“When you go to bed happy, you wake up happy.” Take this idea when preparing your yard and garden for the changing seasons. Fall is a great time to revitalize your lawn. Temperatures are cooler and the ground is perfect for planting and seeding.

Here are five 5 tips to get your lawn ready!

1.     Fertilize:  It’s best to fertilize your lawn twice in the fall (once in September and a second time in mid-October). Choose from any of these fertilizers:

2.     Continue to Water Until the Ground Freezes: The best time to water is always in the morning.  Check your soil to see if it is dry.You don’t want to overwater, but you certainly don’t want to underwater, so always check to see if it is dry before watering.

 3.     Proper Mowing: Generally, you should mow your lawn weekly or every two weeks. Just make sure to only cut 1 to 1 ½ inches at a time. Try to let your grass grow to 3 inches and cut 1/3 of that. Also, this is great time to check your mower blades and sharpen them if needed to avoid frays in the grass.

4.     Insect, Disease and Animal Control: When it comes to insects, grubs are the main problem in the fall.  Avoid this problem by using GrubEX as a preventative in mid-June each year. If you already have grubs, you will start to notice scattered dead areas in your grass, your grass pulls away like carpet and you will see quite a few birds pecking at your lawn. Use Bayer 24-hour Grub Control or Grub Killer Plus to eliminate the problem.  Make sure you water these products in well. 

Diseases tend to persist through the fall, so target those diseases before the winter. Try Bayer Lawn Fungus Control or Scotts Lawn Disease Control to treat dollar spot, lawn fungus, and other diseases.

If you have problems with skunks, raccoons, squirrels or moles digging up your lawn, there are several choices to repel them. For squirrels and other small rodents, use Plantskydd or Repellex. English Gardens has many options for skunks, raccoons and moles. Just come into the store and our associates can lead you to the traps and repellents to choose from.

5.     Best time for Seeding: If you have bare spots, this is a great time to seed your lawn for next year!

Select from a variety of seed, depending on your conditions:

• Bluegrass seed: A beautiful lush grass type.  This seed type requires full sun to 75% sun and needs a lot of water.
• Fine Fescue seed: A thin grass type that grows in 75% shade and can be used in a mixture with perennial rye and sometimes bluegrass.
• Perennial Ryegrass seed: This grass comes up quickly and is very durable in an area with up to 50% shade.
• Annual Ryegrass: Similar to the perennial ryegrass type, however this grass type does not survive the winter.  Using some annual ryegrass when re-seeding will give you a quick cover of new grass that helps keep the soil from washing away while the other grasses continue to germinate and fill in.

  When seeding, here are some steps for best results:  

a.  First, add some organic matter to the area, like Garden Magic Top Soil with a small amount of Peat Humus or Peat Moss.
b.  Next, you can either spread the seed by hand or you can rent a spreader from our stores.
c.  Now add some fertilizer, such as Scotts Starter Fertilizer or any of the organic fertilizers in tip #1.
d.  Mulch the area with Greenview Grass Seed Accelerator as the best option or try EZ Straw with a special adhesive to cover your seeds.
e.   Finally, water your seeds 2 to 3 times daily until they are well-established or up until the first frost. Note: Lightly spray into the area with a hose nozzle.

Learn more at our FREE presentation Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 10 a.m. Click here to check out our events!