Winter Lawn Care Tips
Think there’s nothing you can do for your lawn in the dead of winter? You’re not alone. Some of us, especially those of us in the north, can’t even see their lawns right now when they look out the window. Most won’t even think about their lawns until it begins to thaw out in the spring. But there’s a few things you can do between now and then to set you up for a great season.
- Take your fertilizer inside. This one should go without saying. Most liquid fertilizers and soil conditioners (especially organic and natural options) are not designed to be left out outside all winter. It will degrade the efficacy of your products to freeze. If your garage or shed is not heated, then make sure you get all of the liquids inside - even the sprayers - inside before the first deep freeze sets in. You can leave your granular fertilizer and grass seed outside, but just make sure it’s in an air-tight container to keep them dry and prevent rodents from getting a free meal.
- Go easy on the de-icer. Aside from being toxic to pets, most traditional ice melt contains harsh ingredients and salts that will completely kill your lawn wherever it happens to touch. Even when mixed with water (in the form of snow and ice) these chemicals are still potent enough to affect the root of the plant when absorbed into the soil. For a healthy lawn - and a healthy environment - keep the ice melt on the shelf this season, or opt for a more natural option.
- Remove sand and gravel - similar #2, road crews dropping sand, gravel, and salt will also create problems for your lawn, particularly the edge where it meets the street. After the road crews pre-treat the pavement and the snow falls, plows will push all of this material onto your lawn, which will cause burnout in the spring. The best strategy here is to shovel the top layer of snow back out onto the street if you can manage it. It shouldn't be too much work.
- Let it snow! Don’t worry about snow building up on your lawn. Snow acts as a natural anti-desiccant. Desiccation is essentially the drying out of the plant. The snow cover acts as a blanket, preventing the lawn from drying out too much in the cold dry air that northern winter provides. So don’t panic when the snow flies, your lawn is going to be fine!
- Lawnbright Team