When fall is just around the corner, you need to start thinking about winterizing your lawn for the coming season.

So, what does this involve, you might ask? Well, the good news is that winterizing your grass is rather a simple process that doesn’t involve a lot of money or time. However, winterization is essential if you would like to enjoy a healthy and lush lawn when spring rolls around.

The first step is to fertilize your lawn during the fall. This does your lawn a world of good because when the weather begins to cool, a lawn will respond by growing slower and moving its reserves of food and nutrients from the leaves to the roots. The roots will continue to remain active in the soil and are very receptive to winter fertilizer (which has a high potassium content). This provides additional support and strength to the roots and helps the lawn to survive the cold, winter months.

As long as you give your lawn a good fertilizing treatment in the fall, it will remain healthy as long as possible and will result in beautiful turf in the spring.

Another way in which to winterize your lawn is to aerate it during the fall. This involves using aerating shoes or a manual push aerator. Aeration will allow water and nutrients to penetrate through to the roots effectively and will precent your soil from getting too hard.

If you notice any bare or patchy spots on your lawn, now is an excellent time to reseed these areas! You will be grateful for this when spring arrives.

Finally, as the leaves begin falling, be sure to rake them away as much as possible. Grass that is covered with leaves can become smothered and can become a breeding ground for unwanted insects, fungi and other diseases that could damage the grass. Mowing over the leaves with a mulching attachment is a great idea as this minces them into tiny fragments and provides the lawn with nutrition.