As summer makes the turn towards fall on Long Island and the days become shorter and cooler, now is the very best time to rebuild a lawn or establish a new lawn. Grass is a cool weather plant and the warm days and cool evenings brings new life to a stressed out lawn from a hot and humid summer. Rain Rich has a great program for getting your lawn back into great shape and is the same program used by many Long island golf courses and athletic fields.  Our lawn care program is simple and low cost compared to the increased value a great looking lawn adds to your home.

Here are 10 tips for improving your lawn this fall:

  1. Test your soil for pH and for nutrients. Long Island soils are too acidic which is not good for lawns. If your soil is acidic, then grass plants cannot absorb fertilizer.
  2. Lime your lawn. Recommend that lime be applied 2 -3 times per year until pH is in the 6.2-7.0 range. Use a dolomite lime that contains magnesium.
  3. Core aerate your lawn. Removing plugs from your lawn relieves compaction and opens soil to accept water, fertilizer, and air. The benefits of core aeration cannot be overstated.
  4. Top dress with compost . Compost has organic matter, beneficial bacterial, and fungi. It will add integrity to the soil, raise the pH, and provide nutrients  to your plants.
  5. Top dress with topsoil. Fill in uneven areas with a quality loamy soil.
  6. Fertilize  with a quality brand slow release fertilizer. Consider fertigation  as an organic and natural approach with little or no waste.
  7. Apply a quality blended seed. Consider sunny areas vs. shady areas. Hard clay soils vs. sandy loam soils. A preferred blend consists of blue grass, rye, and fescue. If you are not that fussy about your lawn then try tall fescue. Tall Fescue is more resistant to drought and disease. Long Island Lawn
  8. Proper programmings of irrigation controllers are critical to bring life to new seed and reestablishing your tired beat up lawn from the summer. Watering several times per day for short durations is best to increase germination rate of new seed. It is important to keep seed moist all the time until germination.
  9. Mow your lawn with a sharp blade, at a 3” height, and at least once per week.
  10. Keep leaves and debris off the lawn. Sunlight is critical and wet leaves lying on top of new grass seedlings will cause damage and undo your hard work.

The Rain Rich Lawn Care Program is customized to your specific property and guaranteed to your satisfaction. Rain Rich can provide all or part of the program- you decide. We recommend an organic approach for long term benefit and to care for our environment. For a free analysis and quote, please click here or call us at 631-423-2211.