Preparing Your Lawn For Winter

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

A lawn is one of the most versatile and favorite means of landscaping a personal plot, acting not only as a natural rug, but also as an excellent background for a bright flower garden. It is very important to correctly prepare the lawn for winter so that unsightly bald spots do not appear on it in the spring, and in autumn the grass looks fresh for as long as possible

Last haircut

Everyone knows that in the summer, lawns have to be mowed almost every week. And with the arrival of autumn, when the ground cools down and the growth of all kinds of plants noticeably slows down, lawns are cut much less often. However, in the process of preparing for winter, you still cannot do without a haircut. If we neglect such an important last haircut, then, as soon as it gets colder, all the overgrown grass will freeze strongly and settle in a dense layer on the ground until spring. And in the spring, when young shoots begin to awaken, this last year's grass will prevent new shoots from breaking through. For this reason, be sure to mow your lawn for winter.

The most suitable time for pre-winter mowing of lawns will be: for the middle lane - this is, as a rule, the beginning of October; for the northern regions - almost always the end of September; and for the southern regions - in most cases, this process is favored by mid-October.

Following the general recommendations, pre-winter lawn mowing should be done before the first frost (usually 2 weeks). The cut grass can immediately be sent to the beds - this way humus is prepared in advance, which is used as fertilizer for a wide variety of crops. Such a procedure will help reduce the amount of work in the spring.

Stopping watering

The lawn usually does not require regular watering shortly before winter, since, starting in September, there is already a sufficient amount of precipitation. When dry weather sets in, it is best to water the lawn using the sprinkler method, but avoiding puddles. By the beginning of October, when the air temperature drops significantly, watering the lawn is finally stopped in order to prevent excessive waterlogging of the soil, so that as a result of this process, the plants do not get sick and weaken.

Soil aeration

Conducting aeration on the soil equipped under the lawn allows water to penetrate into the deep layers of the soil, preventing soil stagnation in the form of ice crusts and puddles, which can easily lead to the appearance of extremely unattractive bald spots. The exception is lawns equipped on a sand base - in these soils, water always drains with amazing ease on its own. Aeration is recommended in dry weather. To improve the effectiveness of this procedure, the turf of the lawn is lifted with a pitchfork at each puncture so that the entire lawn looks a little "tousled" - this will help to ensure that the required amount of air is available to the root system, as well as drainage.

As mentioned above, the sod can be pierced not only with a specially designed aerator, but also with the most ordinary garden forks. The entire lawn is pierced to a depth of about 20 cm, and the intervals between such punctures should be equal to 20 - 30 cm. After completing the soil drainage, the lawn is allowed to rest (do not walk on it for 2 - 3 days). As soon as the first rains have passed, the lawn will return to its original form.

Top dressing

Top dressing with various mineral fertilizers is the best assistant in ensuring stable and continuous growth of vegetation in spring. As for the composition of the fertilizers used, here gardeners cannot come to a consensus. Some gardeners believe that by the fall, plants especially need potassium and phosphorus, that is, microelements that stimulate root formation, and the main emphasis should be on these microelements. You also need to limit the feeding of nitrogen, which stimulates the growth of green mass. Other gardeners insist that it is not possible to maintain the decorative effect of the lawn throughout the season without nitrogen-containing fertilizing. Moreover, without at all lowering the winter hardiness of plants, nitrogen in the fall helps to make the color of the greenery growing on the lawn much richer. A number of experts also advise using a deoxidizer (for example, limestone flour or chalk) - it is very useful not only for the grass, but also for all plantings located around. Top dressing is best applied on calm, dry days.

Shelter the soil with mulch

In autumn, it is very important to use a broom (a fan rake will also be a good alternative to it) to quickly clean the lawn of old grass, fallen leaves, and other debris, because layers of plant residues do not provide the lawn with proper and high-quality ventilation, thereby provoking the development of constant dampness, leading to all kinds of diseases.

Also, autumn is considered the most favorable time for leveling the various irregularities in the lawn formed in the summer.

The characteristics of the soil in the garden plot also determine the composition of the mixture used for mulching. The most optimal will be a mixture of peat, earth and sand taken in equal parts. And in order to increase the fertility of the soil, noticeably depleted over the past season, it will be useful for the winter to properly cover the entire area of the lawn with a thick layer of peat mixed with dry compost.