As homeowners, we spend the entire summer building habits to maintain a lawn that we love. Lawns are a lot of work, and they have a lot of needs. In order to have the best lawn in the street requires work and time and routine. It must be mowed regularly.
It must be properly watered and fertilized. The weeds need to be treated to keep them from spreading throughout the lawn. The edges will need to be trimmed.
It may need to be treated for a fungus or insect problem. It just takes a lot of work to maintain a healthy lawn and save water during the growing season.
Just when it feels like the habits and routine is established, everything comes to a grinding halt with the onset of winter. No amount of caretaking will keep your dormant lawn green in the winter.
Of course, there are some things that still need to be maintained in the winter, for example, your lawn still needs water. It can not survive, 3-5 months without regular water.
Although it does not need nearly as much as it did in the summer, it still requires a bit of rainfall. But there are some practices that, if it is continued to be performed in the winter, will actually do more harm than good!
Here are the most common mistakes that will actually do more harm to your lawn in the winter time:
Not watering or overwatering
We completely understand. It just feels weird to run your sprinklers in January, especially when there is no amount of watering that will turn your dormant lawn green.
But your lawn still needs water in the winter!
If you don’t water at all, your lawn can dry out just like it will during the summer. Living things need water to live. Although overwatering can be just as problematic.
Plants in dormancy are strategically using water in order to prevent water from freezing within their membranes and causing tissue damage. We recommend maintaining ½ an inch every 2 weeks to avoid lawn damage this winter.
Whether that be from your sprinklers or from rainfall.
Mowing in winter
If you can avoid it, you should not mow your lawn in the winter. In the winter, your lawn is in its most vulnerable state.
Mowing is essentially chopping its tissue in half and injuring the plant causing it to grow healthier. Wounding grass in this way while it is at its most vulnerable state can shock the turfgrass and leave it unable to repair itself.
Especially because while the grass is dormant, it is not directing energy to regrowth.
If for any reason you absolutely have to mow, we recommend doing just a trim. Raise your mower blades to the highest possible setting. Make sure to take off just the tips of the grass instead of a major cut.
Be careful not to scalp your lawn for spring too early! For some warm-season turfgrasses, it is encouraged to scalp the lawn in preparation for spring. The close cut causes rapid growth resulting in a healthy, spring-ready, fresh growth.
Overseeding
If you like to have a green lawn during the winter, you may have chosen to overseed with winter grasses like winter rye. Although these lawns do result in a green lawn during winter, it is essential to remember it is only because they are not dormant!
If you neglect this grass during the winter, it will die. This will not only affect your lawn for the winter season but it will also leave behind dead patches in the summer when your Texas grasses turn green.
Local Lawn Care Experts
It’s hard to maintain a healthy and beautiful lawn. There is so much to know and you never stop learning.
Luckily, with Gecko Green, you do not have to figure it out all on your own. You have the advice and counsel of professionals to help guide your decision-making and cultivation of the right habits.
They are always there to help make the best recommendations from local experts who have your lawn’s best interests at heart.
No one knows our lawn better than you, but no one knows North Texas Lawn Care better than Gecko Green. Call us today for a free quote from a professional who cares!
