A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2002 First time caring for lawn

Hello, I have a question about my lawn. This is my first yard with grass and I'm not use to taking care of grass. I haven't done that since I was a teenager and even then all I would do was mow the lawn.

Anyways, I have noticed since fall has started our grass isn't as green as it use to be. It's not brown or yellow or anything like that, it's just not bright green like it was when we moved in. The grass gets watered every night by remote sprinkler systems. All the neighbors have nice brightly green grass, and ours is really dull.

So my question is do you have any suggestions to what I can do to get my grass back to the nice green color it should be? And is it because of the weather change that it's gotten dull like this? Any suggestions on what to do for grass care over the fall and winter seasons? I guess I had more questions then I realized. Sorry. I'd really appreciate any help/advice you can give me.

Thanks in advanced,
Lisa

It is totally normal for your lawn to loose its lush green appearance this time of year. If you are in a northern zone, it is getting ready to go dormant. That is where the plant dies from the "Crown"( ground level) up, but the roots will remain active until the ground freezes. At that point the grass will go into full dormancy, until next spring.
If this is the case you can put down a winterizer type fertilizer.( use a broadcast spreader as opposed to a drop spreader) This will help your lawn by strengthening its roots, but not creating much more top growth.
Even if you are in a southern climate, with the lack of sunlight since the days are shorter, your lawn will not appear as richly colored. You can alter this by putting down a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen, and also has iron. But if you are in a area where the lawns go into dormancy, you will not want to do this, as it will be like giving a kid a bunch of sugar right before bed time.

Hope this helps.
Mike

Thanks, Mike! We're in the southern part so I'll go ahead and try the way you suggested! Thank you so much!

Lisa