How to care for a lawn over winter

Want to make sure your lawn gets 2019 off to a good start?

Winter is undoubtedly the most difficult time for a lawn. All plants need good weather to thrive, and grass is no exception. Indeed, exposed lawns can often suffer worse than other, more sheltered plants.

Growth virtually stops in winter, meaning no more cutting (this may come as a relief to some).

Even if some growth does occur across the winter season, which does happen, albeit very slowly, you’ll want to avoid cutting, as this is damage to the lawn it cannot easily sustain.

Weakened by cold weather the turf is particularly susceptible to damage from pressure and moisture, which can easily leave your lawn covered with thin or bare patches for the rest of the year.

It’s tricky (but not impossible) to speed the repair of this kind of damage, so prevention is far better than the cure.

How to solve this? Perhaps the biggest cause of isolated lawn damage is the build-up of leaves, which fall in autumn and pile in big decomposing piles in areas of your lawn.

These concentrated patches of moisture then cause damage to grass and leave your lawn bald and uneven for the coming spring.

Clearing piles of dead leaves before this can occur allows all parts of your lawn to rest during the winter and keeps a consistent appearance without requiring additional care later.

If snow occurs, don’t panic. Snow is harmful to your lawn, but if deposited evenly it will be a minor problem. It can even act like mulch and sometimes insulated plants from further damage.

If snow is piled up into heaps on your lawn, however, there will no longer be consistent damage and this will lead to uneven patches once the snow has melted.

The other big cause of lawn damage in winter is frost. Freezing water expands inside the plant stem and leaves it torn, thin and brittle, easily broken and unable to recover from any damage potentially for months.

If frost strikes, you should avoid placing any pressure whatsoever on your lawn, avoiding walking on it as much as you can.

Caring for your lawn is easier than ever with Turf Growers- the UK’s leading supplier of top-quality home delivered gardening supplies such as compost, topsoil, mulch and of course freshly cut turf ready for laying.