This Is the 5-Minute Lawn Task Pros Always Do in November That Lasts Through Winter

Key Points

• Edge your lawn in fall for a cleaner look and fewer weeds next spring.

• Use a stick edger to define borders and stop grass from spreading.

• Edge before each mowing to maintain crisp, tidy lines.

Fall's cooler temperatures can mean mowing your lawn a little less often, but there's still plenty to do to keep your lawn looking as neat as possible through winter and into spring.

Exactly which fall lawn tasks you'll need to take care of will depend on where you live and whether your lawn is planted with cool-season or warm-season turfgrass.

Either way, you'll want to do what you can to keep it looking tidy—which includes more detail-oriented tasks like edging as well as mowing and raking. Here's how to edge your lawn in fall for a neat, polished lawn in spring.

How to Edge Your Lawn in Fall

It's a best practice to edge your lawn every time you mow it, not just once in a while. In addition to creating crisp, clear lines that make a freshly-mown lawn look even more impressive, routine edging helps keep weeds at bay, prevents grass from encroaching into vegetable gardens or ornamental beds, and keeps grass from growing into sidewalks and driveways.

It's important to keep mowing your lawn in fall until temperatures drop below 50°F, which will slow grass growth before it goes dormant in winter. Depending on your climate, you can begin to cut back on mowing as early as October or as late as December. However, it's important to edge your lawn with each of those mows, even as they grow less frequent.

To edge your lawn, you'll need a stick edger , which makes the task of cutting clear, smooth borders much easier than using a string trimmer (however, a string trimmer or weed whacker works well for keeping grass and weeds down around obstacles like light poles and tree pits). Plan to do this before mowing, which can help achieve a neater look.

Before you get started, remove any sticks, rocks, or other debris from the area and put on protective gear like goggles, closed-toed shoes, and long sleeves and pants. Lightly watering the edge of your lawn beforehand can help make the task of edging easier and less messy.

If the perimeter of your lawn is bordered by stone, brick, or rubber edging, you can simply use that as your guide when cutting. Otherwise, lay down a length of garden hose to mark out a curved edge or a long, straight item like a length of PVC pipe or a piece of wood to give yourself a line to follow.

Set the depth of the edger to 1/2-inch, turn it on, and follow your guideline, moving slowly and consistently forward. Keep an eye out for any obstructions the edger may hit. Afterwards, sweep or blow the clippings from the edger onto the lawn, where you can either bag them up or mow over them and mulch them.

Fall Lawn Care Tips

• Reseed and irrigate thoroughly to keep weeds down.If you're reseeding your lawn in fall, stick to the recommended reseeding and watering rates to help turfgrass establish quickly, which can help outcompete stubborn weeds.

• Fertilize cool-season grasses.Once newly-seeded grasses have established, a couple of doses of water-soluble nitrogen during the period from September to November can provide a boost in color and density.

• Consider dethatching and aerating cool-season grasses.If you're more concerned with the long-term health of your lawn than its appearance in the short term, fall can be a good time for cultivation tasks like aerating and dethatching. By reducing soil compaction and allowing more oxygen to reach plant roots, your lawn will benefit in the long run. Hold off on these tasks for warm-season grasses until active growth resumes in spring.

• Control weeds and invasive plants.As in the vegetable garden, removing weeds in the fall will save you time and energy in the spring. Always follow package directions when using herbicides.

• Remove leaves and sticks regularly.Rake your lawn to take care of leaves, sticks, and other debris that can make your yard look untidy and block much-needed light from reaching your grass.

Read the original article on The Spruce