5 Fall Lawn Care Tips for Northeast Ohio Homeowners

Your lawn goes through a lot during the year. 

It bursts into life in spring with lots of great growth. Then, with adequate care, it survives summer’s heat and drought.

As summer winds down, it’s getting ready for those cooler temperatures of fall, when it can take a sigh of relief and regroup, preparing to hunker down for winter. 

But even though the season -- and your lawn -- are chilling out, it’s not time to neglect your lawn. In fact, fall is the perfect time to do some simple maintenance tasks to ensure your lawn is prepared for winter and ready for next spring’s growth.

This fall lawn care checklist can help you with these autumn chores.

Tips for Fall Lawn Care OH 

Ready for a comprehensive Ohio lawn care schedule for fall? 

We understand! Keeping track of everything you have to do to ensure your lawn gets the best care in fall and is ready for winter can be tough. 

These tasks will not only help your lawn in fall, but will do wonders for keeping your lawn looking great all year long. 

1. Leaf Cleanup

Leaf cleanup can feel very overwhelming during autumn, especially if you have a lot of trees in your yard. 

But removing leaves from the grass is very important for lawn health. That’s why you shouldn't ignore this fall lawn care OH task. 

Raking up the leaves or blowing them into piles and disposing of them or removing them helps your lawn not only look fresh, but it also better prepares it for winter. You can also mulch them up with your mulching mower to break them into small pieces so they more easily break down and add nutrients to your lawn. 

2. Organic Fall Lawn Fertilization

When to fertilize your lawn in Ohio includes fall. During the fall, taking the time to properly prepare your lawn for the upcoming winter is important. 

One necessary fall lawn care task is organic fall fertilization. This process gives your lawn and the soil the nutrients they need so it can burst forth with thick, green growth come spring. 

3. Fall Weed Control 

There are some weeds that germinate in fall in Northeast Ohio lawns. Staying ahead of them can keep your lawn from having to share nutrients and is part of your Ohio lawn care schedule. 

Some of the worst weeds in fall include:

• Chickweed: This winter annual weed has smooth stems and leaves and can form dense patches in your lawn. It germinates in the winter and can be seen in the spring. It will drop seeds until the late spring heat kills it off.
• Henbit: This winter annual has scalloped, rounded leaves and a fibrous root system that creeps along the ground and can invade thinning lawns quickly. Look for square stems with slender pink flowers.
• Clover: This is a low-growing weed composed of three-leaflet leaves that is common in Northeast Ohio lawns.
• Oxalis: Also known as yellow wood sorrel, this annual weed can take advantage of bare areas in your lawn during the summer. It prefers to grow in shady and moist conditions and has three heart-shaped leaflets and five-petaled, yellow flowers. 

A healthy, thick lawn can help combat most of these weeds, which is best done through proper mowing, watering, fertilization, and aeration and overseeding. But for areas with existing weed problems, a fall herbicide application can help ensure these weed seeds don't take over or are left to multiply in the lawn in fall and cause more problems come springtime. 

4. Aeration and Overseeding

Fall lawn care OH includes aerating and overseeding your lawn in Northeast Ohio. 

Aeration allows your grass time to develop stronger roots while exposing the soil to a good dose of nutrients. Aeration, as the removal of small soil plugs with an aerator, gives your tired, worn, and compacted lawn a chance to more easily receive oxygen, nutrients, and water at the root-level where it’s needed most. 

Overseeding at this time improves the germination process considerably, making overseeding more successful in strengthening and thickening your lawn. 

Dethatching can be helpful at this time, too. We recommend doing that if your thatch layer is over 1 inch thick. 

5. Final Mow

As fall winds down, your Ohio lawn care schedule should include the last mow of the year. A good time to do this is when the grass stops growing for the year, which is usually when temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. Think late October. 

You want to lower the mow height just slightly as you approach this final lawn mow so your end cut is about 2.5 inches high in winter. This ensures it’s not too tall so you can prevent snow mold, but also not too short to be impacted by cold stress. 

It’s Time to Schedule Fall Lawn Care Services in Northeast Ohio 

Autumn is knocking on your door. School has started, so you know fall will be here along with it. 

You might already be looking around and wondering what cleanup tasks you need to do to ensure your lawn has a great fall and winter. But you might be too busy to even think about it. With everything on your plate, the last thing you want to add to your list is fall lawn care in OH. There are pumpkins to carve and fall leaves to admire. We completely understand. 

But you also don’t want to wait until the last minute. Turf Pride can help you prepare your Northeast Ohio lawn in fall for a tidy winter and gorgeous spring. 

Want to improve your lawn’s health and create a thicker, greener lawn in Northeast Ohio? Turf Pride can help. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we’ll customize a plan that gives you the most attractive lawn on the block.