Fall: My Favorite Season & Great Grass Growing Weather

—Mike Harrington

Fall is my favorite time of the entire year. Cooler nights and decreasing daytime temperatures are a big factor in my enjoyment of this season. I love being outside on fall evenings because you can feel the temperature changes every night. Rainfall events also happen more frequently during the fall as compared to the normal July and August weather and I thoroughly enjoy storms. Turf-grass has been a passion for me for over 2 decades now. I am not sure it is fair to compare myself to turf-grass as kindred spirits, but just as I love the weather and the season, so does turf-grass.

The heat and humidity have dropped allowing turf-grass to thrive in cooler temperatures. The rainfall helps to keep the grass growing and it definitely aids in germination of any new seed that has been planted. These conditions make the fall the best time of year to try and repair a lawn that has been damaged from neglect, overuse, or just summer stress. The first step in lawn repair and recovery is aeration.

Aeration is best performed in the fall because it helps stressed turf to recover from the summer’s heat and humidity. It opens up the soil allowing better nutrient and moisture uptake. Aeration relieves compaction that forms from use of the lawn. It also helps to relieve the hardpan areas that might develop from the long periods of time with a lack of moisture. Not only does aeration benefit the soil, but it also benefits the roots of turf-grass. Roots can grow deeper into the openings in the soil, allowing them to reach for deeper moisture.

Fall is also a great time of year to get control over tough resilient weeds like Clover, Creeping Charlie, and Violet. We achieve only minor control during the season, hopefully keeping the patches from expanding, but it isn’t until the fall that we can eradicate these troublesome weeds.

So no matter what you lawn needs . . . fall is the best time to have some success. If there are any questions or concerns about your lawn, please contact us so we can take a look and customize a plan to help your lawn recover before the winter.