Year-Round Lawn Care: Maintenance in the Winter Months
Well, it’s the off-season for your lawn. But if you’re not thinking about the upcoming season—your goals and your plan to meet them—you’ll miss your chance to make your lawn stand out.
Remember, your grass isn’t dead, it’s simply dormant. This state serves a vital part of its life cycle. So, your lawn still needs care, just a different kind of care.
Beat weeds to the punch
Competition determines growing patterns for grass and weeds. In the summer, the abundance of nutrients (like sunlight) causes everything that’s growing to fight for those nutrients. For this reason, weeds have evolved, and now grow during cooler temperatures, when they face less competition from grass.
During this time of year, weeds are in their seed stage. Though they won’t germinate and appear above the soil surface until temperatures warm up, weeds are alive—and they’re getting stronger.
This is the perfect time to apply pre-emergent herbicides. Doing so won’t restrict the growth of your dormant grass, and killing weeds now will result in fewer weeds in the spring—which means you can spend more time and effort growing healthy, green grass.
Grow a lawn that returns the favor
Our clients often ask, “If all I care about is weed control, why do I need to fertilize?”
Mother nature always knows best. Your lawn is a system, with many parts, and what’s good for a part is good for the whole lawn. A thick, healthy turf is just as effective at controlling weeds as any herbicide. If weed seeds have more competition for sunlight, water, and nutrients, they’ll have a much harder time getting established. Thus, you’ll see fewer weeds going into next winter.
See where this is going?
While it’s impossible to completely eliminate weeds, your lawn wants to thrive. It wants to be healthy, thick, green, and weed-free. Taking these measures now sets your lawn up for success a few months down the road. Skip them, and you’ll be playing catch-up all summer, making it much more difficult to achieve your best lawn.
Here area few other things you can do to keep your lawn healthy between Lawn & Pest Solutions treatments.
- Keep leaves removed or mulched during the winter. Heavy leaf cover blocks oxygen from reaching your grass.
- Make sure your lawn drains well. Standing water deprives your grass of oxygen.
- Turn off your irrigation systems. Since it’s dormant, grass doesn’t need extra water during the winter.
- Be careful with your online research. Maintenance tips for cool-season grasses are completely different from tips for the warm-season grasses we have in North Mississippi.
- Scalp your lawn in late January or early February (more to come on this topic next post).
We’re here to help you get the most out of your lawn. Call us today at (888) 534-4535 or reach out through our estimate page to set up your assessment with a certified Lawn & Pest Solutions technician.
