Aerate

If your soil is compacted now is an ideal time to core aerate it. You may need to hire someone for this job because the equipment is expensive and not easy to rent. Spike aerators do not do as good a job as those that pull up cores of soil.

If your soil is sandy and not compacted, there's no need to aerate. Sandy soil is naturally aerated because of its large chunky particle size. Fine-textured soils like clay and silt are more prone to compaction. The soil must be moist, but not soggy when you aerate it.

Weed Control

If you've been troubled by perennials weeds like dandelions and feel you must treat, September is the best time of year. The product moves down into the roots better for more effective control. Crabgrass is everywhere this time of year but it's an annual and dies with the first frost, so there's no point in treating for it now.

Overseed

September is an ideal time to overseed or to start a whole new lawn. Most of the weed seeds have sprouted for the year so there will be much less competition. Get the seed down in the first half of September so the young plants have enough time to get established before winter.

Rake back the crabgrass and do what you can to get the good grass seed to contact the soil for better germination. Just scattering the seed on top of the crabgrass will do little good. As the crabgrass dies with the cold, your new grass plants can take off and fill in. By ensuring a dense turf this fall, next spring crabgrass and other weed seeds will have a much harder time getting established.

Summary

The best practices you can do in the next six weeks to make your lawn look better and have fewer weeds are to check your mower height, fertilize and overseed. If you're going to use perennial weed killer, September is the best month.

For more information contact our office or visit these Web sites:

http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/lawn/index.html for excellent home lawn care information and http://www.lawntolake.org/ for information on keeping your lawn and our lakes healthy. If you'd rather read a book, try "The Organic Lawn Care Manual" by Paul Tukey.