Winter is rolling in and most people don’t worry about their lawns during the winter months. But let’s focus on what we can do to prepare our lawns so they come back strong in the Spring. Good winter lawn preparation starts in the late fall or early winter unless you live in a climate that stays warm year long.
Fertilizing Sustains Your Lawn During Winter
In cool season regions, late fall & early winter is a good time to fertilize your lawn. Reason being is that the fertilizer will be in the soil and the roots of your grass will be nourished during the winter months.
This will give your lawn a chance to become healthy while enduring the snow and cold. Then when the Spring comes your lawn has a good chance of being healthy and green.
Other Things To Do
As the last months of summer get near, gradually lower your cutting blades to prevent shock from cutting a lot off at once. The end result is to have a short bed of grass when the winter comes.
What short grass does is keep burrowing animals from nesting and pulling out patches of grass for their nest. Long grass means warmth which is what they want in the winter time.
Another thing that helps is to remove all structures like lawn furniture off of the lawn prior to the winter.
Try to cut down on as much traffic as possible on a winter lawn. This prevents a pre-worn path in areas when the Spring does arrive.
Three Steps To Follow:
- Aerate, fertilize and mow before the first freeze
- Clean up any debris that may cause wet spots which lead to moss and mold
- Make sure everyone respects the lawn during the dormant period as if it were regular season
I hope this post gave someone some valuable information to help their lawn stand out in the Spring to come.
Please feel free to leave any questions or comments in the comments section below.
I know lawn care is a daunting task, but you’ve broken it down in such a way that I feel like anyone could do it. Using the aerator can be a lot of work, I rented one from a store not too long ago and it was extremely heavy, but the results that I got on the lawn were fantastic. I never took the time to realize that shorter grass meant less animals burrowed in the ground, I will definitely use this new information now.
It can be and sometimes it just takes a little work and patience. I’m glad that you tried one of the recovery processes and learned that your lawn needs your help and when you do help it pays off. Good job on your part.
I did know that there are too many things you can do wrong in the winter. I was just leaving it and waiting until the spring. I will try your advises this winter and hopefully, my lawn will look better the next year.
Thanks for sharing this post.
If nothing else, try some fertilizer so that your grass will be getting nourished during the winter months. Your lawn appreciates when you support it when you can.