Taking Care of Your Yard

By David Wall
Guest Columnist

Come winter, your grass will be dormant. Tree roots, however, will not. They’ll need water and fertilizer and will appreciate both, now and especially in January.

Aerating your lawn helps nutrients and water quickly get to where they're needed.  Rent a lawn aerator that pulls plugs from the soil.

Historically, guidance has been to set your lawn mower to a high setting, as tall grass is better for the lawn during winter. Now, expert guidance is split between mowing high in the fall and keeping grass at the same height used during summer or even shortening it in the fall.

Some experts say tall grass is weaker and more prone to disease. Shortening lawn mower height, however, shortens the root system, but keeping the same height will keep the same root system. This controversy is expected to continue for at least a couple more years until a better consensus is reached!  By the way, it's too late to reseed any bare lawn spots

A heavy frost doesn’t mean you can put away the lawn mower. To prevent disease and improve your lawn, mow your yard as many times as necessary to mulch at least most, if not all the whole leaves.

Mowing the fallen leaves chops them into smaller bits that can settle into the grass and rot, thus providing compost which has most if not all the nutrients that your grass will need come spring.

Depending on the amount of leaves, one to several cuttings may be required.