Can Your Grass Grow Lushly Without Winter Watering?
Find out what happens when your lawn goes without water during the cold winter months on the Fit Turf blog. With proper winter care, these problems can be avoided.
Can Your Grass Grow Lushly Without Winter Watering?
When you skip watering your lawn during the winter, does that impact its health? Read on to find out how your lawn responds to a lack of water, and get quick winter care solutions from the Fit Turf team.
Like humans, plants, shrubs and trees require water to survive. As your lawn goes dormant over the winter months, you may be counting on rain and snow to bring life-saving moisture to the soil. Is your lawn guaranteed to grow back healthy when leaving the watering up to Mother Nature?
As lawn care experts, our honest opinion is that a lack of winter water may lead to minor or extensive lawn damage.
Weather Unpredictability
As you watch snow gently trickle down onto your lawn in a steady stream until all you see is a shimmering blanket of white, you may think your lawn is being nourished. While this assumption is true, it’s also true that winter soil moisture levels are unpredictable. This means your lawn can experience dry spells when rain and snow fall is light to non-existent. Due to the delicate balance of soil moisture levels and temperature fluctuations, dry spells can cause serious root damage anywhere on your lawn.
Although, your lawn may be sturdy enough to withstand the stress of not receiving enough water during the winter, some parts of your lawn may suffer damage. You won’t see the damage until spring arrives and certain grass spots refuse to grow or struggle to grow back healthy.
Thirsty Trees and Shrubs
It’s easy to forget that trees and shrubs get thirsty in winter too, and their size and extensive root systems require ample supplies of water. Every tree and shrub on your lawn competes for any water supply that makes its way into the soil. Unless you have a winter tree care plan in place, these bigger plants draw significant water away from grass, which makes your lawn grass even more vulnerable to damage.
Hidden Weakening
Determining whether your lawn has survived the winter intact is difficult, especially when you see plants and perennials growing back normally. Looks can be deceiving, though, and you won’t realize how weak or diseased your yard is until problems become visible in the spring or summer. Supplemental watering can help prevent this kind of damage.
When to Water
Depending on Mother Nature to provide enough winter water for your lawn is a risky proposition. You can no longer count on receiving normal amounts of snow fall for your Colorado or Michigan neighborhood. Supplemental watering can be done anytime from October to March.
As far as how to do the deed, a simple water hose with a hose-end sprinkler attachment gets the job done nicely. Watering can be done every few weeks for 10-15 minutes at a time.
Increase Water Retention for Trees and Shrubs
One of the best ways to keep lawn grass healthy during the winter is to ensure all trees and shrubs receive enough water. Fit Turf tree and shrub treatments helps root systems maintain adequate hydration, reducing competition for ground soil moisture.
Fit Turf has extensive knowledge about tree and shrub health in the greater Denver, CO and Detroit, MI areas. Find out more by contacting our team of expert technicians today.