Winter Lawn Care Tips
Many people are only worried about their lawn drying out over summer. However it is equally important to take special care of your lawn in winter to help it survive the cooler weather for a luscious green lawn in spring.
The key difference when it comes to winter lawn care is that your lawn isn’t actively growing as it will be getting less light and more shade. This means that you will need to adjust your lawn care to suit the changed conditions in order to maintain a vibrant green lawn through the colder months of the year.
Follow our top 4 winter lawn care tips to ensure that your lawn survives the winter and is ready to start flourishing in the springtime.
1) Water Less
Overwatering your lawn is a waste of both time and money, and can even cause harm through soil compacting. In winter, your lawn will need a lot less water, if any, so it’s best to turn off any automatic sprinklers you may have and instead, water as needed.
To check if your lawn needs watering, look for signs that your lawn is dry such as curled leaves or footprints that don’t disappear after a few minutes. If you can’t see any sign that your lawn is thirsty in winter, chances are it is perfectly healthy and you should not water it.
2) Change Lawn Mower Settings
In winter it’s best to leave a little extra length on your lawn to facilitate photosynthesis as your lawn will most likely be getting less sun in the cooler months. This will help to keep your lawn happy and healthy all winter long and to prevent an invasion of winter weeds. To do this, simply raise the height setting on your lawn mower.
Additionally, lawn growth slows dramatically in winter so you will need to mow less frequently (every three to four weeks should be plenty).
Another way to ensure that your lawn receives maximum sunlight in the cooler months of the year is to set your mower to catch mode rather than mulch mode to prevent piles of cut grass from blocking the limited sunlight.
3) Service Your Lawn Mower
Since your lawn mower will see a lot let use in winter it is a great opportunity for some lawn mower maintenance. Take the time to sharpen the blades on your mower in preparation for spring and ensure that your mower is in good working condition with a general service focusing on the blades, spark plugs, oil, air filter, and fuel levels.
4) Aerate Soil To Avoid Compaction
Winter is also a great time to aerate your lawn to help prevent heavy rain and foot traffic from causing compaction. This is important as compaction can suffocate your lawn by preventing oxygen from reaching the roots.
To prevent this, minimise foot traffic on your lawn and aerate and high traffic areas. You may also need to aerate any areas where water tends to pool. This can be easily accomplished using a pitch fork or a garden fork. Simply work the fork into the soil, a few centimetres deep, leaving holes for water and air to penetrate through to the roots.
Your Local Garden & Landscape Supply Store
When it comes to landscaping and gardening, Wellers Hill Hardware & Landscape Supplies are your local experts. Our team is made up of competent, friendly people, with a passion for the outdoors. From commercial landscaping to the home gardener, we’re ready to help.
We are locally owned and operated, however we stock the big hardware brands that come with the True Value name so you can trust that you are buying quality. Call us today on 07 3848 1682 or visit our Brisbane Southside store for expert advice and quality landscape supplies at a great price!
