Know how to prepare your lawn for winter.
With winter quickly on its way and snow already falling, it’s time to start thinking about winter lawn care. While you might think that your lawn can just be ignored over the season, the truth is that winter lawn care will be what helps set your lawn up for a successful year. Over the winter lawn chores are minimal, but there are a few things you can do to ensure that you’ll have your healthiest yard ever in 2019.
Fertilize & Aerate
Before the first frost, you’ll want to start your winter maintenance by aerating your lawn. Depending on where you’re located, you might be a little past the first thaw date, but if the ground has yet to freeze you may still have time. Aerating the lawn is important because it allows your soil and grass to breath and ensures that the soil doesn’t become too compacted. Once the ground is open, adding fertilizer will allow the nutrients to penetrate deep into the grass roots for optimal absorption. Over winter, grass stores energy and nutrients in its roots to prepare for spring. By taking the time to do these two steps, you’ll ensure that your lawn has every advantage come spring.
Keep It Clean
While leaf matter does make for good compost, by leaving it on your lawn, you risk suffocating the grass underneath. If a thick layer of leaves is left covering the grass, they can become wet and heavy, removing the flow of oxygen, encouraging disease, and resulting in the death and decomposition of the grass underneath.
Minimize Traffic
When grass is dormant and frozen, it can become much more delicate. In general, you’ll want to avoid having too much traffic on your lawn over winter. While some traffic can’t be helped, especially if you have the perfect sledding hill, minimize walking through your yard if you can.
Avoid The Salt
One of the biggest winter threats to your lawn and landscape is the use of road salt. While salt is a natural element, when used in the concentration of road salt, it becomes hazardous to the health of plant life. You may want to try ice melts that are formulated to prevent grass death. This winter you may also want to try other methods of ice mitigation.
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