With fall just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about preparing your lawn for winter. This process is often referred to as winterizing. It is a simple and inexpensive process that can help provide a beautiful outcome in spring. Following these steps can provide long-term benefits to your yard.
Test your soil to determine the ph level. Lawns along with plants need adequate nutrients in the soil in order to grow. Testing your soil can let you know of any issues you may have and allow you time to apply the needed nutrients to promote healthy growth come spring. If you need to raise your soil pH, lime should be applied. Lime requires a few months to completely absorb into the soil and applying in warmer climates can cause damage to plants. A fall soil test should show a mid-range result in key nutrients, letting you know you supplied an adequate amount of fertilizer and nutrients throughout the growing season, too low of reading means you ran out of nutrients before the end of the season, and too high means too much fertilizer was used. Fall readings are perfect for gauging the success of your previous growing season.
While you want to test your soil, fall is also the time to fertilize your lawn before heading into the winter months. As fall approaches, plants and grasses begin to “prepare” for winter. The change in temperature and the shorter days trigger the plants to start slowing growth and shift their food storage to their roots. Fertilizer that is applied in the fall is giving the grass the nutrients it needs to store for the winter and use it as fuel for the spring. When spring arrives, the grass greens up quickly and grows thick and lush blocking out weeds.
Fertilizing your lawn provides the nutrients needed for the winter months, however, you do not want to be providing nutrients for the plants/grasses you don’t want. Remove weeds prior to winter. These pesky plants will compete for the nutrients throughout the winter months and take away what is needed for your grass to be healthy come springtime. Also, you will want to remove your annual plants. These plants have to be replaced every year and leaving the dead plants discourages spring growth and can also be home to many lawn and garden killing insects.
Once you have removed all the unwanted weeds, you will want to make sure to cut the grass. As fall approaches, the grass starts to slow down growth so mowing will not be necessary as often. Climate plays a role in how often you should cut your grass through the winter months. For warmer climates, cut your grass as you normally would just about half as many times. So if you are used to cutting it every week, switch to a bi-weekly schedule. Be sure not to cut the grass too short, cutting it short can damage your lawn and impact spring growth. In colder climates, shorter grass is the key. Grass in cooler areas has to regrow in spring and cutting it short during the winter months helps keep it from being matted down and inhibits new growth. If you are concerned about length and how many times to cut your grass as you prepare for winter, your local landscape firms can provide winterizing services to ensure a healthy lawn in spring.
Fall months are a great time to over-seed your yard. This is basically applying grass seeds over the existing turf. You will want to make sure you do this before the temperatures get too cold. The ideal temperatures for seed growth are between 60 and 70 degrees. Just like with mowing your grass, what seeds to use on your lawn and when to apply will vary depending on where you live. In colder areas, overseeding is used to help prevent weeds so waiting until late autumn is not optimal. Seeds need time to establish roots in order to prevent weeds from filling in those thinner areas of your lawn. Northern areas should over-seed in early fall. In warmer areas, overseeding with cooler season grasses helps keep your lawn looking green all year long. By overseeding with cooler season grasses, when your warm-season grasses are dying out or going dormant the other varieties are ready to take over.
Not to be overlooked during this process are your trees and shrubs. Make sure you are pruning and cutting back trees and shrubs. Fall is the perfect time to do this. Once spring arrives, your yard will be starved for sunlight. Removing those overgrown limbs will allow complete exposure to the warm spring sun your lawn has been missing.
All of these steps outlined above are important to the upkeep and maintenance of your lawn and getting it ready for the winter months. However, one of the most important things you can do to ensure your lawn is lawn of the month come spring is to make sure you rake the leaves and keep them raked throughout the season. Nothing is harder on a lawn than a thick carpet of wet leaves. If these are not removed it can leave you with a dirt patch to deal with come spring. Raked leaves also serve as a great compost, so be sure to rake them up and save them for later. If you are lucky enough to have a small amount of leaves accumulated, consider mowing them instead of raking, this will provide a thin compost layer over your grass providing nutrients for the winter months.
Caring for and preparing your lawn and garden for the winter is not a step you want to forget. While most people are more concerned with the upkeep during the warm growing season, it is also important to make sure your lawn is prepared for the winter months. Following these simple tasks outlined will help to ensure that your lawn is ready to thrive come spring.