According to Perma-Green’s Steve Daly, 2024 was one of the most brutal years since his Perma-Green lawn care service opened 50 years ago! In a year that devasted homeowner’s lawns across Northwest Indiana, many homeowners saw severe damage and even loss of plant life. However, according to Daly, many surviving lawns do not have enough stored nutrients to survive the winter. In this article, you’ll discover Why Fall Lawn Fertilizer is critical to your NWI lawns recovery!
Lawn Care’s MVP becomes the GOAT | Fertilize this Fall?
Most lawn care experts agree that the two fall lawn fertilizer applications are the most important treatments. They help provide nutrients to your turf throughout winter, and when the ground first thaws in the spring, these fall treatments are waiting to boost your turf!
Sadly, many unaware homeowners skip this vital treatment. If only they knew! These fall grass fertilizers provide vital nutrients to your lawn’s root system when Northwest Indiana becomes a frozen tundra. Equally important, these fertilizers are activated in the spring when the lawn needs it the most- coming out of dormancy! For more on this, you might want to read the article, Grass Fertiler in Fall |Lawn Care’s NWI-MVP
While it’s common for experts to call fall fertilizers lawn care’s MVP, in 2024, they will call these treatments lifesavers!
The Best Solution for 2024’s Nightmare is Replenishing Nutrients with Fall Grass Fertilizers!
Factors and conditions were so extreme in 2024 that even the lawns that always shined had a challenging year, including those of homeowners with irrigation systems who follow Perma-Green’s best-practice lawn care.
According to Daly, “2024 was a challenging year and the perfect storm for creating severe issues for Northwest Indiana homeowners. We saw numerous lawn disease breakouts, drought, and soil incubation from extreme precipitation followed by periods of high heat. We also saw heat stress, while conditions were just right to see an abundance of pests. To make matters worse, last winter was so mild that the ground never froze. This allowed last year’s diseases and pests to roll into 2024; just when we thought 2023 was a tough year, it came back for an encore!
After a brutal summer, your lawn needs replenishment with the vital nutrients it lost from surviving this year’s extreme climate and conditions. It will need these nutrients to survive the winter. More on that later.
Like everything, grass plants need oxygen, water, and food to create energy. The only real solution is best-practice fall lawn care, such as modified mowing, correct watering, core aeration and overseeding, and lawn care’s most significant treatments, the two fall lawn fertilizer applications. The fall treatments provide nutrients to your turf!
Why 2024 Was Brutal on Northwest Indiana Turf Grass
The 2024 growing season for Northwest Indiana homeowners was severely brutal on turfgrass due to the following conditions.
- Extreme Weather Conditions: Temperature variations, including unexpected heat waves or cold snaps, created extreme stress on Northwest Indiana grass. Intermittent precipitation, caused by heavy rainfall followed by drought periods, creates widespread issues like root rot or drought stress.
- Pest and Disease Pressure: Increased pest populations and disease outbreaks devastated turfgrass health. Where conditions favored pests or pathogens, they escalated, causing significant damage to lawns in Lake County, Porter County and LaPorte County.
- Soil Quality Issues: Problems like compaction, poor drainage, or nutrient deficiencies weaken NWI lawns and increase their vulnerability to disease, drought, and pests. Areas in Valparaiso, Chesterton, Crown Point, and other NWI communities with abundant clay soil suffered the most without corrective watering and mowing practices. Without best-practice core aeration, watering, and mowing, these issues were especially prevalent, exacerbating stress and turfgrass disease.
- Mowing and Maintenance Practices: Inconsistent mowing heights or practices, along with irregular watering schedules, weakened turf, leaving grass susceptible to dormancy and even death.
Perma-Green’s Lake County Community Page features Average Soil Temp Tools. It was a tough year!
This year, Perma-Green celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Ironically, it was the most challenging year in its storied history. Even the lawns that typically stand out as the healthiest, greenest lawns in Porter, LaPorte, and Lake County experienced challenges. Damage can be minimized through best-practice watering, mowing, and fertilizing.
Homeowners who didn’t aerate and water correctly may also need to replace lost plant life through core aeration and overseeding.
Fortunately, Perma-Green was prepared to support NWI homeowners by leveraging its website’s digital tools and solutions, including soil temperature and moisture apps, watering guides, tables, charts, and area-focused community pages.
