Fall lawn care. What should we do with our lawns in the fall in zone 4?

          I have been writing what to do with putting our flower beds to rest and get ready for winter, but how about our lawns?  Here is some hints and ideas just take what you need to do for your lawn.  Now with all the rain we have had this summer there hasn't been a week that Larry hasn't mowed till last week because too wet. So mowing will have to happen this week.  How do you care for the lawn this fall is the question for today.  The worst of the summer heat will have subsided soon. Refreshed by the thought of breathing cooler air, you're poised to roll up your sleeves and do some fall lawn care. But you should read these tips first. The regimen right for your situation will vary, according to whether your lawn is composed of a warm season turf grass or a cool season turf grass. If you are unsure which type comprises your lawn, take a sample to your local county extension.
Fall Lawn Care Tip: Find Out Your Grass Type Cool-season turf grasses are so called because they thrive in the cool weather usually associated with spring and autumn. Examples are rye grass, the fescues (both "fine" and "tall" kinds), Kentucky blue grass and bent grass.
By contrast, warm-season turf grasses grow most actively when the weather is warm, which is why they are the preferred grass types of the South in the U.S. Some of their names even make you think "South," as is the case with Bermuda grass and Saint Augustine grass.Other kinds include zoysia grass and buffalo grass.
To be sure, there will be some fall lawn maintenance you'll have to do regardless of the type of grass on your lawn. Let's look at these tasks first:

• Apply herbicides to broadleaf weeds
• Correct soil pH: if your lawn is not performing well, have your soil tested. If the soil test should show a need to reduce acidity, apply lime now. If alkalinity needs to be reduced, apply sulfur.
• Thatch removal: dethatch your lawn, by raking; for bad cases of soil compaction, you may have to employ the technique known as core aeration, for which lawn equipment known as "aerators" can be bought or rented
• Rake leaves, or use a leaf vacuum, lest the leaves smother your grass over the winter
• Lawn equipment care: make sure to drain old gas out of lawn mowers after last mowing

The nature of the following fall lawn care chores depends on whether it's a cool season or warm season turf grass that you have to care for:

• Watering during hot, dry spells
• brown Fertilization
• Setting lawn mower height

Fall lawn care for cool season grasses includes ensuring that lawns receive enough fall water to carry them through the long winter. Don't think that because the temperatures outside are no longer consistently high, you can totally forget about watering in the autumn. Overall, you won't need to water nearly as much as in summer, but during hot, dry spells in autumn, remember to provide sufficient water. We don't have to worry about this year. 
Information from http://landscaping.about.com/cs/lawns/a/fall_lawns 
Till next week, this is Becky Litterer from Becky's Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa