Soccer fans may not agree on everything. United fans will call City the club of cheaters and vice versa. The same can be said of Real Madrid and Barcelona fans. Munich and Dortmund, PSG-Lyon, Rangers-Celtic, Corinthians-Palmeiras, Boca-River Plate, or América-Chivas, rival fans will rarely see eye to eye. One thing they can all admire is a beautiful pitch, and they’ll spend all year trying to make their own yards look like the Allianz Arena or the Maracana. It takes time, effort, and the right professional to turn that quarter-acre lot into the Parc de Princes.

The time is now to take action.

“The fall is generally the best time to grow new grass or repair existing lawns,” said Fran Weiss, owner of FW Landscaping. “The cool nights and warm days provide nice morning moisture for lawns to flourish.” Weiss, a former All-League captain for William Tennent’s soccer team, started his business in 1991. Servicing all of Bucks and Montgomery counties, his company provides full lawn maintenance, landscape design, fertilization packages, hardscaping, and commercial snow removal.

During the year, it takes various steps to maintain a healthy lawn. Whether it’s early spring crabgrass prevention, late spring and summer’s weed and pest control, or a seasonal fertilization application, the goal to build and sustain healthy roots while simultaneously destroying common weeds and bugs can be an exhaustive process. This season, it’s taken even more effort than in years past to keep the lawn appearing luscious and green.

“Unfortunately, this fall, with the lack of rain and above average temperatures, growing grass has been difficult,” Weiss said. The unprecedented lack of rain in the Philadelphia area (our second 30-plus rainless day stretch in months as of this writing) has caused many lawns to go dormant, and the lack of growth has meant mowers have stayed in the garage for 2-3 weeks at a time since early June.

Despite all this, owners still control their lawn’s future. “Even with the dry weather, aerating and seeding is the best you can do for your lawn,” Weiss said. “if done this time of year you will see great results in the spring.”

According to Penn State’s Turf Management Program, aeration is “the process of removing plugs from soil from the turf area using a core aerator, thereby creating an artificial system of large pores that carry moisture, lime, or plant nutrients into the soil.” Aeration can loosen soil and remove thatch, deadening grass that covers soil, prevents grass growth, and enhances weed production.

After a long, dry summer, homeowners either have maintained regular water treatments at a costly rate or allowed nature to take its course. If in the latter category, the lawn may have never bounced back in the fall, so the aeration and seeding process has been compromised by the lack of water.

If a homeowner wants the ball to roll across the yard like a carpet, the fall is the ideal time to overseed. Cool-season grasses thrive when the air temperature dips and the ground temperatures remain warm. With ground contact and enough water, the seeds will germinate, and the new grass will help solidify existing roots or replace the thatch from the stressed out period of an extended drought. New grass benefits by having two growing seasons (fall and spring) before the next summer heat wave. We may not have had enough rain, but we’ve been blessed with above average temperatures, so the first frost is getting closer but not quite here yet.

Even if we don’t get enough rain before the next frost, the University of Minnesota’s Turf Science recommends dormant seeding, a process of laying down seed late enough in the fall when the ground is too cold to germinate yet not frozen. If done at the right time, the seeds will germinate when the spring conditions allow, though overseeding may be necessary when the soil warms again. It’s not ideal but better than skipping altogether. And let’s face it, this fall has been less than ideal as evident by all the youth soccer fields covered in dirt clouds.

Before the amateur Subaru Park groundskeepers put their equipment away for the winter, Weiss says there’s another key task. “It’s important to remove leaves from lawns and not let them pile up over winter,” he said. “Wet heavy leaf piles for long periods of time will stress out new or existing grass. When your place is all cleaned up for winter it’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor before next season creeps in.”

The holiday season is nearly upon us, and soon weekends will be filled with yard decorations, family gatherings, and shopping sprees, so any homeowners struggling to find the time and effort to meet their lawn’s needs should consider a professional team with over 30 years of experience. Finish that To-Do list and make that lawn look like the new Anfield next spring. Contact Fran and his team at fwweisslandscape@gmail.com today.