LawnCare.net

As autumn weather turns into winter, you make the year’s final cut, and then park your lawn mower for a few months vacation. However, this does not mean that you should forget about your yard. In order to have an impressive summer yard, winter lawn care is necessary. Of course, for those who live in Florida, parts of Texas, and southern California, winter lawn maintenance is a bit of a misnomer. Although even in warm-weather regions there are a few things you can do for effective “winter” lawn care. For a greener, healthier yard during the summer follow these winter lawn care tips:

• If you have used a cool season grass seed, this is the time to add a nitrogen rich fertilizer or soil amendment.

• If it is your first year of going green, this is a great time to have a soil test so you will know how your soil has reacted to the new regime.

• If you live in an area where there are frequent heavy rains, part of your winter lawn maintenance is to watch for soil erosion or excessive pooling. If this occurs, you will need to install a basin, drainage ditch or a relatively new method known as a rain garden.

Fighting the Cold with Winter Lawn Care

Should you live in a region where cold weather-especially snow, is an expected part of winter, lawn care has its own unique maintenance needs. Most importantly, you should be sure that your grass is no more than 2 inches long. If it is much longer it becomes an invitation to field mice, or voles, whose damage will not be noticeable until spring. The trails these creatures leave will require reseeding and extra lawn maintenance.

To have a verdant yard when the snow melts, follow these winter lawn care tips:

• If during the summer or fall you did some overseeding (spreading grass seed on top of a pre-existing lawn), it is wise to administer a potassium rich fertilizer that will strengthen your lawn for the winter.

• Add a layer of compost tea (A liquid made from aged manure in a burlap or nylon sack and steeped in water) to help your lawn have a greater amount of microbes in the soil.

• If the weather has been exceptionally dry, a final heavy watering will ensure there is plenty of moisture in the soil.

• Never use your frozen yard for additional parking as this damages the grass—your lawn is tough, but it does have its limits!

• Before the first freeze, stake the boundaries of your yard to indicate where grass starts and pavement/gravel stops.

• Select an area where excess snow can be piled.

• If you have someone use a snowplow, ask them to raise the blade 1-2 inches so there will not be any damage to the blades of grass that are not completely frozen.

• Although cheaper, never use sodium based ice melters near plants or you lawn as it is extremely toxic, a better choice is calcium chloride or sand.

While following these winter lawn care tips and lawn maintenance recommendations may take a bit of time, when spring arrives your beautiful lawn will be worth it! Your luxuriant lawn will be the talk of the neighborhood and require less spring time work because of the healthy winter lawn care it received.