Well, Fall is upon us in North Carolina and time to get outside for that autumn yard work. I have enclosed some tips for you to help you get that new yard looking like a great lawn next spring. This is my research along with a lot of trial and error over the years. I hope this will be of help to all of you and perhaps you can avoid some of the mistakes I have made over the years trying to get my lawn looking great.

Aerate your yard. I recommend renting a good unit from Home Depot or a rental shop that has yard equipment. The rental is about $60 for 24 hours. (I usually go in on this with 4 or 5 of the guys on my block to spread the cost and it only takes 45 min to an hour to do this any way.)

I recommend using Lime to neutralize our acidic soil and an 18-24-12 fertilizer. This has a good amount of Nitrogen in it and if used properly with our acetic soil, you will have great results. You will do this again in December just around Christmas. Rule of thumb; it is better to use less than too much, remember December!

Fescue, Fescue, Fescue. This is a great seed, it loves cool nights and warm days. That is why September and October are great months to do this. You only want to over seed in the fall and perhaps in the early spring. Hot weather will kill the seed, plus you will have to water all the time. If you have some dry patchy areas, break it up with a rake and seed well, then cover with some straw. The straw will help keep the soil wet and keep the birds from eating the seed.

I will Blog again in the spring to help you battle the crab grass and weeds getting you closer to that awesome looking lawn!

Have fun in the yard.

your friend Scott