5 Winter Tips For St. Charles Lawn Care
Maintaining a beautiful green lawn in St. Charles, MO is no easy feat. It takes time and a great deal of attention to detail. When winter hits, most St. Charles lawn care homeowners completely neglect their yards. They pack it in and wait until the cold weather passes to start working on their lawns again. And while this is understandable, it’s not the best option. What most St. Charles Lawn care homeowners fail to realize is there are simple things you can do during the winter to ensure your lawn stays healthy. Keeping your lawn healthy during the winter makes it easier to revitalize it when the warmer weather comes in. Here are 4 simple tips to make your St. Charles lawn care a success is ready for the arrival of summer.
St. Charles Lawn Care Tips
#1 – Break Up Deep Areas Of Snow
Now that I think about it, this tip isn’t all that simple; however, it is very important for those who live in areas that get a lot of snow. Anytime snow piles up on the grass it can lead to snow mold fungal disease. Depending on where you live, there is a good chance your lawn has had this disease in the past. When you have piles of deep snow that melt slowly, this disease can occur.
To prevent this from happening you will need to go outside and break up any deep areas of snow. Spread it out evenly across the lawn using a shovel. Doing so will cause the snow to melt quicker and prevent snow mold fungal disease from setting in.
#2 – Keep Your Grass Short
Once fall hits, you should begin lowering the blade on your lawn mower. You should be cutting your grass right at the surface. The idea is to cut off the fragile growth and leave only the hardier portions of the grass. Doing so will make it less likely your grass will dry out and succumb to fungal disease.
#3 – Don’t Work In The Lawn When Wet
When the lawn is wet try to avoid working in the lawn, when a lawn is wet it is more likely for the turf to get damaged. The turf is in dormancy in the winter time, the grass will not repair itself quickly like it can during the growing season. Often during the winter with the low temperatures the grass will not be able to dry out like it normally does. Also, with the limited sunlight in the winter, often the lawn will stay wet for a prolonged period of time. Try to wait for the ground to completely freeze so that you will not damage the turf. In a hard frost or freeze do not walk in the lawn let the grass unthaw in the morning hours.
#4 – Remove Winter Debris / Leafs
During winter, there will be areas on your lawn that accumulate winter debris. As soon as you are able to, go outside and remove the debris from your lawn. Wait until the snow has melted to do this. When doing leaf cleanups, its best to use a blower on your lawn than using a rake. At this time of year your lawn is in complete dormancy and if you rake out the leaves you will pull out some grass as well. The grass that gets pulled out could be strong healthy grass and pulling it out will hurt you in the long run. Using a blower, ensures all the debris will be removed without causing any damage to the turf.
#5 – Leave It Alone
Most people will use fertilizer in early spring to try and bring their lawn back to life. Resist the urge to do this. Apply fertilizer in the fall and that should be sufficient through winter. Do not fertilize again until late spring. Fertilizing too much will only lead to damaged new grass. Instead you should opt to leave your lawn alone during the winter and early spring months. You should use a crabgrass pre-emergent in early-middle of February. This will help your lawn with crabgrass issues later in the spring and into summer.
As your local St. Charles lawn care provider, we care about the health and beauty of your lawn. We want your lawn to look good all year round. If you follow the tips just provided your lawn will be healthy and ready to go when summer arrives. If you follow these 4 St. Charles Lawn Care tips you will be pleasantly surprised by the results later this spring. For more tips visit all tips our lawn care tips by clicking here.