Fall Lawn Tune-Up

Fall is the most important time of the year when it comes to caring for cool-season lawns. The work you do now on your bluegrass or fescue lawn will really pay off later this fall and next spring.

Test your soil. A soil test will reveal serious nutrient imbalances and recommend whether you need to add lime or sulfur to adjust the pH. Your local cooperative extension can provide assistance in analyzing your soil for any deficiencies or will put you in touch with a private soil lab that can.

Control grubs. Late summer and fall can be the most active time for grubs. If you see irregular brown spots in your lawn or find grubs, apply Bayer Advanced™ 24-Hour Grub Killer Plus Granules. Its highly effective formula offers overnight results against grubs. For more on grubs, click here.

Control and prevent lawn diseases. Use Bayer Advanced™ Fungus Control for Lawns Granules to control and prevent lawn diseases such as brown patch, dollar spot and red thread.

Fertilize. Fall is the most important time to fertilize cool-season lawns. Follow label instructions for amounts of fertilizer to apply and how to set your fertilizer spreader correctly.

Control weeds. Weeds compete with grasses for water and nutrients and make your lawn look lousy. A well-cared-for lawn will resist weed invasions, but if you’re having problems, use Bayer Advanced™ All-In-One Weed Killer for Lawns Ready-To-Use. It will kill all your broadleaf lawn weeds, including clover, dandelion, plantain, plus your grassy weeds, such as crabgrass, at one time with one application. This one product kills over 200 lawn weeds now and will help minimize problems next spring. Bayer Advanced™ All-In-One Weed Killer for Lawns Ready-To-Use in the convenient, ready-to-use form contains SmartTrack® red dye, which shows you exactly which weeds you’ve already sprayed before it naturally fades away. To treat larger areas, purchase the concentrated or hose end formulations allowing you to control all the weeds PLUS crabgrass in your lawn at one time, saving you money and time. Apply only when daytime temperatures will remain below 85 degrees.

Aerate. Aerating, which removes small cores of soil, is one of the best things you can do for your lawn. It improves water and nutrient penetration, increases the amount of air that reaches the roots and helps reduce thatch (a dense layer of organic matter that forms between the leaves and roots; if it gets over a 1/2-inch thick, it prevents air, water and nutrients from reaching the roots and the lawn begins to suffer). You can hire a lawn service to aerate your lawn, or rent a power aerator from a local rental yard and do it yourself. Once a year is usually often enough.

Plant. Fall is also the best time to plant cool-season lawns from sod or seed, so start a new lawn or repair thin areas of your existing turf. You can also overseed warm-season lawns with cool-season grasses to keep them green all winter in southern areas.

Water and mow. Don’t let up on regular lawn care. Water less as the days get cooler, but don’t let your lawn dry out. Be sure to follow appropriate local water guidelines. Mow regularly.

2008 Perennial of the Year is an Ideal Rose Companion

What makes a plant a good candidate for combining with roses? First, it should bloom during the same season as roses and look good even when not in bloom. Second, the plant must be well-behaved and not overly aggressive. Lastly, it should thrive under the same growing conditions as the roses. Hardy geranium ‘Rozanne’, the 2008 Perennial Plant of the Year as determined by the Perennial Plant Association, fits all those requirements perfectly.

‘Rozanne’ bears large (2-1/2 inches across), violet-blue flowers with purple-violet veins and small white centers from late spring/early summer until hard frost. It has one of the longest flowering periods of any of the hardy geraniums with no deadheading or midsummer pruning required. It has a compact, mounding habit, 12 to 20 inches high and 18 to 28 inches wide, with fine-textured, deeply cut green leaves. ‘Rozanne’ is perfect for planting in front of roses and great for pots or window boxes.

Plant ‘Rozanne’ in full sun or partial shade (like that beneath rose bushes) and well-drained soil. Water regularly. ‘Rozanne’, which appears to be a cross between Geranium wallichianum ‘Buxton’s Variety’ with an unnamed selection of G. himalayense, can be grown in USDA Zones 5 to 9 but can also survive into Zone 4 with snow cover or heavy mulch.