5 Tips to Prepare Your Lawn for Winter

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There is no doubt that this has been one of the best years for your lawn in recent Indiana history. The rain fell, temperatures were mild and the grass grew. We’re almost in the clear as far as damage to your yard, which means you can put your lawn to bed for the winter in the best condition you’ve been able to in years. Here are our five tips to help you have the perfect lawn come spring!

1. Remove Matted Grass

As previously stated, this has been a great year for your grass, but if you weren’t mowing twice a week you probably have some clippings that didn’t get blown away. It is really important that you remove excess clippings from your yard so that it doesn’t suffocate. Those clippings are about the same as leaving a wet floor mat on top of your lawn- all year long. A simple grass sweeper or trac vac can help you make sure you remove excess clippings before next spring!

2. Spray for Clover Now

Your grass wasn’t the only vegetation taking advantage of the great summer. Now is the time to kill off your clover and other broad leaf vegetation. The benefits to this are three fold:

1.     Killing off the clover’s root system will leave “wells” under your lawn that allow it to store water next spring for the vegetation you want, like grass.

2.     Broad leaves wreak havoc on your lawn mower, dulling blades more quickly and getting clogged under your deck. Your mower wants them gone.

3.     Visually clover and other broad leaves can act as a eye sore for an otherwise perfect yard.

We recommend using Trimec or an equivalent substitute. Make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle. Either a backpack or hand held sprayer will work on small yards while pull behind sprayers are perfect for large lawns.

3. Over Seed Before Oct 1st

The fact that we had such a great growing season can help you find weak spots for your grass. If it didn’t grow this year, it needs more seed. Over seeding can help you fix holes and bare spots in your yard and you want to make sure you do that before it gets too cold. We have a great Land Pride over seeder that has everything you need to cover up those bare spots!

4. Fertilize Now for Benefits Later

The trick to fertilizing your yard is to do it after most of the heat has gone away for the year. We’re entering the time when you should be giving your grass a little boost of energy. If you have questions about how or what to apply to your yard give us a call and we’ll help you out.

5. Prepare for Leaves

It is important to have a plan of attack for all your leaves. Make sure you have a system in place to get them off your yard before the snow falls. Again, leaving leaves on your lawn can suffocate your grass and make it hard for it to get the appropriate nutrients next spring. Make sure you have a plan, whether it’s a natural wind tunnel to blow them away, a Dixie Chopper to chop them up or a Sthil blower to get them to the garbage bag.

Following these five steps can help your lawn become the envy of the neighborhood next year. It can’t be stated enough how great the season has been and perhaps the best way to take advantage of the amazing weather is to use it to spear head your lawn’s growth next spring! If you have any specific questions about your lawns health or what you should do to prepare give us a call or stop by!