As the days get shorter and the air turns crisp, your lawn is quietly preparing for a long winter’s rest. While it may seem like growth slows down in the fall, this is actually one of the most important times to care for your grass. With the right steps, you can ensure a healthier, greener, and more resilient lawn come spring.

Keep Mowing — But Lower the Blade

Grass still grows in the fall, so don’t stop mowing too early. Gradually lower the mower blade with each cut until your grass is about 2 to 2.5 inches tall before winter. This height prevents matting under snow while protecting the roots from cold damage.

Rake and Remove Leaves

A blanket of leaves might look cozy, but it can smother grass and invite mold. Rake regularly, or use a mulching mower to chop leaves into small pieces that decompose and return nutrients to the soil.

Aerate the Soil

Over summer, soil often becomes compacted. Aerating — punching small holes in the ground — allows air, water, and nutrients to reach the roots. This strengthens your lawn’s foundation for the winter months and helps it bounce back in spring.

Fertilize for Strong Roots

Fall is the best time to fertilize. Use a slow-release, nitrogen-rich fertilizer to encourage deep root growth rather than top growth. This “last meal” before winter will give your lawn the reserves it needs to survive cold weather.

Overseed Thin Areas

If you have bare patches or thinning grass, overseed in the fall. Cool temperatures and moist soil create ideal conditions for new grass seed to germinate and establish itself before frost.

Water Wisely

Even in cooler weather, grass needs about an inch of water per week until the ground freezes. Deep, infrequent watering helps roots grow stronger and more drought-resistant.

Protect Against Pests

Fall is a good time to apply a control for grubs as well, since they can feed on grass roots before the soil freezes.

Final Thoughts

Preparing your lawn for winter is less about appearances now and more about building resilience for the future. With just a few steps — mowing, fertilizing, aerating, and cleaning up — you’ll set the stage for a lush, green comeback when the snow finally melts in the spring.

MOSQUITO and TICK Controls are now available starting at $89.99 !

• Mosquito Barrier  -  is an all natural Garlic spray.  A mosquitoes' sense of smell is much more powerful than ours and the smell of garlic (although imperceptible to us after a few hours ) simply repels them away from the area.  This product starts at $ 89.99 + HST per application and will last approximately 3-5 weeks depending on the amount of rain we get.  We recommend 4 applications over the course of the season.

   

• Tick Control  -  is an insecticide.  It will not keep the insects away but will kill them if they come in contact with anything that has been treated.  This product starts at $ 129.99 + HST per application and will last up to 90 days.  We recommend at least 2 applications per season.

Each of these applications will cover 4,000 ft2  or 400 m2 .  More than enough to cover the area around the house and back patio. 

If you wish to have both types of applications done at the same time we can offer them at  $ 89.99 + HST each.

Enjoy your backyard all season long!  Aside from being a nuisance, mosquitoes pose a number health hazards such as West Nile and Zika.  Ticks can also spread harful diseases to your pets such as lime disease.

Protect Your Family and Pets From Mosquitoes and Ticks!

Tis the season to be raking leaves.... or is it?

If you are wondering what to do with the piles of leaves covering your lawn in the fall, mulching them and returning them to the lawn offers many benefits.

Yes, mulching is 100 percent beneficial for the lawn. 

In a recent study mulched sugar maple leaves even appeared to inhibit broadleaf weeds such as dandelions.

When leaves or grass clippings are cut multiple times the finely chopped material eventually gets pushed down onto the lawn surface. There the mulched leaves are decomposed by earthworms and microorganisms and turned into plant-usable organic matter.

Do not mulch to the point where the leaves cover and smother the grass. The grass blades should be vertical and visible through the layer of mulched leaves.

Mulched leaves are an amendment to the soil, not a replacement for fertilizer.  Fertility still needs to be maintained with fertilizer applications.

In the spring all the mulched leaves will have disapeared and will have added much needed nutrition to your soil and grass.

Disease:

This summer we had extended periods of extremely hot dry weather, especially over night.

These are ideal conditions for disease.  Lawns most affected generally have poor soil.  We continue to work at improving the soil with additives to our fertilizer program, this is a slow process and can take years to accomplish.  If your lawn is slow to recover you may want to consider aeration, a gypsum application and/or topdressing as this will speed up the process.  Contact us for pricing.

Watering:

If it does not rain, you should water a minimum of 1” or for a period of one hour

 every week.

Municipalities have water restrictions in place and most will allow watering one day per

week. Check our website Home Page for your watering bylaws.

Mowing:

When mowing during summer months, raise the mower height to the maximum. 

• Mow your lawn as it needs it.  If the lawn is suffering from heat stress, mowing should be suspended,  especially in the afternoon, when temperatures are highest.   
• Never remove more than one third of the grass blade at any one time and leave the clippings.   
• Make sure your mower blade is sharp to cut the grass blade cleanly.
• After mowing in dry weather, a light watering is recommended.  

According to the Weather Network the hottest week of year is coming next week.

Remember to water your lawn EVERY week on your waqtering day.

It will hellp to avoid root loss from drought stress and also helps to avoid insect damage.

Go to "Watering and Restrictions" on our Homepage to find your watering day.

Keep an eye on those lawns and be sure to water regularly.  A healthy lawn will help to keep your lawn bug free....

Chinchbugs:

Chinchbugs are small, with adults ranging from 1/16 – 1/4” long.  They cause damage to

the grass blade by sucking juices and injecting a poison that causes blades to turn

brown and die.  When present, you will see large distinct circular patches confined to

sunny areas of the lawn, as they thrive on dry, hot weather. 

Note: Should you see brown spots in your lawn or your lawn doesn’t green up after watering please contact the office and we will do a free inspection.

    Spring is finally in full bloom and your lawn should be coming in nicely by now.  If your lawn is spotty from winter damage, a little soil and seed to fill the spots will help to fill the bare areas.  To help make sure your lawn has the nutition it needs to stay healthy, consider Topdressing.

Topdressing is a proven maintenance practice for lawn care.  Best results are realized when a thin layer of topdressing materilal is applied and should be done with aeration / seeding.  The Topdressing will provide organic matter to improve your soil structure.

Five good reasons why you should use topdressing & seeding:

• high organic matter content
• decreases thatch
• improves soil structure and increases soil health
• improves drought tolerance
• helps suppress plant diseases and soil pests

It looks like spring is finally here!   Most of the snow is gone and we are starting to see what shape the lawns are in.   I for one am happy to put winter behind me.

If the snow melts in your yard but the grass is still covered in patches of white, you may have snow mold. 

Snow mold is a type of fungus and a turf disease that is found on the  grass after snow melts.  While its damage may appear widespread, it typically does little damage to the grass itself, only to the blades.

To effectively remove snow mold, gently rake the area to loosen up any matted snow mold grass so the sun and air can dry it out more quickly.

Active lawn care such as regular mowing and raking of leaves is typically sufficient to prevent snow Mold.

Is your grass looking tired and thin?  Looking to give your lawn a jump start on the season?  Aeration is the key. 

Aeration is the removal of small cores of soil to allow air, moisture and fertilizer down to the root zone.  Benefits include relieving soil compaction and thatch reduction. 

All of our Program customers will receive free spot seeding with the aeration.

The plugs you see on the lawn will break down gradually and should be left on the lawn.   Call and book your Aeration now!

For more information click here:  https://www.kollegiatelawn.ca/Aeration.htm