Winter is coming. To combat the bone-chilling weather conditions, get your home ready for ice, snow, hail, rain, and whatever else mother nature decides to throw your way. You already know to get your furnace checked, to cover up any holes, and to move the warm linen out of the closet. So you may believe that you have already covered all the important winter home maintenance.
If you’re like most, you think winter is the best time to neglect your lawn care. Absolutely not. Your lawn needs extra care during the winter to help it stay healthy into the coming spring.
To reduce some of the lawn care hassle, we constructed this guide to make it easier for you to keep your lawn groomed during the winter.
Get Lawn and Garden Equipment Ready
Check your lawn mower and garden tools to make sure that everything works. If your lawn mower needs new parts, shop home improvement specialty stores like Tractor Supply Company. This chain store has a wide selection of parts and tools to keep your lawn healthy and beautiful all year long. Tractor Supply Co also offers discounts through Groupon. Stock up on tools, and grass and garden supplies before you begin to work on getting your lawn ready for the winter.
Clean Gutters
Walk around your back and front yard: check for any debris that may have gotten stuck in your gutters over the summer. Wear gloves and dig deep to get all dirt, leaves, and tree branches that accumulated. Finish off cleaning the gutter by spraying the hose to rinse away anything that you might have missed.
Remove Weeds
Remove all weeds from your lawn to make it easier to cut the grass, and to protect your garden. After you’re done, spray the grass with weed killer to reduce them during winter.
Remove Leaves
Habitually rake the leaves around your home at least once or twice a week every other week. This keeps the leaves from completely taking over your lawn.
Keep Grass Cut and Fed
The grass is the most important part of lawn maintenance, so it requires more work than other parts of your lawn. Cut your grass all throughout fall and winter until it stops growing. Aim to make your grass as short as possible, because this helps protect it from squirrels, mice, raccoons, and other creatures that might want to use your grass as a place to keep warm during the winter.
Fertilize your lawn with a special winterizer to help keep the soil fresh. Remove any trees or garbage that might have gotten thrown on your grass throughout the year. Top your grass off with a sand soil mixture.
Give Garden a Makeover
Tend to your garden by removing any plants, vegetables, fruits, or flowers that won’t grow in the winter. Replace them with plants equipped to handle the harsh winter weather. Spread mulch on the trees and shrubs to keep them from rotting. Consider adding an artificial source of sunlight to your garden if you want to continue growing certain plants throughout the winter.
Additional Lawn Tips:
- Turn off all water sources
- Keep rodents away by adding rodent repellent around the outside cracks of your home
- Shovel snow often, especially the sidewalks and streets; this keeps people from using your grass as a new sidewalk
- Put protective covers on your air conditioner system