How Do I Look After My Lawn In Winter?

Winter is a fairly low maintenance season for your garden, but there are a number of things you should be doing as the temperature drops and the nights draw in.

South West Seeds will guide you through the best ways to keep your lawn in great condition during the final quarter of this year and into the next!

Give It A Rest

Reduce traffic in the winter: Your lawn is already under a lot of stress in the wet, windy and frosty conditions, so to avoid any further damage, try to keep off the grass as much as possible until the Spring.

Change Mowing Frequency

For garden enthusiasts, watching your garden become increasingly unkempt can be frustrating over the colder months, but there are many good reasons to cut back on your lawn mowing regime:

• Grass growth slows radically at 4 degrees °C or less, therefore regular mowing is really an unnecessary job if the temperature remains consistently close to freezing.
• Resist mowing in wet or frosty conditions - it will be an incredibly difficult job and you run the risk of seriously damaging your lawn - keeping the cut higher in winter will ensure that your lawn is nicely protected when the frost bites.
• From October to December consider getting your mower serviced prior to those sporadic warm days that appear in February and March.

Use a fine tooth or plastic lawn rake to remove leaves, twigs and other debris from your lawn surface, it will keep your garden tidy and also reduce the risk of damage by disease or worm infestation.

Aeration 

Sort out drainage problems, impacted soil issues and create a healthier lawn with aerating shoes or a lawn fork. This will improve circulation and allow more air to infiltrate the root system of your lawn.

Winter-proof Your Lawn

If foot traffic is inevitable over the winter, it's worth investing in some good quality paving slabs and creating stepping stones that you can walk over without churning up your garden. Also, keep an eye on areas of your lawn that become obscured by shades as the seasons change and sunlight lowers, looking out for moss and drainage issue when you can.