Preparing a lawn for Autumn Winter

 


Can anyone help? I have spent a lot of time this spring and summer
bringing my
lawn back to life after a year of abuse (we had an extension
built and the
builders used our back lawn as a dumping ground)but I am
concerned about the
harsher weather in Winter.
Does anyone have any good ideas of the things that I can be doing to
prepare my
garden for the winter months to ensure that I still get lush
green grass back in
Spring 2011?




--
floss2205

 

wrote:

Aerification is definitely a good start, but don't stop there.  Late
Fall is the best time of year to apply a Herbicide because the plant
is storing energy for the Winter so it will absorb the chemical
better.  You should wait until the grass is dormant and apply a fast
release fertilizer like Urea 46-0-0.  In Michigan, usually the best
time is somewhere around Thanksgiving or just before the first big
snow storm.  What this will do, because the grass is dormant it will
not promote shoot growth (the grass will not get taller), but it will
increase the root growth.  Any time that you can increase the root
grown you can improve your lawn's health.

 
: Aerification is definitely a good start, but don't stop there.  Late
: Fall is the best time of year to apply a Herbicide because the plant
: is storing energy for the Winter so it will absorb the chemical
: better.  You should wait until the grass is dormant and apply a fast
: release fertilizer like Urea 46-0-0. ..

I had a similar question in another thread. Because of pets and
children we have been advised to use Corn Gluten Meal instead of
instead of more traditional weed killers. Is Urea safe enough or should
we stick with CGM?

Also confused about the order. Everyone seems to agree that
raking/aerating comes first. However, the other thread suggests
applying CGM (Nitrogen) before overseeding.

So I still need advice on when and in which order to do the following:

Spread fertilizer
overseed (= compost layer + seed + compost layer)
Corn Gluten Meal (or another safe weed preventer)

This is for Chicago, if the climate matters.

 Newbie wrote:

A small lawn with cavorting pets and children hasn't a chance no
matter what you do... you'd just be wasting your money, time, and
effort... in fact the more you do the worse your lawn will become.
Just mow and water as needed, that's it.  

 Brooklyn1 wrote:
: A small lawn with cavorting pets and children hasn't a chance no
: matter what you do... you'd just be wasting your money, time, and
: effort... in fact the more you do the worse your lawn will become.
: Just mow and water as needed, that's it.  

LOL the children and the pets don't really spend that much time on the
lawn to cause damage.  We as well as a few neighbors have simply
decided together to avoid poisonous chemicals as a matter of policy.