We all want a bright green, lush turf— it just seems impossible to maintain! The summer sun dries out your grass, weeds take over and then before you know it, fall’s here.

Fortunately, autumn is the perfect time of the year to give your property a well-needed refresh— especially in Pennsylvania. Check out these six lawn care tips to help your turf flourish this fall:

1. Clean Up

If it was a sunny summer, your lawn might have some slight overgrowth to attend to. Fall is the perfect time to trim your shrubs, cut down branches or do yard work without having to worry about the sweltering heat.

Give your flower beds a refresh by churning or adding new mulch, plant some autumn flowers and clear debris. Pick some weeds and bring out your favorite fall decor, like pumpkins and hay bales, to really get in the spirit.

2. Aerate

Summers in Pennsylvania aren’t as hot as some states down south or more west, but the season can still have quite an effect on your property. The warm weather likely brought with it heavy foot traffic and recurring mows, all summer long. This causes compaction to your soil, damaging your turf and stunting grass growth. You might even find that your lawn is thinning or bare in patches, and is in major need of care.

Aeration is the process of perforating holes into your soil. This allows nutrients and moisture to be able to absorb down into the ground and primes your lawn for overseeding.

3. Overseed

Overseeding is the process of sprinkling seeds into the holes made through aeration. For lawns that have bare or thinning patches of grass, this can help to promote a thicker, healthier turf.

Overseeding is ideal to do in the fall, once the extreme sun and heat of summer has passed and your lawn is in a better state for new growth. Learn more about the benefits of both aeration and overseeding here.

4. Fertilize

Your grass and plant life sucked up nutrients in the soil all summer long; don’t neglect giving them what they need to thrive in the fall, too. As autumn begins, your grass will start to come out of its drought-induced dormancy and will need minerals to recover and survive over the coming winter months.

Be sure to fertilize your turf once a month from September through November in Pennsylvania, even going as far as to add compost to your garden beds for an extra nutrient-kick as well. This is help flowers to bloom longer!

5. Get a Limestone Treatment

 Your lawn naturally maintains a PH balance, and when the soil becomes so acidic, your grass could die and be taken over by foreign plants like weeds that can withstand the acidity. This too could lead to increases in diseases and pests.

Lime naturally contains calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate, important nutrients for a healthy lawn. September is a great time to do a soil test and add a limestone treatment to rebalance your turf. Luckily, most lawns only need this done once a year and autumn’s mild temperatures make it the perfect time to do it.

6. Don’t Forget to Keep Mowing

Once your turf is on the road to recovery and flourishing, don’t be surprised that you’ll have to continue a regular mowing routine throughout autumn. In fact, you could still be trimming your lawn until the first frost hits.

Mowing seems like something that we should all know how to do, but there are many ways you could be unintentionally damaging your turf, such as scalping. Check out these mowing tips for maintaining a brag-worthy turf.

Give Your Turf the Refresh It Needs

Just think of how well your green grass will compliment the changing autumn leaves!

Doing all this yourself can be a lot of work, but you don’t have to do it alone. Head on over to our Landscaping Maintenance page to see the services we offer, such aeration and overseeding, mulching, fertilization and more.

Our team at Caramanico is here help you create a beautiful landscape you’re proud of. Give us a call at 610.499.1640 or fill out this form to talk with us today!