Winterizing in October

What are the lawn care essentials for October?

When is it too late to fertilize and winterize?

October is an important month for lawn care. As temperatures drop, your lawn shifts its energy toward strengthening roots and storing nutrients in preparation for winter. Fertilizing and winterizing your lawn in October ensures that it remains healthy, lush, and ready to thrive once spring arrives.

How to Winterize Your Lawn in October

Winterizing is about prepping your lawn for the dormant winter period. Here are the key steps to winterizing your lawn:

Remove Fallen Leaves. Leaves left to pile up can smother your grass, blocking sunlight and trapping moisture, which encourages disease. Rake up leaves regularly or mulch them into the soil.

Aerate the Lawn. Aerating helps break up compacted soil, allowing air, water, and nutrients to reach the roots. October is an ideal time to aerate since the soil is still warm, and the grass has time to recover before winter.

Winterize Your Mower and Tools. Don’t forget about your lawn equipment! After your final mow, clean your mower blades and empty the fuel tank (or add a fuel stabilizer) to prevent clogs or corrosion. Store garden tools properly to prevent rusting.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Fertilizing Too Late. Avoid fertilizing after the first hard frost or snowfall. By then, the grass is dormant and won’t absorb the nutrients. 

Applying Too Much Fertilizer. Over-fertilizing can cause damage to your lawn and lead to nutrient runoff into local waterways.

Ignoring Soil Testing. If you’re unsure about your soil’s nutrient levels, get a soil test before applying fertilizer. This prevents overuse of certain nutrients.

Give the Hard Work to Livingston County Lawn Fertilizer Services

Why do all the work of fertilizing and winterizing yourself when you can hire one company to take care of it all? Ever So Green can provide all of the above services and more. If you live in Livingston County and need lawn fertilizer services before winter settles in, call (517) 540-1100 or request a quote here.