Broadcast spreader on a thick green lawn beside a curved, freshly mulched flower bed
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Lawn care

Seeding, feeding, aeration and weed timing for your grass type and region. Set your ZIP and the frost dates on every guide become yours.

  • 16 guides
  • 5 topics
  • Reviewed Oct 3, 2026
Explore by topic

Lawn, one topic at a time

Side-by-side swatches of Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue and Bermuda grass Grass types How to tell which grass you have, where cool-season and warm-season grasses grow, and when Bermuda grass greens… 2 guides Close-up photo of grass seed scattered on loose, raked soil before overseeding Seeding When to overseed, aerate, seed in spring or dormant-seed a lawn, with the last safe fall date for… 5 guides Close-up photo of granular lawn fertilizer pellets in a broadcast spreader hopper Fertilizing How much nitrogen your grass needs, when to apply it, when the last feeding of the year goes… 3 guides Photo of a suburban lawn with yellow dandelions and white clover in bloom Weeds When crabgrass pre-emergent and grub preventives actually work in your region: soil-temperature and degree-day cues, normal-year windows by… 2 guides Broadcast spreader on a thick green lawn beside a curved, freshly mulched flower bed Mowing & watering How much and how often to water your lawn, when to stop mowing in fall, what to do… 4 guides
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The lawn year

What to do, month by month

Typical timing for most of the US, starting this month. Set your ZIP and the guides shift every date to your frost dates.

  1. OctNow Keep mowing after the first frost Cool-season grass keeps growing until highs stay below about 50°F, a median 33 days later.
  2. Nov Make the last mow When highs stay below 50°F: about Nov 15 in Chicago, Nov 23 in Columbus. Don’t scalp it.
  3. Dec Check winter fertilizer rules New Jersey, for one, bans homeowner nitrogen and phosphorus after Nov 15 and before Mar 1.
  4. Jan Plan the year’s lawn feeding Cool-season lawns get their main feeding in late summer to early fall.
  5. Feb Southern pre-emergent window opens In the South, apply crabgrass pre-emergent mid-February to mid-March.
  6. Mar Time crabgrass pre-emergent Apply when the top 2 inches of soil hold about 50–55°F and are still warming.
  7. Apr Northern pre-emergent window Normal years: Mar 30–Apr 15 in Indianapolis, Apr 19–May 3 in Minneapolis.
  8. May Seed Bermuda grass Once soil reaches about 65°F.
  9. Jun Skip summer feeding for cool-season grass Never feed dormant or drought-stressed turf.
  10. Jul Plan fall overseeding Finish at least 45 days before your first hard freeze.
  11. Aug Overseed cool-season lawns Late summer to early fall is the window.
  12. Sep Finish overseeding About Sep 12 in Minneapolis, Sep 19 in Columbus, Oct 6 in Atlanta.
In season now

This month for your lawn

Photo of a green plastic leaf rake lying on a lawn beside a large pile of raked brown autumn leaves In season now
Lawn Seasonal Calculator

Should You Rake Leaves? When to Mulch, Rake or Leave Them

Usually not. Mow a light or moderate layer of leaves into the lawn until your last mow, and remove only what hides the grass. Extension thresholds, the research, and leaf deadlines for 20 US cities from NOAA normals.

6 min · Updated Oct 13
Close-up photo of a lawn after core aeration, with open holes and pulled soil plugs lying among the grass blades In season now
Lawn Seasonal Calculator

When to Apply Lime to Your Lawn: Test First, Then Fall or Winter

Lime a lawn only when a soil test shows low pH, and spread it in fall or winter on dry, unfrozen turf so it has months to work. pH targets by grass, extension rates, NOAA freeze data for 22 cities, and where the West can skip it.

9 min · Updated Oct 13
Close-up photo of grass seed scattered on loose, raked soil before overseeding In season now
Lawn Explainer Calculator

How Long Does Grass Seed Take to Grow? Germination Days by Grass and Season

Most lawn grass seed germinates in 3 to 30 days, from about a week for ryegrass to a month for Kentucky bluegrass and Bermuda grass. NOAA’s measured soil temperatures show why early-fall seed comes up so much faster than spring seed.

10 min · Updated Oct 13

All lawn guides

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Showing 16 of 16
Photo of a green plastic leaf rake lying on a lawn beside a large pile of raked brown autumn leaves
Lawn Seasonal Calculator

Should You Rake Leaves? When to Mulch, Rake or Leave Them

Usually not. Mow a light or moderate layer of leaves into the lawn until your last mow, and remove only what hides the grass. Extension thresholds, the research, and leaf deadlines for 20 US cities from NOAA normals.

6 min · Updated Oct 13
Close-up photo of a lawn after core aeration, with open holes and pulled soil plugs lying among the grass blades
Lawn Seasonal Calculator

When to Apply Lime to Your Lawn: Test First, Then Fall or Winter

Lime a lawn only when a soil test shows low pH, and spread it in fall or winter on dry, unfrozen turf so it has months to work. pH targets by grass, extension rates, NOAA freeze data for 22 cities, and where the West can skip it.

9 min · Updated Oct 13
Photo of freshly sown grass seed lying on bare, raked soil beside a few green grass blades
Lawn Seasonal

Dormant Seeding Your Lawn: When to Start Where You Live

Dormant seed a cool-season lawn once normal afternoon highs fall below about 40°F, and stop when they climb back. Winter windows for 23 Northern US cities from NOAA normals, checked against extension advice.

9 min · Updated Oct 7
Photo of a groundskeeper pushing a walk-behind core aerator across a green lawn beside a young tree in fall
Lawn Guide

When to Aerate Your Lawn: Dates by Grass Type and City

Core-aerate cool-season lawns in late summer to early fall and warm-season lawns in late spring to summer. Windows for 27 cities from NOAA normals, checked against extension calendars.

7 min · Updated Oct 4
About this section

How we cover lawn

Lawn advice goes wrong when it ignores where you live. September suits seeding tall fescue in Ohio, but it is the wrong month for Bermuda grass in Georgia, which is seeded in late spring. A fertilizer schedule written for Bermuda will also do tall fescue more harm than good. Every guide here starts from your grass type and region, then gives dates you can act on.

We time tasks from NOAA frost dates and temperature normals for your ZIP rather than fixed months, and take seeding and feeding rates from university extension research. When a rate or window changes, the guide’s change log says what changed and why.

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