The leaves are starting to fall, which means it’s time to start preparing your lawn and cleaning up your yard before the long winter ahead. Fall is the perfect time to do a fall cleanup, fertilize and aerate your lawn before it gets too cold. Homeowners who fertilize and aerate their yards regularly have healthier plants and grass, especially if you want a beautiful lawn next spring with fewer weeds, then you need to start now!
In the fall, cool-season grasses go dormant. As days get shorter and temperatures drop in Alberta, they stop growing or slow down significantly to save energy for surviving cold weather. This results in a lawn that appears brown and dry as opposed to green like during warmer months. Fertilizing at this time of year won’t bring back the green color but does help your lawn remain healthy and strong enough to survive the winter in cold, long winter like Calgary and Edmonton. Proper lawn maintenance and lawn fertilizer is an important part to any fall clean up.
Clean Up Your Yard
Autumn is a great time of year for a fall yard clean up! Leaves start falling in September and will continue through early November in Alberta. With all those leaves out there on your lawn, it’s important to start cleaning them up. Fall leaf raking helps remove debris from the lawn that can cause weed infestations over time.
If you have a garden, now is the time to prepare it for winter. Pull out any remaining vegetables, flowers, pine cones and dead plants at the end of the season (and compost them if desired). Then cover your yard waste with straw or fallen leaves to help control odor and prevent pesky critters from getting into your flower beds during colder months ahead. It’s important to do a garden cleanup, final lawn cut and leaf raking to complete your Calgary fall clean up.
Aerate Your Lawn
Lawn aeration, also called core aeration, is another important part of any Calgary fall yard clean up routine. It allows air space between soil particles allowing water and nutrients to reach grass roots more effectively. During the aeration process, a machine called an aerator pulls small pieces of soil out of your yard – not too deep but just enough to create small holes in the ground which allows air and water into your lawn’s root system. Lawn aeration helps create a beautiful and healthy lawn in the spring while also reducing soil compaction, which helps break down thatch and prevents weeds from taking over.
Aeration increases the oxygen levels in the soil. It’s important for your lawn to have an adequate amount of oxygen in order to thrive and aerating your yard helps keep that balance. The aeration process opens up the soil, allowing moisture and fertilizer to penetrate deeper. This aeration process also creates more space for water to flow through the soil, which can help reduce standing water in your lawn, both de thatching and making it harder for weeds to grow.
Fertilize Your Lawn
Lawn fertilizer is a crucial part of any fall clean up, but if you core aerate before adding fertilizer, you’ll see better results because aerated soil allows nutrients like nitrogen to reach grass roots more effectively. It is recommended that homeowners fertilize their lawn every fall before winter comes around so they can enjoy a nice, green lawn in the spring. This should be the last step in your Calgary fall clean up before the first snowfall.
The benefits of fall clean up are endless. If you want a beautiful lawn next spring, it’s time to start preparing your property for the long winter ahead! A common misconception that many homeowners have is that they should wait until spring to fertilize or aerate their lawn. However, fertilizing and core aeration a couple of times a year has the best benefits to creating a beautiful yard. If you are only going to aerate or fertilize once, during fall clean up is actually the best time to do it.
If you are feeling overwhelmed with the entire process of fall clean up, or would like us to do the heavy lifting, contact us for a free estimate for calgary fall yard cleanup and lawn care services! We offer great service in a timely manner and have several Calgary fall cleanup packages. Give our office a call if you’re looking for affordable fall clean up this season to prepare your yard before the temperatures drop and snow starts in Calgary. Check out our website for other fall clean up and lawn services, or contact us for a free quote on snow removal services.
