You shouldn't depend on frost for weed control because it only stunts or kills the tops, not the crowns and roots.
It's important to remove leaves because they shade grass and this prevents the growth of new grass plants.
Although you can chop leaves with a lawnmower, it's best to remove them because accumulation of chopped leaves hurts new grass plant and stem development.
Rather than send the leaves you've removed to the landfill, add them to your compost pile.
Fall also is an important time to properly mow and fertilize your grass.
Don't stop mowing
You should keep mowing grass as long as it's growing.
Mow it shorter in the fall because grass should be no more than two inches tall going into the winter. Grass that's too tall often flops over and smothers itself out, causing you to lose up to one-half of the grass density.
Mowing grass shorter and fertilizing it in the fall produces a more lush lawn.
The short grass allows more light to penetrate. This, plus a high-nitrogen fertilizer, produces new grass plants that thicken your lawn.
It also will produce earlier growth and green up next spring.
To increase lawn density without excessive top growth, apply a high-nitrogen fertilizer, making two applications six to eight weeks apart before the end of December.
Apply the fertilizer at the rate of one and one-half pounds of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.
The percentage of nitrogen is the first number in the analysis on the fertilizer bag. So, when using ammonium nitrate (33-0-0), you'd apply four and one half pounds per 1,000 square feet because three pounds of 33 percent nitrogen is the equivalent of one pound of actual nitrogen.
With a 10-10-10 fertilizer, you'd apply 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet.
For more information, call the Boyle County Cooperative Extension Service at (859) 236-4484. We have several publications on lawn care.
Jerry Little is Boyle County extension agent for agriculture/natural resources.