Fall Fertilizer for Grass.
What can be– unburdened by what has been
So why is it important to finish the season with nutrients from the two fall grass fertilizer applications?
Fall fertilizers support turfgrass in two ways. “A well-planned lawn care package will contain a fall fertilizer to stimulate the growth of new roots while the second fall fertilizer (winterizer), feeds essential nutrients to the roots- so that when the ground thaws, your lawn has the nutrients it needs for a healthy start. When spring thaws and your grass comes out of dormancy, it has the nutrients necessary to jump-start establishing a healthy root system and canopy. Your lawn must be ready for when Northwest Indiana pivots to the summer’s drought and heat stress.
This is why most lawn care experts refer to fall grass fertilizers as the MVP of a complete lawn care program. The two fall lawn treatments set the stage for the following year. This is also the ideal time for lawn care experts to assess your lawn’s condition and determine a plan for the following year. It’s a compelling reason to consider fall fertilizers as the first application of the year and not the last!
Grass Fertilizer in the Fall can be Compared to Running a Marathon…
Strong Roots Equal a healthy yard…
Your fall lawn fertilization and winter treatment will give your roots that last bit of nutrients before they go dormant. According to Daly, “Strong roots equal a healthy yard. Your fall lawn fertilization and winter treatment will give your roots that last bit of nutrients before they go dormant. That way, when spring hits, your yard has the nutrients to wake up and remain strong and healthy. “
Daly likes to use an analogy to help his customers understand.
“The grueling hot and dry conditions take an exhausting toll on the roots and reserves of the grass. A marathon runner must prepare for months to build the proper reserves and nutrients to endure the physical strain. You would not run a marathon without proper preparation.”
Healthy roots need the proper nutrients and consistent feeding throughout the year. So, for the best yard possible, stick to the program throughout the year. Consistency wins the race!
Perma-Green’s Fall Grass Recovery Tips.
In addition to applying a fall lawn fertilizer and winterizer treatment, Perma-Green recommends the following best-practice tips for recovering from this year’s extreme conditions.
• Controlling perennial weeds – Annual weeds such as crabgrass and goosegrass die with the first hard frost in the fall. Weeds with annual lifecycles should be controlled during the spring and early summer months. Perennial broadleaf weeds such as dandelion, ground ivy (creeping Charlie), white clover, and broadleaf plantain are best controlled during the fall months as temperatures cool.
While these weeds may be removed by hand, such control often is temporary as the weeds will regenerate from deep taproots or special creeping stems called stolons. Broadleaf herbicides provide the best control and may be applied as a spray.
Daly cautions against over or underuse and recommends handling with extreme caution. His Perma-Green technicians are certified, licensed, and accredited through the Office of the Indiana State Chemist. This is especially significant to homeowners that have children, pets, or like to walk barefooted in their lawn.
• Thicken existing turf with fertilizer – One of the best strategies to control weeds is by having a healthy, thick lawn. However, most lawns struggle to grow during the hot summer months, especially if rainfall is scarce and the lawn is not irrigated.
Many times by the end of summer the turf declines to the point that bare soil is exposed. Fertilizer can help stimulate the growth of the existing turf and help fill in the thin spots. Two or three fertilizer applications may be applied during the next couple of months depending on the level of recovery that is required.
Often, Perma-Green applies the final fertilizer application after the grass has stopped growing. This strategy is known as “late fall fertilization” and will help your lawn develop a stronger root system and green-up faster the following spring.
• Establish new turf with seed – Sowing seed may be necessary if your lawn has been damaged to the extent that the growth of the grass will not fill in areas of exposed soil. Seed germinates readily in late summer/early fall if the seedbed is kept moist. Perma-Green’s recommendation of the seed depends on your lawn’s soil, sun, and use.
Use Kentucky bluegrass alone or mixed with perennial ryegrass if your lawn receives full sun. If the lawn receives both sun and shade, use a mixture of Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and fine fescue. Fine fescue should be used alone in areas that receive heavy shade. Difficult growing areas such as a boulevard or areas surrounded by concrete can be sown primarily with tall fescue mixed with a small amount of Kentucky bluegrass.
