To all of you pumpkin lovers, the weather apps and news sources have great news for you. The average temperatures are about to drop from the low 80s into the 60s over the next seven to ten days. The change in average temperature is a good time to recap how cooler, fall temperatures can impact lawn treatments.

Weed XtinguishersTemperature is the main trigger for changes in your lawn, trees, and other plants. It signals everything, from telling the trees to start dropping leaves in preparation for winter, to the start of a new germination season for winter annual plants. The main change we’ll see over the next few months is your grass going dormant. It’s when the grass goes dormant that we see the winter annual weeds beginning to germinate.

Thankfully, most types of weeds that grow during winter time are easily controlled and prevented with pre-emergents. Your lawn care company should already be laying down this important barrier to help protect your grass. The chemical application is designed to keep pesky, winter weeds from pushing through the grass while it sleeps.

Grassy weed prevention is reason enough to make sure you continue to have lawn care treatments even when your grass is not growing. The less competition your grass has to face in the spring will lead to a faster green-up and a thicker, healthier lawn. Moreover, by using a pre-emergent, you will not lose all the progress you made during the growing season, because of a bad offseason.

Like Alexander Graham Bell once said, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” The same is true with lawn care. Always remember, falling temperatures are just as much a call to action for taking care of your lawn as when they begin to rise in spring.