Winter Turf Care – Preparing for Spring Lawn Care
Don’t Forget About Your Lawn During the Winter, Even if It’s Under a Blanket of Snow
When the harsh weather of winter comes to Colorado and Michigan, your lawn makes like a bear — it hibernates, or goes dormant. Although your grass has made the smart decision to sleep through the long, cold winter, that doesn’t mean you should forget about your lawn. In fact, you can take steps before, during and after winter’s arctic blasts to make sure you have a lawn that not only survives the winter but prospers, bringing you the verdant greens of spring and summer.
In the fall, FitTurf.com’s technicians can begin preparing your lawn for the cold weather to come. An old football saying has it that the best defense is a good offense, and the same goes for lawns. By carefully preparing your grass for the long, brutal winter ahead, FitTurf.com’s crack staff can ensure that your lawn will green up fully and thoroughly as soon as possible after the snow melts and the air and earth begin to warm. One way to ensure a healthy overwintering is to enhance your lawn in the fall with a granular, slow-release fertilizer. This will nourish and strengthen your grass’s roots, resulting in thicker, hardier growth when the warm weather returns. This is also a good time to over-seed or reseed bare spots and to attend to any other problems. It’s also a time to rout weeds that may have seized a foothold in your lawn.
During winter’s dreary days, there are some things you can do to ensure that your lawn will return as strong and vibrant in the spring and summer as it was the previous year. During winters with heavy snow, it’s easy to forget that there’s actually a lawn under all that white stuff — especially for rambunctious younger people. But there is a lawn sleeping under that snow, and though your grass may be dormant, heavy foot traffic overhead (or other traffic, for that matter) won’t do it any good. In fact, it can do a world of harm. Not only will heavy traffic delay greening once spring arrives; it will also cause ground compaction, which will make your lawn less healthy.
Winter can have its advantages, and one of them is peace and quiet, once the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over. This is a time to think of the past year and your lawn, what went wrong and what went right and to make some New Year’s resolutions for your lawn. You can consider and then take steps to make sure that you’ll have an ever better lawn in the coming warm weather.
Another good thing to do during winter’s idle hours is to clean up debris. Again, don’t assume that just because your lawn is buried under snow that it won’t be damaged by any coverings — leaves, yard debris, toys or other stuff that may have fallen or been dropped on it. Besides smothering and suffocating the grass, unsightly debris can offer a perfect hiding place for rodents, insects, disease and other lawn-destroying life. So now, in the quiet of winter, is a good time to clean up the yard and stay on top of it, even if it’s covered by a foot of snow and its freezing cold outside.
Spring brings back the sun’s rays, warmth and your lawn. Now is the time to begin to let your lawn fully recover from the winter chill. But it can’t do it on its own. A FitTurf.com trained technician can personally consult with you to give your lawn exactly what it needs to give you a green, worry-free summer that lies beyond the long winter, handling fertilizer needs and attacking destructive insects.