Fall Yard Care Tips You Should Be Doing Now

Fall Yard Care Tips to Do Now

Fall has finally arrived! As you settle into autumn, and the weather begins to cool, it’s important not to neglect your yard. Keep your DFW backyard looking its best year round with our easy fall yard care tips.

GINNIE LEEMINGYESTERDAY

Fall has finally arrived! As you settle into autumn, and the weather begins to cool, it’s important not to neglect your yard.

Keep your DFW backyard looking its best year round with our easy fall yard care tips.

Take Care of Your Lawn

Lawns can take quite a beating over the course of a hot DFW summer, so managing your lawn is an important part of fall yard care.

As the weather cools, lawn growth will slow. Make sure to continue mowing your lawn (adjust the mower blade as needed) until it becomes dormant. If any pesky weeds sprung up, get rid of them now or risk having them take over your yard by spring.

It’s also time to overseed with rye grass for a green lawn during winter and to fertilize for a healthier lawn come spring.

Did summer heat and lots of backyard activity compact your yard’s soil? Make it a point to aerate your lawn. Doing so will encourage healthy root systems, plus aerating allows water to penetrate deeper, helping to avoid runoff.

Adjust Your Watering

As temperatures dip, plants and grass need less water. Reduce manual watering and make sure to keep an eye on automatic systems, adjusting them as needed.

Fall is also an excellent time to start practicing water conservation techniques. Set up a rain bucket, if you don’t already have one. When you mow the lawn, don’t bag the clippings. Leave them on your grass to conserve water and naturally fertilize your lawn. And make sure you continue to follow the twice-weekly watering schedules for Dallas, Fort Worth, or your community.

Beautify with New Tress, Shrubs, and Annuals

Fall is the perfect time to whip your yard into ship shape!

Keep your yard looking beautiful by removing wilted summer annuals and replacing them with cool-weather varieties (make sure to fertilize the soil first). You’ll also want to stop fertilizing perennials. This will allow them to rest during winter and be healthier come spring. Replenish mulch around trees and flower beds, as well.

Planning to add trees or shrubs? Fall is a great time to do it. Cooler temperatures and occasional rainfall will help to encourage root growth before it gets too cold. Choose native plants for best results. If you need help deciding what to plant, consult the Earth-Kind Plant Selector.

Clean Up Debris

Of course, a big part of fall yard care is cleaning up debris, including dead plants or leaves.

Did you know that yard trimmings make up 20 percent of the waste generated by Texans each year? Thankfully, it’s easy to reduce your waste with a few easy tips.

First, there’s no need to remove a few straggling leaves from your lawn. Just mow right over them, and they’ll help to fertilize your lawn.

For yards with more trees, consider starting a compost pile. Compost can be used as mulch, and using it in your yard helps save on your water bills, reduces the need to fertilize (which is better for the environment), and saves you time (no bagging leaves). Simply add your yard waste to a compost pile instead of throwing it out.

You don’t need a lot of space to begin a compost pile. Check out this mulching and composting guide for tips on getting started.

October Home Checklist

To-Dos: Your October Home Checklist

Clean up fallen leaves and branches and get your home ready for more time spent indoors.

VICTORIA KEICHINGERYESTERDAY

Houzz Contributor, Laura Gaskill

The leaves are falling, the farmer’s markets are bustling and the cozy comforts of home beckon — it must be October. Make the most of this month’s bountiful harvest, get some exercise raking leaves in the brisk air and button down your house in preparation for winter. Then sit back, relax and warm your hands around a mug of hot apple cider. Fall is here.

Photo by Connor Homes – More traditional exterior photos

1. Rake leaves. To make quicker work of collecting leaves from a large lawn, rake the fallen foliage onto a large plastic tarp. Then bag it or add it to your compost pile.

2. Trim dead tree limbs. Dead limbs are more likely to fall during winter storms, making them a potential safety hazard. Have an arborist inspect and trim large trees.

3. If you haven’t already, clean gutters and downspouts. Wait until most of the leaves have fallen to schedule a rain gutter cleaning. Inspect gutters and downspouts for cracks and loose parts and make repairs as needed.

It’s Time to Clean Your Gutters — Here’s How

Photo by SHED Architecture & Design – Browse contemporary entryway photos

4. Neaten up the mudroom. The back-to-school (and work) flurry can leave the mudroom looking as if a hurricane hit it. Take some time to regain sanity — sort through papers and put away stray summer items and extra coats. Clean the floors and invest in a new doormat if needed. Keep a recycling basket near the entrance to make sorting mail and school papers easier, and dedicate a tote or bin for items that need to be returned (like library books).

Mudrooms That Really Clean Up

Photo by Brilliant! Lighting & Design – Search traditional porch design ideas

5. Keep seasonal decorating low-key with natural finds. Pumpkins and gourds, fresh heirloom apples, quinces, pomegranates, figs and fall foliage all make wonderfully simple decor.

Bring in cut branches from your yard, stop by a pick-your-own farm or scoop up fall’s bounty at a farm stand.

Browse the Houzz fall decorating page

Photo by David Butler Photography – Look for Scandinavian living room design inspiration

6. Maintain your wood stove or fireplace. If you have a fireplace or wood stove, it’s essential for safety that you have it serviced before lighting the first fire of the season. If you haven’t done so already, schedule an appointment to have your chimney inspected and, if necessary, cleaned.

Photo by Cummings Architects – Browse farmhouse kitchen ideas

7. Check safety devices. Test all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the house and replace batteries as needed. Check the expiration date on the kitchen fire extinguisher and replace it if needed.

Photo by Norton Commons – Discover traditional dining room design ideas

8. Start a gift list. It may seem like the holidays are a long way off — but that’s why it pays to start getting organized now. Start a list of everyone you plan to give gifts to this year. Then, as ideas strike, jot them down on your list. You can also use your list to keep track of a holiday gifting budget. And if you want to make any gifts by hand, October is a great time to get started — handmade gifts always seem to take longer to make than expected.

Photo by Alderwood Landscape Architecture and Construction – Discover traditional patio design inspiration

9. Cover or store outdoor furniture and grills. If you plan to leave your patio furniture or grill outside through the fall and winter, cover them well and stow them beneath an overhang that will protect them from rain and snow. Even if you live in a mild climate, covering your grill between uses is a good idea to protect the finish.

Photo by Moore Architects, PC – More traditional exterior ideas

10. Shut off exterior faucets and store hoses for winter. Disconnect, drain and roll hoses before storing them for the winter. Shut off the water supply to exterior faucets to prevent frozen pipes.

Tell us: What’s on your to-do list this October?

More: Start the Season Right With Some Fall Cleaning To-Dos

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