Tips For Effective Winter Lawn Care
Posted on: 29 November 2016
Once frost hits and the snow comes, many homeowners don't give their grass a second thought. Winter means a break from regular lawn maintenance, and you turn your thoughts instead to shoveling the driveway and keeping ice from accumulating on your steps. However, good winter care is essential for the health of your grass. Here are some winter lawn care tips that every homeowner should know about.
Cut Your Grass Shorter As Autumn Comes
Leaving a longer lawn height during the growing season is generally better for the health of your grass; fewer weeds grow and your grass becomes more drought tolerant. However, as the end of summer comes, it's time to start preparing your grass for colder weather. You start by gradually cutting your grass shorter. Short grass winters better because it is less attractive to burrowing pests like mice who use grass as a warm place to build a nest during the winter. Mouse colonies can end up killing large sections of your lawn if the grass is kept too long.
Cutting your grass shorter can also help to prevent any new grass growth late in the season that will die prematurely when frost hits. Reducing your growing height gradually helps to prevent shock to the lawn if you just cut it drastically shorter all at once.
Fertilize In Early Winter
A rigorous growing season leaves your soil hungry for nitrogen and depleted of other nutrients. Grass require a good deal of nutrition from the soil, and replenishing those nutrients with fertilizer after the growing season has passed helps the soil to really store it away before your grass starts growing again in the spring. It will give your grass a jump start that it otherwise would not have.
Keep People Off the Grass
Newly fallen snow beckons for snowball fights, snowman building contests, and other cold weather play. However, too much traffic on your lawn actually hurts the health of your grass. It's hard to think of your grass as a still-living plant when it looks brown and dead, but if the grass becomes worn down, it will have a harder time coming back to full vibrancy when spring arrives. It's especially important to discourage any vehicle traffic on the lawn during winter. Try to park your own vehicles, including extra cars, four wheelers, and RVs off the grass entirely whenever possible.
For more information about winter lawn care, contact a professional service like Greenwood Tree Experts in your area.
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