At this time of year, gardening activities begin to wind down. Lawnmowers are tucked away, and gardening gloves have been replaced with your favourite winter woollies.
But there are a few tips you can follow to make sure your months of lawn care over the summer and autumn don’t go to waste!
Keep it clean
A tidy house is a happy house…right? The same applies to your garden spaces. Take time to tidy away fallen leaves from surrounding trees and shrubbery to avoid a build-up. Not only will your garden look better, but your lawn will thank you for it. Leaves on your lawn can cause fungal growth to form that can end up leaving your lawn patchy.
Give your mower some TLC
Your lawnmower is put to the test during summer and autumn and giving it some much needed TLC can quickly fall down the priority list. Using your winter downtime to repair and service your lawnmower will make sure it’s in tip top shape for when spring rolls around. A quick glance at your mower blades will help you to see if they need sharpening or not. A blunt and dull blade will leave your grass jagged and torn. A simple sharpening of these will make sure your grass gets the finest cut when the mowing season comes back around. Do not attempt to sharpen you blades yourself – instead take them to a professional. While you’re there, it’s also a great time to do a full MOT of your lawnmower, making sure smaller jobs like filling up the oil are complete so that everything is ready to rock once grass growth resumes!
Keep traffic to a minimum
Walking across frosty or wet grounds can
cause all sorts of problems you can easily avoid. In the UK, we normally face
pretty wet and cold winters, with frost and rain making regular visits. During
winter, lawns can become waterlogged due to heavy rain, and it’s important to
keep foot traffic to a minimum around those patches. Walking on a waterlogged
area will force the air out and when the soil dries up it will be heavily
packed together, which can cause yellowing grass and stunted growth in the
summer. The same applies to a frosty lawn. Walking across a lawn with frost can
break your grass and cause damage. The damage will take a few weeks to show,
but brown patches will pop up soon after, leaving you with a patchy lawn!
Watch out for salt
Gritting salt is one of our most needed items during the winter and it does a wonderful job on icy paths or walkways. One thing it isn’t good for though, is our lawns. The salt can have a damaging effect on the lawn you worked so hard to maintain during the previous months. Grass needs moisture to keep in good condition, but when salt comes into contact with it, it can cause dehydration and your grass will become brittle and eventually wilt and die, resulting in some unattractive patches up and down your lawn.
Stepping back from your sowing, mowing and feeding can be hard when the winter months come around, but if you follow our quick tips on how to care for your garden during Winter, we can guarantee that your lawn will be ready for Spring!