In North Carolina, winter means ice. However, wintery weather can bring snow, ice, and freezing temperatures. All can be disastrous to your lawn and landscaping, no matter what steps you take to protect them. The only thing you can do, most years, is have a planned course of action when winter is over to bring your lawn back to life.
First, there are a few things you can do to prep your lawn for winter. Yes, having a plan to bounce back is arguably the best course of action. That plan should be reinforced with three easy steps to help ensure an easier time getting your lawn back to the showpiece of the neighborhood:
- Rake your leaves. If you do nothing else, do this! Leaves will smother your grass. So, whether you have a major blizzard or no precipitation at all, leaving leaves on your grass is a recipe for disaster. Take the time or pay your neighbor’s kid, but get rid of those leaves!
- Fertilize. About a month before freezing temperatures start to persist, late fall, start fertilizing. You should probably do this at least once a month. Your lawn gets hungry and after eating up all of the soil’s nutrients all summer long, it needs help to continue to thrive. Fertilizing in the fall will help the roots survive hibernation and wake up quickly in the spring.
- Cut your grass. Instead of skipping weeks in the fall, as many do because grass grows less, it can be better to drop the blade height one notch and mow every week. This will prevent a buildup of dead grass in the spring that can also smother new growth.
Now that your lawn was prepared, winter descended upon the land, and time has sloooowly washed it away…it’s time to help Mother Nature revive your precious landscape. It’s very easy, if you know what to do. Applying five tried and true methods will help revive and maintain your lush lawn for the coming year.
- Keep it long. Aesthetics aside, the result of mowing grass very short is a less extensive root system. For grass that is already struggling to survive, this is highly stressful. When spring makes its appearance, refrain from instantly attacking the lawn with the mower on its lowest setting.
- Fertilize. After the lawn receives its first trim, it will need fertilizing. Fertilizer provides the grass with the nutrients it needs to become the talk of the neighborhood. Use an organic fertilizer that contains slow-releasing nitrogen and has a low phosphorus level. Repeat in summer.
- Water. Give your lawn about an inch of water every week. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can miss a few weeks and give it three inches to make up for it. Overwatering will drown the already struggling post-winter grass.
- Weed. Not fun, but very beneficial. Not watering too deeply will help keep weeds at bay, as will refraining from mowing too short. Nevertheless weeds will have made an appearance during the winter. Remove by hand or use a weed killer.
- Replace. Some areas of grass may be beyond help. Happily, these can be replaced fairly easily. Dig out the area populated by the dead grass, which is usually no more than a few inches deep. Measure the area and head to the local gardening center to buy replacement sod.
Your lawn is as much a part of your property as the interior of your home. Maintaining a beautiful landscape, including a well-kept lawn, adds to your enjoyment as well as your property value and general appreciation of your home, by you and others. So, do a little planning, put in a little sweat equity, and be leery of your neighbor’s pets and your lawn will not only survive winter but show no adverse, lingering signs of it at all!
