If you’re a keen gardener, or getting ready to sell your property, you likely spend hours in your yard each week taking care of both new and established plants. However, if you really want the outdoor areas of your home to shine, it’s important to maintain your lawn year round as well as during the cold months.
Care for your lawn does not need to be complicated. It does require you to give it attention on a regular basis. Read on for some of the main things you need to focus on to keep your lawn looking beautiful during winter.
Mowing
While most grass grows slowly during the colder months, when you’re preparing your lawn for winter it is important not to neglect mowing. You may not need to cut the grass as often as you do during summer, but you still need to keep it trimmed.
Mowing has numerous benefits that you don’t want to put off, including helping the lawn to thicken. Getting rid of debris that stops blades from receiving sun, water, and air; and keeping mold at bay are also important. This last one is particularly the case for the northern states. Snow mold may live on your lawn and end up creating gray or pink spots on the grass that can spread. To avoid this, keep up your routine mowing, even when the weather is cold.
When it comes to grass cutting, make sure you only ever crop off a small amount each time. You want to stick with trimming only a third of the length, or less, in each mow. To help your lawn stay in tip-top condition, it is necessary to keep the blades on your mower machine sharp. If you don’t, you can find that the grass gets torn instead of cut nicely. Which can give your lawn a brown hue and make it a lot more susceptible to disease.
Watering
Something else that many people think they can get away with neglecting during the winter months is watering. Again, you won’t have to do this as regularly as you do during the summer, grass still needs to drink year-round. Many parts of the country don’t receive much rainfall during winter either, which can leave lawns dried out.
If you’re not sure if your grass is thirsty or not, get an indication by checking its color. If you see that the lawn looks like it has a slight brown or blue-gray hue, this is a sign you really need to water it. You may also notice that the lack of moisture is causing some blades to start to curl up or wilt. This is caused by the soil below them drying out from too little moisture.
Feeding
It’s a good idea to feed your lawn in the lead up to winter so that it can take in plenty of nutrients before the real cold hits. Make sure you choose the right kind of fertilizers though. Have a look online or at your local garden retailer or hardware store for specific winter fertilizers which contain higher levels of iron than usual. Others helpful ingredients like potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorous will help with winter feeding. These are all needed to maintain lawn health.
Before applying fertilizers, read the labels and make sure you adhere to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Products can vary from brand to brand, and the amounts used can vary accordingly. In addition, feed your lawn slowly and carefully so that you don’t miss any spots. For true consistency, you’ll find a drop spreader can make the world of difference. Note that if your place doesn’t receive any rain within around three days of applying fertilizer, you will need to water your lawn to ensure the feed soaks in.
Raking Leaves and Aerating
Lastly, as you prepare for the winter months, don’t forget to clear your lawn of the many leaves that have likely ended up on the grass during the fall. Having your lawn covered by debris like this can smother the grass. The leaves stick together and form a mat and make disease more likely. If you detest raking leaves yourself, consider calling in a contractor to help or else utilize a lawnmower that has a vacuum-style system fitted to it to collect leaves as it moves across the grass.
Winter is also a good time to do some proper lawn aerating. To get some holes punched into the soil and the plugs of dirt extracted, hire a walk-behind lawn aerator for a couple of days, or engage a specialist. Once your grass has been aerated, more fertilizer, water, and oxygen will be able to reach down to the roots of your lawn, and keep it much healthier as a result.
Author Bio: Tiffany is a leader in marketing authority, she assists Seek Visibility and our clients in contributing resourceful content throughout the web. Tiffany prides herself in her ability to create and provide high quality content that audiences find valuable. She also enjoys connecting with other bloggers and collaborating for exclusive content in various niches.
