Even though I have been designing some fun gardens that include removing high needs grass from your yards, I know everyone isn't ready to give up on their green carpets just yet, especially in the front yard.

So for those of you still determined to have a healthy green, weed free lawn here are some important fall tips:

*    Remove Crab Grass. Like mentioned last month, try to remove as much crab grass as possible, especially the seed heads. And yes this means digging it up by hand!

*    Aerate Your Lawn.  Done regularly, aeration helps give your grass a better medium to grow in with loose soil and better air circulation.

*    Remove Thatch.  Thatch is a layer of dead grass and grass roots that has built up on top of the soil surface.  More than � inch of this will block water and nutrients from penetrating the lawn. Lawns with severe thatch problems become a great host for pests and weeds.

*    Overseed.  Once thatch is removed and lawn is aerated, now is the time for a top dressing of good quality compost and an overseeding of grass seed. September and early October is the best time.

*    Fertilize.  Mid-October to mid-November is the time to apply a slow release fall fertilizer.

In researching information about improving our lawns for this article and many customer questions that I receive, I found out about a Canadian grass seed product called Eco-Lawn. It claims:

"Eco-Lawn™ is a blend of carefully selected fine fescue grass seeds developed by Wildflower Farm. Eco-Lawn™ is a lawn grass that grows in full sun, part shade and even deep shade! Eco-Lawn™ is highly drought tolerant once established, and has a beautiful green grass colour. Eco-Lawn™ requires less fertilizing and can be mown like a regular lawn or left un-mown for a free-flowing carpet effect. You can read more about it at www.wildflowerfarm.com"

You can also find this testimonial from a customer on their blog. But to summarize, the customer grew 4 different brands of grass seed, including Eco-Lawn in 4 separate containers of peat moss.  Once growing well he stopped watering for 13 days...
 
More expensive than other grass seeds on the market, I was intrigued. I will be overseeding my front lawn with it this fall and probably again in the spring so I will report back.  Again visit www.wildflowerfarm.com for more information.

And lastly, if you feel your lawn is too far gone and that frankly all these steps are too much work, then maybe your best bet is to re-sod your lawn and then stay on top of it so that it doesn't get out of hand again. Having a contractor re-sod your lawn starts at $1 a square foot.  Keep in mind you may also need a bin and sod cutter for removal of old sod. If you would like a quote from a contractor to once again restore your lawn then please give me a call.