Your lawn is an integral part of your landscape. It has a significant impact on your home’s curb appeal. Winter can be a challenging time of the year for your lawn. Cold temperatures can cause irreversible root damage and kill warm season grasses. Additionally, changes to your grass can affect its long-term health. Winter is officially here. If showing your lawn some love is not at the top your priority list this winter, you need to revisit it. Here are some tips to keep your lawn healthy this winter.
Declutter
Leaving dead and dry leaves to rot on your lawn is a recipe for disaster. Dead and dry leaves block the sun’s rays, preventing them from reaching the roots of plants and grass, causing their premature death or stunted growth. To address this problem, thoroughly clean your lawn, and keep it clear of debris throughout winter. To ensure your plants and grass get enough nutrients, periodically remove toys, tools, debris, and dead leaves.
Prune Your Plants
There is a reason why Healdsburg landscapers recommend pruning plants and trees in winter. There are more benefits of tree pruning in winter than you could imagine. Pruned trees are easier to evaluate. You can easily identify dead or dangerous branches, and get rid of them before they become a larger issue. Pruned trees recover quickly in spring with new growth. Additionally, pruning leads to optimum wound closure. Pruning is important to prevent diseases from spreading and avoiding winter damage.
Minimize Foot Traffic
Repetitive foot traffic can increase the wear on your grass. To ensure your lawn can recover in spring, avoid cutting a path across it. To discourage people from walking on your grass, keep your pathways clear. To minimize foot traffic, entertain visitors inside your house. Keep them from parking on your lawn. Keeping your lawn off-limits in winter will help minimize damage due to cold temperatures.
Add Mulch
Adding a layer of mulch to your plants will help prevent soil erosion and moisture loss. To maintain a uniform temperature in the soil around plant roots, put down two inches of mulch. If you do not have enough leaves, use your mower to mulch whatever you have. Mulching also increases the soil nutrients and restricts weed growth, which is the key to maintaining the health of your lawn.
Protect Your Trees
Wrap wire mesh around the base of your young trees. This will prevent roaming animals from chewing on their bark during winter.
With a little bit of effort, you can ensure that your landscaping makes it through the winter months largely unscathed. In addition to following these tips, remember to aerate and fertilize your lawn as this will help ensure that your grass and plants get enough nutrients to survive the cold weather.
At Gardenworks Inc., we share our clients’ passion for the outdoors. We are a result-driven team of experienced landscapers. Whether you need lawn maintenance services or want to get a new landscape created, we have got your back. To talk to an experienced Healdsburg landscape designer, call us at (707) 857-2050.