Time to start fall lawn care

Good fall lawn care yields a lush spring lawn. Our cool-season grasses, such as bluegrass and fescue, are actually greener in cooler weather and thrive with fall fertilization.

Although a lawn begins to go dormant as the weather cools, its roots stay active all winter long. So, maintenance doesn't end when the grass stops growing, according to the American Horticulture Society.

Some experts say the fall fertilizer application is the most important because it supplies the nutrients necessary for food storage. With an available supply of stored nutrients, root development and greening up can occur quickly in the spring.

Use a quick-release fertilizer in the fall, rather than a slow-release product, so that it can be readily absorbed and moved through the plant before the onset of freezing weather. The optimum time to fertilize is just before the turf stops growing, usually by the end of October.

Irrigation is still necessary, often until the first snows of winter, as we usually have a very dry fall. However, it is time to start reducing the amount of water you apply each week.

In September, lawns generally need approximately one and one-quarter inches of water per week. In October, that amount drops to just under one inch of water per week. These averages are based on scientific data collected from weather stations throughout the area and incorporate information on relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, solar radiation and precipitation.

Contact me if you need to know how to measure how much water you are putting on your lawn.

Fall aeration is a good idea if a lawn isn't absorbing water well, or if it has had a lot of use by kids or dogs or gets a lot of other foot traffic. An aerating machine pulls plugs out of the lawn and opens up the soil. This allows water, air and fertilizer to penetrate. Water deeply after aerating. In addition, it is best to overseed a bare patch after aerating.

Temperatures are expected to drop to the mid- to low-80s this week, so continue to mow your grass to 3 inches high. You can lower your mower to mow to 2 inches high as the weather cools into the low 70s.

If you have a mulching mower, leaves that fall can be mulched and left on the lawn. Otherwise, be sure to rake leaves off the lawn, rather than let them create a mat than can smother the grass.

For more information, e-mail skellyj@unce.unr.edu or call me at 887-2252. You can "Ask a Master Gardener" by e-mailing mastergardeners@unce.unr.edu or call your local University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office. Check out many useful horticulture publications at www.unce.unr.edu.

• JoAnne Skelly is the Carson City/Storey County Extension educator for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.