Wisconsin’s favorite season of the year has arrived – fall! Packer football, crisp autumn air, vibrant blue skies, brightly colored leaves, pumpkin patches, apple orchards, Halloween décor, chili (WITH the noodles), and the list goes on and on! Now is also the ideal time to focus on ensuring our lawns not only withstands the harsh winter, but also ensure that they are fully prepared to grow back thick and strong in the spring.
We have prepared a Seven Step Series in Preparing Your Wisconsin Lawn for Winter. Now that Step #1 and Step #2 are both complete, let’s move on Step #3:
Step #3: Rake Your Lawn
As any gardener and farmer will tell you, fallen leaves provide a lot of natural benefits to our soils, as well as to Earth’s ecosystems. Yet, homeowners especially must strategize with the fallen leaves in order to preserve their lawn and protect it from losing its lushness.
Fallen leaves provide excellent nitrogen and organic matter that the soil craves and needs for better plant growth, including grasses. Leaves also serve as a habitat for wildlife by providing them with natural shelters through the harsh winters. However, from a homeowner’s perspective, leaving too many leaves on a lawn can suffocate the lawn, harbor bacteria, and eventually kill it. As your Lawn Pro Company, we alter our fertilizers to provide your Northeast Wisconsin lawn with the right amounts of nitrogen in accordance with the different temperatures, weathers and all four seasons in order to keep your lawn in the best condition possible. Therefore, to keep your lawn well-groomed and in its healthiest state possible, it is best to rake your lawn thoroughly to remove leaves, soil clumps from aerating, and other large piles of debris.