Getting Your Lawn Ready For Winter

Catalog

Manufacturers

Quick Find

Use keywords to find the product you are looking for.
Advanced Search

Contact Information

Toll-Free: (800) 461-5539
Phone: (509) 886-1566
Fax: (509) 884-5464

Address:
  Mail:
    PO Box 75
    Wenatchee, WA 98807
  Physical:
    4857 Contractors Drive
    E. Wenatchee, WA 98802

More Contact Information
Questions / Feedback Form

Lawn Care Made Easy
Getting the lawn ready for winter

Do you wish your lawn looked like the picture on this page! Well it could. The battle starts in the fall for that beautiful lawn in the spring and summer. Here are some steps to follow.

Steps

This is a good time of the year to aerate your lawn if you have not done this before. Mow your lawn as short as your lawn mower will mow without scalping the dirt. You can rent an aerator and this process will not take very long. This process will make holes in your lawn allowing water and air to enter the soil. This is good for the grass plants roots. Once you have aerated you can pick up the plugs with your lawn mower or you can mulch them back into the soil. This will help in the spring and summer next year allowing water to penetrate the soil and not run off. Saving you money.
Once you have completed step 1 you can apply grass seed to the lawn. This will help renew your lawn. I recommend a grass seed mix that is a blend of both perennial ryegrass and Kentucky blue grass. This can be applied with a fertilizer spreader at a rate of 2-3 pounds per 1,000 square feet. A good mix of grass seed is Scotts Sports Turf mix found a Wilbur Ellis on South Wenatchee Avenue. They also have other mixes available also. You can ask for Julie or Jim and they will be glad to help you. Once you have finished you can water your lawn and this will help carry the grass seed into the lawn? * If your lawn were in poor shape I would recommend renting a slicer seeder to apply the grass seed. This cuts a small grove in the soil and drops the seed in the groove. This will allow for better soil to seed contact and this should improve that lawn you are not proud of and turn it into a lawn that is beautiful.
Now that you have completed steps one and two you are ready for fertilizer. Fall is a good time to fertilize your lawn. The best time to apply the fertilizer is late in the fall. This seems to vary each year but the end of October to middle of November is a good time. I watch the weather forecasts and try to put the fertilizer on before we have a lot of cold nights and the ground freezes. This will make your lawn healthy through the winter and it will be very green in the spring when the ground warms up. This application can also allow you to skip an early spring application of fertilizer. The type of fertilizer to use in the fall is a Fall and Winter mix. These are available about everywhere. I do like the Wilbur Ellis, Autumn Elite sold by Wilbur Ellis, because of the price and also because the combination of nutrients seems to work good in Wenatchee. The fall fertilizer helps stimulate root growth during the winter when we do not have top growth and it also provides good disease protection as long as you wait to put it on. The main disease you are trying to prevent is snow mold. Follow the directions on the bag and you will be glad you made the wise decision of applying a Fall fertilizer.

Other Tips

In November when the leaves have fallen off the trees suresss to rake them off of your grass, they will kill the grass if left there all winter. Leaves make good mulches in the garden or in compost piles. Leaves can also be picked up using a lawn mower with a bag or a lawn mower that mulches. It is hard to mulch them because they can become wet and this makes a mess. If you do not have a mower with a bag you can rent one. This can be a good money saving for you.

After the leaves are off the trees you can also start pruning the branches. Make a pile of the pruning and other yard wastes. Instead of hauling this to the garbage rent a shredder and shred them all up. A pick up load of branches will shred up into a very small pile. You can shred lots of yard waste in half a day so when renting you will only need to rent for ½ a day. If you have a large lawn and do not have a trailer to haul the yard waste try renting a John Deere gator. This little cart makes a big job small with the amount you can haul. You might also want to take it hunting with you later this fall.

Remember Valley Tractor for your entire lawn care rental needs. Rent the best from your leading John Deere Dealer.

‹ Back to Helpful Hints


HOME \| ABOUT \| SPECIALS \| PRODUCTS \| PRODUCT LINES \| HELPFUL HINTS \| CONTACT US Copyright © 2008 Valley Tractor Design and Development by Firefly