Preparing Your Lawn for Fall, Winter and Spring

A lawn pictured on the left side of this photograph, taken in spring of 2019, was fertilized at 2 lbs./nitrogen per 1,000 ft2 in the late fall of 2018. Fall fertilization is important in maintaining a lush green lawn throughout the entire year.

(Photo by Brad Stokes)

It’s that time of year - the time for crockpot soups, pumpkin pies, fall decorations and countless mini-sized candy bars. As the Earth slowly tilts away from the sun it brings on cooler weather, precipitation and shorter days. The reduction in sunlight hours and intensity causes all of our deciduous trees to turn their leaves a red/orange/yellow color and to produce an essential plant hormone, abscisic acid, which, results in the dropping of leaves from the tree.

One of the most important things for preparing your lawn for the Fall, Winter and next Spring is, of course, fertilizing. Lawns consume and require quite a bit of fertilizer every year. If you are going to use a granular fertilizer, now is the time to fertilize. I recommend anywhere between 1.5-2.5 lbs./nitrogen per 1,000 ft2 applied right now or in early November. A granular fertilizer with a N:P:K (the 3 numbers listed on the front of the bag) ratio of 3:1:2 is best for lawns. Additionally, if the fertilizer contains some small amounts of sulfur and/or iron that may also help with our highly alkaline soils here in Mountain Home. For the full story, pick up a copy of the Mountain Home News or click on this link to subscribe to the newspaper's online edition.