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You want your yard to look incredible all year long, which means different things during different seasons. Fall yard care isn’t more complicated than other seasons, but there are certain things you’ll want to have your landscaping crew do now to keep your yard looking great while the leaves turn, and to get ready for winter.

SOIL TESTING

Before reseeding your lawn in the fall (a great time for it, by the way), your landscaping team should be sure to test your soil to determine pH and nutrient availability. That way any deficiencies can be corrected before seeding.  Soil testing is inexpensive and you can have results within a week.

AERATE AND RESEED THE LAWN

After any soil deficiencies have been corrected, it’s time to aerate and reseed areas of your lawn that experienced heavy foot traffic or was stressed in some way this summer. Make sure your landscaping team chooses high quality seed from a trustworthy source to avoid fillers and weeds.

TURN AND REPLENISH MULCH

Fluffing up the mulch in your flowerbeds and around bushes and trees gives them a fresh look and may mean you don’t need more. If you find that even with fluffing you don’t reach about 2 – 3 inches of mulch, your landscapers will need to add more before cold weather hits.

ADDITIONAL PLANTING

Fall is a great time to plant, the weather is mild and we can be pretty sure that temperatures won’t spike or dip too drastically by the time October rolls around. Your landscaping crew will divide and re-space plants that need it as well as check for areas of the landscape that need to be filled in. Now is also a good time to swap out any summer annuals with fall-loving plants like mums and pansies.

DOUSE THE EVERGREENS

Evergreens in the Midwest can get dehydrated during the winter. In order to prevent that, give them a good dousing this fall. If the summer has been hot and dry, ask your landscaping crew to water for an hour every week for three weeks; if fall brings at least 4 inches of rain, you may not need to worry about it.

PRUNE

Trees and shrubs can often use heavy pruning before the cold winter. Some may need it to help prevent damage from snow and ice storms and some just for looks or to control size for next spring. Certain flowering plants like hydrangeas, lilacs, and viburnum, shouldn’t be pruned, however, because it could spoil the spring bloom.

Give us a call today to find out how easy it is to have a beautiful landscape all year long when you hire H & T to maintain it. 513.478.1541