12 Home Depot Items Smart Homeowners Should Stock Up On For Fall

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Fall is a busy season. School is back in session, sports are starting up, and the weather is constantly reminding you of the cold months that are to come. It's a season where getting your yard clean and festive and your house ready for winter are simultaneous tasks. Which is why fall is a great time to head over to your local Home Depot and see what you can stock up on for the months ahead. We've looked through hundreds of products and narrowed our list down to 12 Home Depot items smart homeowners should nab this autumn.

We've cast a fairly wide net with our selections. We have some fall essentials like fire starters, leaf rakes, lawn fertilizer, tarps, and decor that will help take the chill out of the season. We've also got some winter stock-ups like fuel stabilizer, pipe insulation, snow shovels, ice melt, and furnace filters. There's also some dual-season items like window and door trim sealant and under-door seals that can help keep any drafts from coming in and make sure your energy bills don't get too high.

Almost all of the items on this list are perennial best sellers. Where possible, we will add in user reviews directly from the Home Depot website so you can see for yourselves what people are really saying about these great fall purchases.

One of the musts of fall lawn care is to fertilize so that the grass can recover from summer and prepare itself for winter. The Scotts Turf Builder WinterGuard Dry Lawn Fertilizer can be used on all grass types and has an N-P-K (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) ratio of 32-0-10. When applied directly to your lawn in the fall, the fertilizer will help the grass develop deep roots to reach down for nutrients during winter and help the grass recover from any heat or drought stress that occurred during the summer. 

Even though the weather is cooling down, no one wants to think about needing a snow shovel in the fall. However, in certain parts of the country, snow has been known to show up as early as September. As such, it would always be a good idea to stock up on some snow shovels before they disappear off the shelves during the first big storm of winter. The True Temper 18-inch Ergonomic and the True Temper 38.3-inch wide-blade shovel are among Home Depot's top-rated shovels. 

Whether you're extending your lease on outdoor living with a fall fire pit or getting the wood stove going, having fire starters is essential for a strong burn. Home Depot carries many different types, but a favorite among shoppers is the 25-pound box of Fatwood Fire Starter Sticks from Pure Garden. These are sticks of dried pine wood, which contain highly flammable natural resins that will light simply by putting a match to them. One reviewer said: "These sticks are nature's gift, packed with natural resins that ignite quickly, ensuring our fires start with minimal fuss."

While there are plenty of easier ways to get fallen leaves out of your yard, a good rake like the Husky 53-inch Long Wood Handle from Home Depot is still an essential tool to stock up on for fall. The 22-inch head can easily get into tight places, and the steel tines can easily grab onto debris, while the long handle encourages better posture and ergonomic support. Pair this purchase with some HDX 30-Gallon Paper Lawn and Leaf Bags to make the yard cleanup a cinch.

Anyone with a forced-air heating furnace needs to be in the habit of swapping their old air filters for new ones before they turn their heat on for the first time. Your system is less efficient and less protected if you have dirty air filters. Home Depot's own brand, HDX, offers numerous different sizes of furnace air filters to fit any make or model of furnace. Make sure to check your old filters for size before heading to Home Depot to stock up. You should get enough to be on a one- to three-month change-out schedule.

Shopping at Home Depot can't just be purely practical. You need to throw in some fun decorations too. Home Depot offers a range of Glitzhome home decor for fall, like Happy Harvest wooden porch signs, Fall Sunflower Leaf Potted Trees, and 6-foot Lighted Artificial Maple Leaf Garlands. They all play with the same orange, yellow, and red color scheme to complement the season and bring a warm, autumnal feel to the surroundings. Other options include Linen Scarecrow Doorstops, as well as Embossed Metal Glitter Pumpkins and Tall Fabric Gnomes.

You can never have too many tarps, especially in the fall. At Home Depot, you can browse a collection of Everbilt Heavy-Duty Tarps that can be as large as 20 feet by 30 feet. Tarps are a great help in a number of fall cleanup tasks, including collecting leaves, twigs, or fallen branches. They can also be used to cover important outdoor equipment like lawn mowers or the wood pile to prevent weather damage. You can even cover your car with a tarp for easy snow removal if an early-season storm shows up.

Energy efficiency is a huge concern in the fall once the weather shifts and the heat needs to be turned on. Window and door trims are some of the most susceptible to drafts, which can bring cold air into your home and increase your energy costs. Home Depot carries several types of DAP caulking, and the Dynaflex Window and Door Trim Sealant combines latex and silicone to create a long-lasting, weather-resistant sealant that can seal gaps up to 2 inches wide and works for both indoor and outdoor applications.

When is the best time to stock up on ice melt? Before winter arrives; that's when. And if you're someone who is as concerned about pet safety as you are about melting ice, you should stock up on Snow Joe's Premium Pet Safe Ice Melt at Home Depot. The CMA (calcium magnesium acetate) formula is not damaging to paws or plants. It has a 4.3 out of 5-star rating on Home Depot's website, with reviews noting that it works well as an ice melt without harming their pets' paws.

Adding fuel stabilizer to your gas-powered equipment is an essential fall maintenance task that no one should ignore. While the fuel in the machine sits without use, it begins to go stale, losing a lot of its vital chemicals that make it fire when the engine starts up. It can also leave behind varnish residue that can gum up fuel lines and carburetors. STA-BIL Storage Fuel Stabilizer is sold at Home Depot, and everyone with gas equipment should pick up a few bottles. The chemical formula allows fuel to stay fresh for up to two years.

How many of us stop to think about how many doors we have in our homes? The number of exterior doors could easily exceed two, and the elements get another chance to weasel their way in. At Home Depot, you can find the M-D Building Products Under Door Seal for under $20, so you can purchase as many as you need without breaking the bank. They are made out of vinyl and have a U-shaped track that slides over the bottom of the door to reduce the potential for drafts, water, pests, and outdoor debris.

Again, with the winter preparation. Well, it's important, especially if your basement is drafty and not insulated well. For under $5 at Home Depot, you can get 6-foot lengths of ½-inch or ¾-inch foam pipe insulation from Everbilt. There is a slit down the middle of the insulation, which allows it to slide over your pipes and surround them snugly, which is enough to prevent mild freezing or condensation. It has a 3.1 R-value. This is great to stock up on in order to protect your pipes from falling temperatures.