ST. LOUIS — The temperatures are dropping, and that means you don’t have to mow your lawn as often, right?
Missouri Botanical Garden specialists say after the summer stress, our lawns might be hungry and thin, so seeding is a good idea.
MoBot horticulture answer service specialist Laura Chavez said if you have a cool-season lawn – like tall fescue or Kentucky Bluegrass – now is a good time to put some all-purpose fertilizer down. If you have Zoysia grass, there is nothing you need to do, but you may still be mowing.
Walk across your lawn. Chavez said if you can still see your footprints a few hours later, that means the grass is dry. She said it needs about an inch of water each week.
And what about the falling leaves? Do you remove, mulch, or “leave” them in the yard and let nature take its course. One option is to put the fallen leaves beneath the plants or shrubs in your flower garden.
“Leaves make a great habitat for pollinators and other insects, over winter,” said Chavez. “You can also compost those leaves or pile them up and make a leaf mulch. That's a really great way to recycle the nutrients from the leaves. And then, if you've still got more leaves after you've tried those things, you can always mulch them over with the mower.”
Chavez said if you are mulching, your lawn mower will chop the leaves up into small pieces to nourish your lawn and the microbes in the soil.