Grow Greener Grass with Winter Lawn Care Tips for Highland, Illinois
For many of us, the fall and winter are a time to put the mower away and allow our lawns to go dormant during the cold months. However, just because it’s cold, that doesn’t mean that your lawn isn’t a living breathing organism. Your grass is still alive during the winter, and you must take the proper steps to ensure it keeps growing strong once Spring hits. While winter lawn care is less laborious than summer lawn care, this isn’t the time to forget about your grass. This is the time to nurture your lawn through the long winter months. Whether you DIY or call a local lawn care professional, make sure you’re doing what you can this winter, to ensure your lawn grows strong in the spring!
Tip #1: Keep Your Lawn Clean
For your first order of winter lawn care business, toys, lawn ornaments, leaves, brush, etc. – they all need to be kept off of your lawn or removed if you haven’t already done so. Leaving things on your lawn can damage large swaths of grass, which leads to brown spots in the Spring. Furthermore, field mice like to live in brush and leaves – their attraction could leave your lawn covered in unsightly vole trails.
Tip #2: Make Lawn Traffic Light
The grumpy neighbor yelling ‘stay off my lawn!’ is simply protecting its future health. While occasional strolls, like your dog’s daily walk, won’t cause much harm, frequent foot traffic can take a toll on your grass during winter. Additionally, make sure driveways and sidewalks are clear to prevent guests from cutting across your yard as a shortcut.
Tip #3: Winterize Your Lawn Mower
After a long season of mowing the yard once, sometimes twice, per week, it’s good for the lawnmower to get a little TLC. Winterization of your lawnmower will help maintain the engine and ensure it’s in top form for the busy summer-mowing season. If need some tips, follow this guideline for winterizing your lawnmower.
Tip #4: Aerate, Seed & Fertilize
These winter lawn care tips should already be done by the wintertime. Aerating, seeding and fertilization are important steps to replenishing dead and malnourished spots on your lawn. Additionally, it helps ensure bare spots come back strong when the grass begins to grow again. However, you must accomplish these tasks before the first winter freeze for maximum effectiveness!
Tip #5: Know a Professional Lawn Care Company
When it comes to winterizing your lawn, it’s good to know a local professional that has the whole process under control. While you may take pride in being able to DIY, a lawn care specialist knows when and how to best seed, fertilize, and otherwise prepare for the long winter ahead.