Welcome to November! It has been a (seemingly) long season. Lots of rain, followed by lots of heat, followed by lots of rain. Mother Nature can’t make up her mind! Anyway, we will discuss today what you need to do get your property ready for its long Winter (I hate that word!) nap.

Have you fertilized your lawn recently? If not, do it now! The lawns are still growing, contrary to popular belief. The soil temps are still promoting root growth, so you want to choose a fertilizer with a higher 2nd number (i.e., 10-20-10). That second number is the phosphorus portion of the fertilizer, and this time of year, the lawn uses that to help increase root stock. Our lawns lost a lot of roots this summer, due to extremely high soil temperatures. Give your lawn a chance to re-establish its root systems, otherwise, you’ll have more problems next year as well.

And, as long as temperatures are in the upper 50s to low 60s, the grass continues to grow. Do not leave your lawn long for the winter. Long, uncut grass can develop snow mold, which can actually grow under snow cover. It will leave dead, matted areas. It also looks much nicer if your lawn is short over the winter during those times when there is no snow cover (though we didn’t have much of that last year, did we?)

Next, cut back your perennials. The dead and dying flower stalks and leaves will mat down, and cause hiding spots for overwintering insects. And, it just plain looks bad.

Same deal for the leaves that are falling. Pretty as they are, you are asking for more lawn damage if you allow them to block out the sun to the underlying lawn. Left alone, you will end up with soggy dead spots. It also allows fungus to grow underneath, and piles of leaves left against the house and in beds will allow  many insect types to overwinter, and cause new problems in the Spring.

Finally, there is no rule that says you can’t plant at this time of year! As long as the ground isn’t frozen, and you can find plants, you can plant!  We actually have several jobs coming up, nursery stock has been ordered, and we’re going to be planting our brains out next week! Still time to get those undone projects in, folks.

As always, still taking your questions. Feel free to contact us here, or on our Facebook page.

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