Commercial Lawn Care Fall Planning Guide

Landworks provides commercial lawn care services that are important in the fall, including leaf cleanup and mulching, planting spring bulbs, and sprinkler winterization. A little work and planning this fall will help ensure a healthy, lush lawn and garden in the spring.

Commercial Lawn Care Wisdom: Don’t Leave The Leaves

Autumn leaves piling up on your lawn are pretty now, but can mean trouble later if not cleared away. It is necessary to remove excessive leaf matter from your lawn for several reasons. 

If left where it falls, it will smother the turf grass and hold in moisture all winter, promoting mold and mildew. Insects and small animals love to use fallen leaves as cover, so damage to your turf from pests is likely to be worse, too. Leaves still covering the grass in the spring will also inhibit turf growth. 

Clearing away the leaves on your lawn lets the sunshine in and allows oxygen supply to the roots, helping to prevent brown spots. Always rake when the ground is dry, as wet leaves are heavy and slippery, making it a much bigger chore than it needs to be. A leaf blower may save you time and energy, depending on the size of your lawn.

Mow It Into Mulch

Mulching is both easy and great for the health of your lawn. Decomposing leaves enhance the soil with valuable nutrients that feed the microbes and worms that help your turf stay lush and healthy. Plus, compared with raking, mulching leaves is much less work.

Any type of lawn mower can mulch leaves, it just may take a couple of extra passes to do the job thoroughly. Whatever type of mower you are using, set the blade to its highest setting and remove the bag that collects clippings.

Simply mow over the leaves, cutting them into shreds that are about a half-inch in diameter (more or less the size of a dime). It might take more than one pass to get the shreds to the desired size, depending on the volume of leaves you are mulching. 

The leaf shreds should fall between the blades of grass so that you can see most of the lawn when you are finished. You may need to collect some of the excess leaf matter, which can then be added to garden beds or compost.

Planting Bulbs For Spring

Landworks can help with planting bulbs now for a beautiful landscape in the spring. We plant bulbs in the fall because it allows them to winter over, which is a necessary process for spring blooms. 

The right time to plant spring-flowering bulbs such as crocus, daffodils, hyacinth, and tulips in the Johnson County, KS area is October through mid-November. These plants must develop roots in the fall and need a dormant period over the winter in order to bloom in the spring. 

Make a plan before you plant – do you want shade, color, or privacy? Be sure to choose the right species for the sun/shade and moisture of the area you are planting.

To plant spring bulbs, first, choose a site with full sun to partial shade. Small bulbs are usually spaced 1 to 2 inches apart, and large bulbs 4 to 6 inches. Plant in irregular masses or clumps to produce a better display than planting individually. If you intend to keep them as perennials but want summer color, leave some room between them to interplant with annuals. 

Planting depth is critical if your goal is for the flowers to return each year. Follow the directions on the package, but as a general rule, a bulb is typically planted two to three times its diameter deep. After placing the bulbs at the proper depth, replace half the soil and water to settle the soil around them. Then replace the remaining soil and water again. 

There will be no top growth in the fall, but the roots are developing so the soil needs to be kept moist but not soggy. It is ideal to plan ahead so that they are comfortably established before you winterize your sprinkler system. After the soil has frozen, you can add mulch to prevent small bulbs from being pushed out of the soil by alternate freezing and thawing.

Sprinkler Winterization

Landworks can help with winterizing your sprinkler system. Water expands when it freezes and can cause a lot of spring headaches for those with sprinkler systems. Depending on how much water is in your sprinkler pipes at the exact moment it freezes, it could burst through your line, break your sprinkler heads, and cost you hundreds in repairs. That’s why it’s best to “blow out” your sprinklers before a freeze and turn them off as part of your winterizing routine.

Commercial Lawn Care Services From Landworks

Landworks specializes in all aspects of commercial and residential lawn care. Our customized lawn maintenance programs are designed to meet your needs, including mowing, mulching, shrub/tree trimming, and lawn fertilization programs.

Fall commercial lawn care services from Landworks will help ensure lush, green turf come spring. For more information, click here or call Landworks at (913) 422-9300.