If your lawn is looking like a DIY project after the stresses of summer and heavy foot traffic, there’s good news – it’s the perfect time to start a new fall lawn care schedule.

You don’t always need tons of tools or lawn care equipment, though having the basic yard tools can help. We want to make sure you get the most out of your lawn so we created this fall lawn care schedule for you to follow throughout early, mid and late fall.

Fall Lawn Care Schedule Overview

Early Fall (September)

Early fall lawn care should include tackling:

• Bare spots
• Thin patches of grass
• Dead areas in your lawn

If you have warm-season grass, you’ll want to do this while temperatures are high. For those with cool-season grass, it’s best to hold off until when the weather begins cooling.

Lawn Care Tips for Early Fall

In small spaces, start by loosening the soil, either by hand or using a garden rake, and remove any dead grass or thatch. The next step is to sprinkle grass seed and lightly rake the seed into the loose soil to ensure good seed-to-soil contact. Next, you can add either a rich compost to create a growing bed or an appropriate application of fertilizer. And, be sure to apply water to help the grass seeds take root.

Early fall can also be a great time to care for those more troublesome weeds, like creeping Charlie. If you have annual weeds in your lawn, there is no need to treat them at this time as they will soon die.

Mid-Fall (October)

The middle of fall is when you want to:

• Aerate your lawn
• Overseed your lawn

Lawn Care Tips for Mid-Fall

By aerating your lawn and loosening the soil, you can better prepare the grass for a healthy lifecycle. Seeding is also important during this time, as the fall burst of growth in cool-season grass is some of the most natural and easy to take care of.

Although you may be tempted to fertilize and mow at this time, it’s important to give your new fledgling grass a chance to take root. Stay away from the fertilizer altogether, and focus instead on things like edging and trimming.

To take care of all your yard tasks, check out our Toro Turf Renovation Equipment, as these tools are designed to get beautiful results over a large surface area.

Late Fall (November)

Late fall is when you want to:

• Clear debris and leaves from your lawn
• Mulching

Lawn Care Tips for Late Fall

As the cool weather continues, you’re going to start seeing a lot of debris and leaves falling from nearby trees and bushes. Your main job now is to keep that debris from covering your lawn and preventing sun and water from getting to the grass and roots. Learn more about why you shouldn’t let fall leaves cover your grass. 

A mulching mower, or a Toro mulching attachment for a zero turn mower, will go a long way in breaking up the leaves and organic matter without damaging the grass below. This mulch is also a great way to put nutrients into the soil without introducing fertilizers, so take advantage of as much (or as little) of it as you want.

Hard Work Pays Off

A little bit of fall lawn care now can make a major difference next spring. Way to put in the work to set your Spring lawn up for success!

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