For many Calgary home owners, fall is the ideal time to get out in the garden for some landscaping and tidy up work. You still get the high number of sunny days that Calgary is famous for, but the summer heat drops away quickly, meaning that you can get a good run of days to really help prepare your lawn for the winter months, and in turn for a luscious growth in spring. Effective lawn preparation starts the fall before, so if you want a plush lawn for your family and guests to use next summer, you need to work on two main fall lawn care activities: aeration and a fall cleanup.
What Is Aeration And Why Is It Important?
Just like any other living plant in your yard, your lawn needs four things to survive: food (in the form of fertiliser), oxygen, sunlight and plenty of water. When it comes to sunlight and oxygen, the grass has got you covered, but you can really help your garden grow when you start thinking about giving it good access to food and water. In the course of each summer, the foot traffic in your lawn combined with the summer rains can compact your soil, making it harder for water and nutrients to seep down to the roots. This is where fall aeration comes in. Aeration is the act of breaking up the topsoil gently to remove any hardened soil and to give water and fertiliser easier access to the lower levels.
How Do I Aerate My Soil?
Aerating your soil can be a back breaking task, as most people think of it as a matter of pulling a hard rake through your grass. If you have anything more than a dozen square metres, this can get tiring very quickly, even in the cooler fall weather. However, you can make your life easier with some of these simple aeration tips:
- Mower attachment – if you have an electric or gas powered mower for your lawn, you’ll be able to find an aerating attachment that will hook onto your existing machine and break up your top soil in no time. The power generated by your mower will be transferred to your aerator, meaning that you’ll cut the amount of time and effort you’ll need to put in dramatically.
- Aeration with seed spreader – another way to save time and money is by investing in a seed spreader that comes with an aerator attachment. A seed spread is a simple push along device that spins seeds out at a set rate over your lawn. Combined with an aerator, you’ll be able to really get into those hard to grow patches. Make sure you buy quick growing fall lawn seed so that it has a chance to embed some roots before the ground freezes.
- Liquid aeration – finally, if you’re short on time and aren’t afraid of chemicals, you might want to consider liquid aeration. This is a highly potent liquid combination that you pour over your lawn. The chemicals then get to work dissolving and breaking down the topsoil in a more even way so any seeds you plant or fertiliser you put down has a better chance of succeeding. Be sure to find the ones that contain beneficial microbes to ensure the good health of your soil.
Act 2: The Fall Clean Up
Once you’ve aerated your lawn and overseeded the necessary areas, you’ll want to make sure you undertake a full fall cleanup of your lawn to make sure that you’re giving your grass the best chance of success come springtime. First of all, you’ll want to go over your entire lawn closely, removing leaves, twigs and any other debris that might block water from draining down into your soil. This can be done manually if you have a smallish lawn, but most Calgary homeowners will find that they prefer a leaf blower to make sure that all pieces of debris get removed. Secondly, you’ll want to give your lawn one last mow on a low setting, making sure that the clippings are finely shredded (this shouldn’t be an issue if you cleared out all the larger leaves). You don’t need to rake or bag the mowed grass, however, as they’ll act as a thin protective layer that will break down in the spring to provide a first feed. Finally, you should spend time around the edges of your lawn trimming and cutting back your trees, shrubs and bushes that might deposit further debris on your lawn during the dormant months.
Getting Professional Help
While the cooler days of fall lend themselves to lawn care and preparation for winter (and indeed spring), they also signal the start of school for many Calgary families, and calendars can become full quickly with sports and activities even at the weekend. This puts a time crunch on getting the necessary aeration and fall cleanup work done, which is where working with Scoop Cut N Shovel makes perfect sense. Our team of lawn care experts will come to your house and take care of all parts of your fall yard maintenance, from that final mow to a complete fall clean up. The cost will be dictated by the size of your lawn and the amount of work you’re wanting us to do, so call us today to set up an appointment and we’ll send a team out to get you started.
Lawn care is a year round process, and while the fall work helps you set up well for spring, you’ll then need to start planning your mowing and feeding schedule for when the snow melts. You can save time and money by talking with us about our yearly property maintenance packages, which not only gives you access to a dedicated team who will help you with your Calgary lawn all year long, but you’ll also be to tap into our dog poop removal services and even have someone come out to shovel your snow and ice from your driveways and walkways!