Whether you’re new to caring for a lawn or you’re a veteran, it can help to have an idea of how to care for your lawn during the offseason.
Although the grass doesn’t grow in the winter, you still have some tasks to help it stay beautiful and lush during the growing season. For the most beautiful turf, follow these top winter lawn care tips.
1. Get Rid of Leaves
Keeping your lawn tidy in the fall and winter is an important part of cold weather lawn care. Leaves that are left to break down can cause bare spots in your grass in the spring. Leaves are also harder to remove in the spring if you leave them for later.
You want to get rid of leaves, but you also want to clear any other debris. Sticks and branches that may come down in a thunderstorm or any other non-grass detritus should all be removed before snow hits.
You should also put away any lawn furniture. Store chairs, removable fire pits, and children’s toys inside in a garage or basement while the lawn lays dormant.
2. Snow Care
If you’re wondering how to take care of your lawn in the winter, a big part of it involves snow. Luckily, the work involved isn’t much: you should leave as much of the snow covering your lawn as possible in the winter. If possible, shovel paths along paved areas, rather than through the grass.
Try not to walk on the lawn with snow on it. You want to keep an even level of snow to help insulate your lawn.
3. Winter Lawn Care Tips: Fertilizer
Don’t fertilize in the winter! To maintain healthy grass, you want to make sure you’re fertilizing in the fall or spring. The weather should be mild, around 55°, to get the most benefits from your fertilizer.
Putting fertilizer down then helps to keep the nutrients in the soil all winter. Try to get it done right before the first freeze so that the nutrients can’t leech out of the soil. The frost will help keep the fertilizer there to do its job.
4. Use an Herbicide
Pre-emergent herbicides are designed to keep crabgrass and other weeds from growing. Typically these weeds pop up in early spring, so part of your lawn maintenance program should be applying pre-emergents before that time. Even warm days in winter can mean early weeds popping up, so take care of this while it’s still cold.
5. Winterize Your Sprinkler System
It doesn’t help to water your lawn if the water is freezing, and it won’t keep the grass growing if you live in a cold climate. As the weather gets colder, stop watering your lawn.
One of the benefits of hiring a lawn care company is that they can help you winterize your sprinkler system. Check to see if it’s part of your contract or if you’ll need to schedule an extra service to get help with this cold-weather task.
Green and Bright
Even in the winter, you still need to take care of your lawn. While winter lawn care tips aren’t as demanding as the spring and summer tasks, you should still be sure to follow the five ideas above to keep your lawn nice all year round.
Call today to schedule an appointment with Green Lawn Fertilizing and get help with your winter lawn care.
