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Gardening Blog
9.18.2006
Fall Lawn Care

• Give your lawn a fall feeding. Grass continues underground root development until the ground freezes solid. Give it a fall feeding to help it gain vitality and carry it forward to next spring. Fall fertilizing will also help your grass green quicker in the spring.

• Rake Leaves. Allowing tree leaves to lay on your grass smothers it and robs the lawn of sunlight it needs for photosynthesis. Deposit chopped up leaves on a compost pile.

• Continue Mowing. Grass should be mowed until it stops growing. Maintain the same mower height setting throughout the fall--don't be tempted to mow the grass short for the winter.

• Continue Watering. In many areas, receiving rain in the fall isn't a problem. However, if your lawn is not getting an inch of water a week, consider watering it.

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Gardening Tips

Plant buying

Leaves: Unless they're supposed to be colored or variegated, leaves should be a healthy shade of green. Look out for any signs of pests and diseases.

Stems and branches: Avoid plants with broken stems or branches.

Compost: Moss, liverwort or weeds in the pot are not freebies that you want. Also watch out for compost that is bone dry.

Roots: Knock the plant gently and take a look at the roots. Avoid plants where you see the roots are jammed in and curling around. These have been in their pot too long and are pot-bound. Also avoid any that have only recently been repotted and are more compost than roots.

Irrigation

-Target the specific areas of the plant that needs water. For most plants this means watering the area of soil around the roots.

 -Avoid watering in the midday sun because the water will evaporate. The best time to water the garden is early in the morning or evening.

-To reduce evaporation, don't water when it's windy.

-Watering plants less frequently, but deeply and thoroughly helps them to develop healthy, deep root systems.