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Pre-Winter Lawn Care Tips

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Winter is definitely not the time you want to be spending lots of time tending to the garden. Luckily, you don’t have to. Small jobs here and there in the run-up to the coldest and frostiest time of year can go a long way to helping your lawn and garden, in general, survive the winter. Piling on a few layers and your winter coat and heading out in the garden once or twice a month can be all that’s needed to keep your grass in top condition, as spending too much time in your garden in winter can actually do more harm than good.

Pre winter lawn tips

Here are some simple tips to follow for maintaining a healthy lawn all year round, but particularly at a time when the temperature drops and the dreaded frost arrives…

Let your lawn rest

The main thing to keep in mind pre and during winter is to let your lawn rest as much as possible. Keep walking on your lawn to a minimum and try to keep kids or pets from playing on the lawn as this can cause frosty blades of grass to break and die causing long term damage. Hopefully, your family will be spending more time inside to stay cosy anyway, but if not try to think of games and activities your family can do that don’t involve playing on the lawn.

Another element to winter lawn care is to use your lawnmower sparingly. You should only mow your lawn when it looks absolutely necessary and always choose a mild day with no frost and minimal rainfall.

Greensleeves are professional lawn treatment experts, helping households across the UK to maintain a healthy-looking lawn all year round even in the winter months. Aside from their professional annual treatments, they offer tons of free lawn care advice for homeowners to benefit from.

Clear debris and weeds

One lawn care task to continue throughout the winter is clearing any fallen leaves, sticks or debris that has been blown onto the surface of your lawn. Not only does this prevent your lawn from getting the necessary sunlight, but it can also stunt growth and cause fungal diseases to spread due to the excess moisture and lack of air circulation. You can collect fallen leaves by hand or use a rake to prevent having to walk on your lawn’s surface too much.

Why not use the leaves to start your own compost heap too? Compost heaps require time and patience to curate, requiring a mixture of moist and drier materials such as food waste, grass cuttings, shredded paper and leaves for the mixture to transform into a nutritious treat for your lawn and garden over the year. Starting a compost heap now means you can have plenty of nutrition ready for your soil when the spring and summer months roll around.

Help your lawn to breathe

Over time, our lawn’s naturally become compact due to footfall. While winter is not the time to carry out any major lawn care tasks that can leave your lawn more vulnerable to the cold weather, you can still do some things to make sure your lawn has plenty of space to breathe. You can use a garden fork or a dedicated spiking machine to poke holes in your lawn at regular intervals across the soil. This will prevent compaction, improve the drainage of rainwater and allow air to easily circulate so your lawn can breathe and stay healthy even at the peak of winter.

Look after your tools

Finally, take a quieter time in your lawn care calendar as a chance to look after your tools. Keep your lawnmower and other equipment dry and safe in a shed or storage area. If you’ve had your lawnmower for many years and it has started to rust or do a poor job, winter is an ideal time to have it serviced or even ask for a new one as a practical but useful Christmas gift!

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