Preparing your yard for winter (4 tips)

As the weather cools and your grass prepares for dormancy, it’s easy to think that you can take the fall off from doing any yard work. The grass is going dormant, and few (if any leaves) have fallen, so what’s there to do? While it’s true the cooler months mean less yard work than the warmer ones, preparing your yard for winter is essential if you want to ensure your lawn looks beautiful year-round. In this blog post, we’re sharing 4 tips on how to effectively get your yard in order prior to the start of winter. 

1: Winterize your grass with a pre-emergent fertilizer.

Another term for preparing your yard for winter is “winterizing.” Perhaps the most important winterizing tip we can offer is this: Put out a pre-emergent fertilizer. This type of fertilizer has a pre-emergent herbicide in it that helps prevent weeds from ever starting to grow throughout your lawn. 

You’ll want to put this out prior to the start of winter. Here’s why…

If you’re like most folks with yards in America, you have warm season grass. This means your grass is at its strongest when the weather is warm. When the weather cools, your grass loses its strength as it goes dormant. And when that happens, weeds can infiltrate your turf and get established.

Putting out a pre-emergent fertilizer keeps weeds from ever becoming a threat to your lawn.

The exact month in which you should do this depends on where you live. If you’re like many people in the US, you’ll want to apply a pre-emergent fertilizer around October, since that will be before your grass goes dormant. Then, reapply it a few months later before spring brings showers (which for a lot of folks in the US would mean sometime in February).

You can buy pre-emergent fertilizers in liquid or granular forms. When applying it, be sure to carefully follow the directions. If you buy it in granular form, you may want to also purchase a spreader. Be sure not to apply it anywhere you intend to plant seeds, since it could impact the germinating seeds.

2: Mow your lawn before winter starts.

A lot of people like to cut their turf shorter before winter starts. It makes sense–if you cut it short before the winter, then logic states that you may be able to wait longer before you need to cut it again in the spring. The problem is, if you cut it too short, you could scalp your lawn (which isn’t great for its health). Instead, we suggest cutting it to be at the same height as you typically kept it when you were mowing it frequently. 

But be sure to cut it before winter begins and your grass goes dormant. Leaving it at a longer height throughout the winter can encourage vole activity (if voles are active where you live) and may increase the likelihood that your grass will capture yard debris. 

3: Overseed your lawn with perennial ryegrass.

Perennial ryegrass is a must if you want green turf during the winter. You can use a broadcast spreader to put it out evenly across your yard. This will overseed your existing lawn, so you’ll actually have something growing.

This grass can absorb some of the moisture in your yard to keep it from getting muddy. This helps your lawn maintain a nice, lush look throughout the winter.

There are, however, cons to using perennial ryegrass in your yard. 

For instance, when you do this, you introduce additional competition to your turf. So as temperatures rise, your warm-season grass will have to compete against that ryegrass, which is going to be thriving in early spring. So, it will probably take your warm-season grass a little bit longer to come out of hibernation and get established.

Also keep in mind that perennial ryegrass only grows for one year. This means it will start to die off as the weather warms. As a result, you’ll need to replant it or just let your warm-season grass overtake it. The problem is, as it dies off, it could leave patches in your yard. Preventing these patches from forming will require additional maintenance. 

4. Aerate your lawn to keep it healthy.

You can promote healthier root growth by aerating your lawn. You only need to do this once a year (which, for many people in the US, means around October). You can use cleats, but we typically recommend using a core aerator. Since these tend to be expensive, you may want to either: 

• Rent a core aerator.
• Hire a professional to aerate your lawn for you.

Aeration is especially important if you’ve had a lot of foot traffic on your lawn throughout the spring and summer. Since foot traffic compacts the soil, it prevents nutrients, water, and air from reaching your grass. By aerating it, you help your grass get what it needs in order to thrive when spring comes.

Wrapping up

Preparing your yard for winter may look a bit more complex now that you’ve read this post. But hopefully you now have some clear direction on how to do it properly. Winterizing your lawn will help you maintain its beauty, so you can continue to have a yard that you’re proud to show off.

If you want help following through on one or more of the aforementioned tips, download the Mow & Blow app or start using it directly on this site to get free quotes from local lawn and landscaping pros. Our platform helps you find quality lawn and landscaping services for the best price, change the frequency of your services, and more.

And for more lawn care tips, be sure to keep checking out our blog. We’ll continue to post relevant info here that will help you maintain a beautiful lawn throughout the year.