Lawns

Prepare my Lawn for Winter

How do I prepare my lawn for winter? Keep watering if it dries out. This will allow the grass to go dormant healthy.

Now, this is the time to control your perennial weeds. In the fall the weeds are growing, most of the time there is less wind, and the temperature is cooler. Use any broadleaf herbicide for lawn use, follow the directions.

Late season fertilizer application will help the lawn go dormant and be there for early spring growth. You can fertilize until October 1. Make sure your ground is moist before applying fertilizer.

If you have a thatch problem, now is the best time to remove it, allowing 4 to 6 weeks to recover before the soil freezes. If the thatch is thicker than ½ inch, remove it.

There is still time to overseed your lawn to make it thicker. If you are going to sod the area, start now.

Landscaping decor

Garden Fountain

Missing the sound of running water from a stream in your backyard. Don’t have enough room for a little stream, try a garden fountain. You can buy a kit or make your own.

Old sprinkling can with water flowing into a wash basin
Old sprinkling can with water flowing into a wash basin


All you need is a basin to hold water that sits on the surface or level to the ground level. Use a waterproof basin that holds at least a couple of feet of water. That way you will not have to fill it up as often compared to a small depth. A water screen around the pump will protect the pump from debris like dead leaves and algae.

Water flowing from hand pump to wine barrel
Water flowing from hand pump to wine barrel


Get a fountain pump that can be placed in the water. They are measured as a gallon per hour or the height of the water being pumped. Do not get too small of one that will not push the water to the desired height.

Water flowing into multiple basins
Water flowing into multiple basins


You can use plastic tubing or copper pipe to get the water from the pump to where you want the water to come out. Use plants and rock to decorate.
I like the fountains that provide running water over the ones that produce a fine spray. The wind takes the spray and will drain your water basin in a hurry.

A fountain of teapot and tea cups
A fountain of teapot and tea cups
Garden Pests

Fall Webworms

What is that big bunches of webs in my trees? It is fall webworms hatching from eggs and spinning a protection web over the colony. While unsightly, they do not cause much harm this time of the year as the trees are going dormant.

Webbing on a fruit tree from fall webworms
Webbing from fall webworms

Their “cousins”, the spring tent caterpillars do cause damage because they hatch in the spring when the trees are trying to grow. These should be controlled.

Both species attacking fruit trees, poplars, and a few others. They fall out of the nests seeking shelter and become brown moths in the spring laying eggs completing the life cycle.

Back the fall, if you can not stand the sight of these, you can rip the nest with a stick exposing the worms to the elements and birds. I have not noticed an overabundance of webs this year.