll save you the time here…go check out our Benefits of Turf Blankets Blog, or just contact us for pricing.
9. Dormant Seeding –
If you have extra seed laying around, get it in the ground! An uncommon practice but one that has proven results. Dormant seeding ensures that you are getting all your seed in the ground and not feeding the mice over the cold winter. Moreover, this practice should only be done when air and soil temperatures are cold – we mean cold, cold. Warm temperatures will cause early germination and that will ruin the grass (unless under a turf blanket). Plan this for late December into February for best results.
10. Get Some Rest!
Landscaping is tough and demanding work. Above all, plan to take some time to recharge after the long season.
We are always available to bounce ideas off and help you grow, ORGANICALLY! Contact us and check our blog page regularly for more than just late fall turf tips.
