Fall Is the Time for Tall Fescue Lawn Maintenance
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Collapse ▲Tall fescue is a cool-season turfgrass. During the fall as temperatures cool, tall fescue plants break dormancy and begin actively growing again. This makes the fall a great time for renovation, seeding, and maintenance of tall fescue lawns.
Tall fescue is a clumping grass and is easy to establish from seed. Over time, a tall fescue lawn will become patchy and may require overseeding. The best time for seeding depends on the weather, with optimum temperatures for tall fescue germination occurring when air temperature is between 68 to 77°F, and soil temperatures are above 60°F. The NC State Climate Office provides data from weather stations to help you determine soil and air temperature. Click here to view data from the station at the NC A&T State University Research Farm in Greensboro – this data reflects nearby conditions for Forsyth County residents. In general, September through mid-October is a good time to seed tall fescue. Check out this article for details specific to seeding your tall fescue lawn in the fall.
A chest spreader can be used to distribute seeds when planting a lawn.
When selecting seed for yards in Forsyth County, look for a seed blend that contains multiple cultivars of tall fescue. Check the 2022 top performing tall fescue cultivars for a guide. Typically, the cultivars of fescue contained in the seed blend are listed on the bag, often on the back of the bag.
Fall is also a great time to perform other lawn maintenance while your tall fescue lawn is actively growing. You may need to aerate a tall fescue lawn, which can help with soil compaction. It is also a good time to fertilize. Be sure to take a soil test to determine the best type of fertilizer for your yard. For more details on lawn maintenance, check the tall fescue lawn maintenance calendar or Carolina Lawns.
Core aerification removes clay cores from the soil surface and helps with compaction problems in lawns.
If you have a warm-season lawn such as bermudagrass or zoysiagrass, your lawn is going dormant at this time of the year. It is normal for the lawn to turn a brown color while it is dormant in the winter. You want to wait to perform maintenance on these lawns until the weather warms again next spring and summer. The bermudagrass lawn maintenance calendar and the zoysiagrass lawn maintenance calendar are helpful guides for managing warm-season lawns.