Overland Park has some of the best-kept lawns in the country. We may be a little biased, but when it comes to regular maintenance, our pros are hard-pressed to find another city that grooms their grass quite as well as our community.
Fall in the Midwest means pumpkin patches and harvest festivals. But at Lifestyle Outdoor, fall means refreshing and replenishing lawns. Here is everything to know about the fall lawn care near Overland Park that keeps our community beautiful year-round.
Conditions to Consider
Autumn starts in September and goes through November. As the temperatures cool down, plants get the break they need from the sun. This allows them to retain more water and grow stronger roots. The characteristics of the season present the perfect time for seeding, maintaining, and transforming your lawn. Fall lawn care around Overland Park changes many things about your routine for two specific reasons.
Cooler Temps
Grass loves fall as much as our crew loves pumpkin spice lattes. That’s because water evaporates slower, UV rays are less intense, and root systems have more opportunities to spread and thrive. With lower temperatures, nutrients have more time to penetrate the soil and nourish grass root systems better than any other season.
Falling Leaves
The crunch of freshly fallen leaves is one of our favorite sounds—except when it comes to your lawn. There are a few schools of thought when it comes to fall lawn care near Overland Park. However, our team recommends removing leaves responsibly. We professionally rake and compost leaves in order to maintain the growth and biomass of your lawn’s ecosystem.
Restore and Refresh
Fall is the perfect time to give your lawn a fresh start. Spring may be the season of renewal, but the lush lawns in our neighborhoods start in the fall. That’s because fall gives us a unique opportunity to feed and seed grass here in the Midwest. Here is how we take advantage of the most important season in our growth cycle.
Out With the Old
At Lifestyle Outdoor, we don’t typically recommend killing grass. But, if your lawn is struggling, sometimes it’s best to start fresh. This typically includes what we call a “burn off.” Don’t worry, we’re not actually burning your lawn. Our pros will naturally kill the existing grass and dethatch the dead grass to restart with a blank canvas.
In With the New
The Midwest growing season requires us to plant cool-season grasses to populate your new lawn. We use turf-type fescue and Kentucky bluegrass, typically mixing the two in a 90-10 mixture for optimal root systems.
Core Aeration
Aeration is one of the most important parts of lawn maintenance. By removing cores of soil 2-3 inches down, we allow for more oxygen, nitrogen, and other nutrients to access the root system. This promotes new growth by relieving compact soil and adding fresh nutrients back into the earth. Aeration should be a regular part of Overland Park lawn maintenance every year.
Maintenance Requirements
Refreshing and restoring your lawn is great, but it comes at a cost. The right approach to maintenance can make all the difference for your lawn, also helping you save time and money along the way. Fall lawn care near Overland Park means some unique intricacies you don’t typically see in other seasons. Our pros recommend the following practices to keep your lawn healthy.
Mowing and Verticutting
We recommend mowing lower in the fall because there is more horizontal growth in the root systems than there is in the blades of grass. You’ll want to drop your mower deck to 3.5” or 3.25”. Mowing and verticutting go hand in hand for fall lawn care around Overland Park.
Verticutting is something not every handy homeowner knows how to do. Unlike your trusty lawn tractor, verticutters vertically shear the blades of grass while creating shallow holes for aeration. This is essential to every yard we touch to promote healthy lawns for the long haul.
Nutrient Building
In the fall, you should put down about 75% of your yearly nitrogen plan via fertilizer. This is to ensure that, as grass comes to life in the spring, our customers have the lush, green lawns Johnson County is famous for. Our plans for fall lawn care near Overland Park are designed to enhance your lawn from the roots up.
Watering Changes
Since we overseed and renovate grasses in the fall, your watering schedule will be built to promote seed growth. After you lay down the seed, we recommend watering 2 to 3 times a day for 2 to 3 weeks. Then, you can water just once a day for another 3 weeks. If you want to streamline this part of fall lawn care around Overland Park, talk to us about irrigation and sprinkler systems.
For the remainder of the season, you can water your lawn less frequently. Follow a watering schedule of 3 days a week during the morning or evening, similar to the beginning of summer.
Fall Into a Fresh Lawn
For a green, healthy lawn in the spring, the real work begins in the fall. Talk to Lifestyle Outdoor to learn more about your lawn’s health! Get a free quote, or schedule your site visit for an in-person walkthrough of your landscape.
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