We know that keeping your yard healthy and looking great year-round requires a lot of work. You get to take a bit of a break from landscaping in winter, but late fall requires some time to prepare your yard for winter. By the time the snow melts, if you’ve taken these steps you’ll be thanking yourself for saving time on spring cleaning and you’ll have a head start on healthy growth for the year.
Aerate Your Lawn
Before it gets too cold, aerate your lawn. This allows air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the grass roots. Over summer, compaction from foot traffic, mowing, and general use creates a dense thatch layer that prevents vital elements from getting down to the roots. Aerating before winter will help the soil recover after summer, and it will also help the lawn with other prep work. Make sure you plan out when you are aerating your lawn ahead of time, so you can get it done before the ground starts to freeze.
Overseed and Fertilize
Overseeding is adding extra grass seed to your lawn to thicken it up, and it’s a beneficial practice in late fall. Fertilizing will give the grass some necessary nutrients that will help the grass and seeds grow in spring time. Doing both of these after aerating your lawn will allow the seeds and fertilizer to get deep into the soil, making it more effective. You want your lawn to be as healthy as possible once winter begins.
Mow Until There’s Snow
Keep mowing your lawn until snow starts to accumulate. This may seem counterintuitive, but longer grass can actually smother the lawn when it gets weighed down with snow. By keeping the grass shorter, you allow air to circulate and prevent mold and other diseases from taking hold.
Clear Fallen Leaves
Don’t let fallen leaves sit on your lawn all winter. You have a few options on what you should do with the leaves. If you are somebody who prefers to have some leaves on the lawn through winter as mulch, you can run the lawn mower over them to break them up, or you can rake all the leaves away and use them for compost. Clearing the leaves will make it easier once spring rolls around, and it will also prevent any bacteria build-up that can occur from soggy leaves not decomposing under a layer of snow.
Prep Your Plants
Don’t forget about your plants! Bring in any plants that can survive winter indoors so you can move them back out when it warms up again. Prune back perennials so they’re ready to grow again in spring, and clear away any annuals that won’t make it to next season. A little bit of time spent on your plants now will save you a lot of work come spring.
Keep Your Lawn Healthy Year-Round
By following these steps, you’ll have a head start on a healthy and beautiful lawn come springtime. And then when spring comes, freshen up your lawn and garden with some fresh soil and your landscaping will look great in no time!