5 Ways to Prepare Your Lawn for Winter
Winter is arriving soon and it's time to take the necessary steps to make sure your lawn is prepped for whatever the season may bring. With a few simple actions, you can not only make sure your or your clients' lawn can endure the harsh weather of winter, but that it will also reap some serious benefits when spring comes back around.
1. Use fallen leaves to your advantage.
While fallen autumn leaves can provide nutrition to a lawn, they can potentially smother your lawn if left untended. Leaves can be used for composting after they are removed from your lawn. If you don't want to rake or remove the leaves with a blower, you can always use a mulching mower and save yourself some work.
2. Maintain a compost pile and use it for insulation in the garden.
If you do collect leaves, add them to plant trimmings, class clippings, sawdust, fruits, veggies, etc. in your compost pile. Avoid inorganic materials or plant life that has been treated with pesticides. This compost can be used to protect you or your customers' garden and keep it rich with nutrients during the cold winter months.
3. Aerate your lawn before winter hits—especially for cool season grasses.
You can rent a core aerator from many home garden stores for a relatively inexpensive rental fee. Irrigate the lawn a couple of days before your aerate. After you aerate the lawn, you can then use the compost you've collected to fill in the holes left by aerating.
4. Overseed your lawn 6-8 weeks before the first hard freeze.
Fall is a good time to seed cool season grasses and it will give the lawn a boost in the spring by preventing excessive loss of grass during the winter. If the lawn is too big to seed by hand, consider using a rotary spreader.
5. Leave the grass short in the winter.
As you move closer to your final mows of the season, gradually lower your cutting deck to ease the lawn into an overall lower height. This will help keep it from being host to field mice and other animals that could potentially burrow through the yard in the winter.
Plan ahead for the winter and give your lawn the best chance possible to start off right in the spring. Whether you're a do-it-yourselfer or a lawn care professional, use these tips to prepare your lawn for the cold season ahead.
It's also a good time to plan ahead for the spring by purchasing a mower. You can get a great deal on a commercial mower when you buy in the off-months. Find a Wright dealer [dealer locator] in your area today and look into our seasonal buying program Seasonal buying program to learn more about saving big.