• Core Aeration and Overseeding– Consider aerating the lawn if extensive seeding is necessary. Aeration removes cores of soil without disrupting the turf canopy. Pass over the area at least two times, each in a different direction.
Perma-Green recommends applying fall fertilizer and seed to the area and lightly watering it to moisten the soil surface. The seed will migrate into the holes and germinate. Aerification is also routinely performed during the fall months to loosen the soil compacted from heavy traffic and prevent thatch build-up.
Thatch is a layer of organic debris between the soil surface and turf. Too much thatch is bad for your lawn. As little as a half inch of thatch can prevent your grass plant from receiving oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. It also causes poor rooting and may lead to diseases.
Northwest Indiana Lawn Care Solutions
Perma-Green’s Online Lawn Care Solutions includes Daly’s Tips
Perma-Green’s website offers numerous tools, charts, guides, podcasts, and blogs for helping homeowners navigate throughout the grass-growing season. Each Northwest Indiana market Perma-Green serves also has a dedicated community page that includes Daly’s Tips for growing grass, soil maps, apps that monitor soil temperature and moisture, and a cool app called the GDDTracker.
- Why Grass Fertilizer is the most important Lawn Fertilizer ever!
- Fall Lawn Care | The Experts Guide to Getting Green
- Lawn Care Community Pages By County & City |Directory
- Lawn Fungus | Northwest Indiana’s Extreme Humidity Causes Grass Disease {2024 EDITION}
- Lawn Maintenance | Month By Month Lawn Calendar
Podcast Directory –Get Green Northwest Indiana with Steve Daly | Lawn Care Solutions with Steve Daly
Recovery & A Fresh Start Begins with Fall Lawn Fertilizer
If you are a Northwest Indiana homeowner and your lawn was challenged by pests, drought, and disease in 2024, you are not alone. But recovery won’t happen by itself. Your lawn needs you to take action. You’ll find numerous watering and mowing guides, podcasts, blogs and community pages on the Perma-Green website. While lawn care is a partnership with mowing and watering left to the homeowner, fall lawn fertilizers and other services like core aeration are generally optimized by trained professionals, especially following a year of stress and drought. Every lawn is different, and the solutions change with every soil type, lawn care history, and grass type.
Perma-Green’s Steve Daly likes to begin every lawn customer relationship with a lawn evaluation and a free estimate. With Purdue Turfgrass Science credentials and a lifetime dedicated to helping Northwest Indiana homeowners find soil and lawn care solutions, you might think this assessment comes with an expensive hourly rate. Fortunately, Perma-Green’s Steve Daly believes it’s an investment. The secret to helping people find the best lawn care program begins with assessing the lawn and determining the best strategy for success.
Here is a link for reaching Perma-Green Lawn Care
Why Fall Lawn Fertilizer treatments are the secret to next year’s greenest grass ever!
The Permagreen Supreme Applicator improves efficiency & reduces customers costs.
According to a recent article, Why NWI’s Extreme Humidity Causes Lawn Disease, The challenges facing this year’s turf are significant. The mild winter never knocked out last year’s pests and diseases, so they are abundant this year! Now, compounding the issue with the high heat and inconsistent rain, lawns have become an incubator for disease! Combine all this with the last three years of near-drought conditions, and this year’s lawn fungus epidemic could end in an ugly finish—no pun intended!
The only real solution is fertilizing the lawn in the fall and modifying mowing and watering practices! Fall lawn fertilizer treatments will provide essential nutrients to your lawn’s root system before it becomes dormant this winter. A well-planned lawn care package will contain two fall fertilizer applications to stimulate the growth of new roots while the second fall fertilizer, also called winterizer, feeds essential nutrients to the roots- so that when the ground thaws, your lawn has the nutrients needed for next year’s greenest grass ever!
Written by Jim Jano Janesheski
Follow Podcast | Directory
Get Green Northwest Indiana – Lawn Care Solutions with Steve Daly
- Listen to Podcast on Perma-Green Website (For Non-Podcasters)
Apple Podcasts - Spotify
- Amazon Music
- Podcast Index
- Overcast
- iHeartRadio
- Podcast Addict
- Castro
- Castbox
- Podchaser
- Pocket Casts
- Deezer
- Listen Notes
- Player FM
- Goodpods
- Podfriend
- TrueFans
USEFUL LINKS: