Fall Lawn Treatment and Gardens

We need to do a little work for our fall lawn treatment and gardens in preparation for winter and the coming spring season. Our lawns and vegetable and flower gardens are coming into their final harvest. The fall lawn treatment and gardens in our backyards along with the front yards needs to be ready for that cold winter weather.

We need to aid our lawn's recovery from the summer heat and drought and make sure it is ready for the cold winter climates with some fall fertilization. Fall fertilization is probably the most valuable practice we can do for our home lawns. Fewer problems with disease and the weed growth being slower means our lawns will profit from the nutrients, not the pests. This fall fertilization will also help our lawns recover from all the stresses of summer by encouraging deep roots and thicker growth. This will help your lawn have a better competition with the weeds and be able to tolerate insects and disease.

Northern gardeners usually follow a holiday schedule. They have probably already fertilized on Labor Day and can fertilize again on Halloween. Southern gardeners on the other hand should make the last fertilization at least thirty days before their lawns go dormant or the first killing frost in order to avoid a winter kill. For the best results we should use a low nitrogen slow release fertilizer.

The arrival of the fall season doesn't mean you can't still enjoy your vegetable garden. If you plant now and prepare for the coming season, it is still possible to enjoy some tasty morsels from your garden. By simply counting the days from planting to the average first frost you will be able to determine how many growing days your area has left. Now you select the vegetables that will mature and be ready for harvest by that time. Carrots, leaf lettuce, mustard greens, radishes, and spinach will grow quickly. These vegetables will also tolerate cool weather and will be a wonderful addition to your fall table.

You want to give these vegetables a good start with a low nitrogen fertilizer. We can integrate into the soil before planting or sprinkle a slender line along the row of plants. Organic nitrogen will not only provide nutrients, it will not damage the seedlings and it is safe to use. We also need to protect the existing vegetable already in the garden, such as tomatoes and peppers. We can use floating row covers or cold frames to protect them from the frost.

A fall planting of grape hyacinths, tulips and daffodils in our flower gardens will bring us a spring time full of beauty. We can also prepare the flower garden soil with the same organic low nitrogen fertilizer; it will release the needed nutrients such as phosphorous and potassium without enticing fall growth.

Please let us not forget our trees, even after they have lost their leaves their roots are in the most active growth period. They are in need of this nutrient boost about a month after the first killing frost but before the ground freezes. These are the basic tasks we need to accomplish for our fall lawn treatment and gardens before winter sets in and to prepare them for the spring.