When those leaves drop, you need a lawn-care plan to protect your yard.
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00:00And fall brings crisp weather and a colorful foliage,
00:04but when those leaves drop,
00:05you need a lawn care plan to protect your yard.
00:09Earlier this week, I spoke with Dan Reinhart,
00:11senior product manager of DR Power
00:13for some easy fall lawn care tips.
00:17Welcome, Dan.
00:18Thank you so much for joining us.
00:21Yeah, thank you, Bree.
00:23We'll get right down to it.
00:24For safety and lawn health,
00:26why is it so important to keep your lawn free of leaves?
00:31Yeah, so there's a number of reasons
00:33aside from just a general aesthetic.
00:36Removing leaves from your lawn
00:37not only allows more sunlight to reach your grass,
00:40but also allows moisture to reach the soil
00:43and promotes proper air flow,
00:44keeping the lawn killing mold and fungus at bay.
00:48Thick leaf layer can also provide cover for rodents,
00:51ticks, and other pests
00:52that we just really don't want around our homes.
00:55Wet leaves can also be a safety hazard,
00:57creating slick conditions on decks, stairs, walkways.
01:01Unfortunately, there's plenty of ways
01:03to remove the leaves from your property.
01:06You can simply rake leaves into piles to be collected
01:09and removed, or invest in a product
01:11like a DR Leaf and Lawn Vac
01:13that works similarly to your indoor backing,
01:15sucking up leaves and other yard debris
01:18so you can easily dispose of it later.
01:20Now, how do you decide the best way
01:22to remove leaves from your yard?
01:26Yeah, absolutely.
01:27So really, very specific to your property
01:29and what meets your needs,
01:32but a couple of things to help you determine
01:35that best Leaf and Lawn Vac solution
01:38is first, how much time and effort
01:40do you want to spend picking up leaves each week?
01:43Raking certainly is the least expensive method
01:46in terms of dollars and cents,
01:48but also takes the most time and can be fatiguing,
01:51especially on your back and shoulders,
01:53particularly in areas with dense leaf growth.
01:58Second, there certainly is a consideration
02:00of where will you put the leaves that you collect.
02:03There's some homeowners with large wooded properties
02:05may have an area that they can deposit
02:07large piles of that collected leaves
02:10and allow them to break down naturally,
02:12in which case a tow-behind DR Leaf Vac is a great solution.
02:17For people with smaller properties,
02:19you may want to compost everything
02:21or bag up the leaves and utilize their local municipality
02:24to pick up those bagged leaves.
02:26In this case, a walk-behind machine,
02:28particularly one that accepts
02:30standard municipal leaf bags is a great option.
02:34That way you can pick everything up in one step
02:36and bring it to the curb for curbside.
02:40Great, and what are some of DR's
02:42other lawn maintenance tips to keep your grass healthy
02:45and your yard ready for winter?
02:49Yeah, so we think of springtime as a prime time
02:53to seed and fertilize our lawn, which is definitely true.
02:56However, in the fall is also a great time
02:59to replenish your lawn after a tough season
03:01with lots of foot traffic and just summer exposure.
03:05So it's a good time to aerate, overseed,
03:07and add fertilizer to fill in some thin spots,
03:10strengthen your lawn roots for the winter.
03:14So really to do that, you're looking at
03:15filling your spreader with a high quality grass seed
03:18that matches your existing lawn type.
03:21And it's also well suited for the amount of light
03:23and moisture that your typical yard gets.
03:27Seeds that offer a mix of grasses
03:29are definitely a great option as they give you
03:31thorough coverage throughout the growing season.
03:34And then once the seed is down,
03:36it's a good time to fill your spreader with fertilizer.
03:39We recommend controlled release fertilizer
03:42with the right mix of nutrients for your grass type.
03:46And then the last recommendation I'd give is
03:49to mow your grass around two to three inches high,
03:52so a little bit shorter than you would
03:53during the regular summer season.
03:55This helps you hit that sweet spot
03:57where everything stays dry to limit the spread of disease
04:00without going so short that you risk cold temperatures,
04:03stressing the grass roots that you just spent
04:05all that time and effort to boost.
04:09Good information.
04:10You heard it here, folks.
04:11Dan Reinhart, Senior Product Manager of D.R. Power.
04:15Thank you again for joining us.