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Winter Lawn Care

All you need to know about Winter Lawn Care

The best way to ensure winter lawn care is by supplying sufficient nitrogen to the soil, cutting the grass short, using fallen leaves, aerating the lawn, spraying pre-emergent weed killers, and cleaning up the lawn. Besides this, you can also keep mowing until the grass stops growing, water your lawn, test the soil and maintain your gardening equipment properly.

If you don’t want to shovel the snow yourself don’t worry our trusty snowplow operator will clear your driveway! EDEN is just a Call away.

Initially, you may think that snow can harm your lawn but it is actually beneficial for your lawn in many ways. According to lawn care experts at Eden, snow tends to act as insulation for the lawn and effectively protects it. As snow is porous, it allows gas exchange which lets oxygen to reach the plants, even under the snow. On the other hand, ice can be damaging to the lawn, unless the grass is already covered with a sufficient layer of snow.

Let’s check all you need to know about winter lawn care, as recommended by lawn care professionals at Eden.

Tips for Successful Winter Lawn Care

Here are the expert tips from lawn care professionals to help your lawn survive the cold winter:

1. Ensure sufficient nitrogen supply to the soil

Homeowners should prepare the lawn for winter by fertilizing. This gives the grass plants enough carbohydrates to survive the coldest months. Grass plants, similar to bears, tend to consume as much nutrition as possible before going dormant in winter. Hence, when you fertilize the lawn in the fall, you are essentially loading the plant with the necessary carbohydrates it needs to survive the unforgiving winter. 

You can do this by mulching your grass clipping or grass-cycling the turf when you mow. Make sure to apply fertilizer with at least 10% nitrogen content. Insufficient nitrogen can deprive your grass of adequate nutrition before spring, which can cause diseases or cause the grass plan to die.

2. Cut grass shorter right before winter arrives

During fall, it is recommended to lower the mower deck by one notch each time you mow. Keep lowering the mowing deck until the mowing height is around 2 ½ inches. The shorter grass lowers the chances of snow mold which often damaged the lawn in spring, once the snow and ice thaw.

Make sure to remove any plant debris as it can decrease the barrier from soil to air, thus enabling free air movement. This way, you can keep the grass moisture free and prevent snow mold from forming.

3. Use fallen leaves smartly

If you don’t like raking the leaves littering your yard at the end of the fall season, you can simply use a leaf mulcher or mower and mulch those leaves right back into the lawn. According to lawn care experts, some winter leaves can work wonders for the health of the grass and soil. Mulched leaves are an excellent source of nutrition as they are composed completely of organic material. However, you will need to ensure that you mulch the lawn before the fallen leaves can cover it completely and smother the lawn. 

4. Aerate the lawn before winter

If the soil in your lawn gets excessively compacted or pressed then it does not absorb the water fast enough, which ends up forming pools on the soil surface. This can cause the grass cells to freeze and may even kill the turf. However, when you aerate the soil it decreases compaction and enables proper absorption of water into the soil.

Winter kill is caused when water is stored near the crown of the plant. The reason is that the plant’s crown is the junction where the roots meet the stem. This is basically the nucleus of a plant, and if this gets damaged, the entire plant dies.

5. Spray pre-emergent for weed

Usually, pre-emergent weed killers are advised to be applied during the spring. However, if you have completed over-seeding and your lawn looks well, then you should also apply some pre-emergents. This way, you can prevent fall germinating weeds from growing in your lawn during the turf’s dormant period in the winter.

6. Keep your lawn clean

This is extremely important as an effective winter lawn care tip and is the final step in preparing your lawn to face the coming freezing winter months. Organic debris in the lawn, such as sticks, leaves and twigs can block the light and also trap moisture which can lead to growth of snow mold and other fungal infections. 

Make sure to rake or blow away all debris from the lawn before your last mowing. This way, you will also save significant effort when spring arrives with a blooming turf.

Conclusion

All you need to know about winter lawn care includes providing sufficient nitrogen to the soil, cutting grass short before winter, using fallen leaves as mulch, aerating the lawn and spraying pre-emergents before cleaning the lawn. If you want to know more detailed winter lawn care tips, you can simply consult with lawn care experts at Eden, for professional help. 



If you don’t want to shovel the snow yourself don’t worry our trusty snowplow operator will clear your driveway! EDEN is just a Call away.

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