How to Winterize a Lawn

Give your lawn what it needs to safely survive the winter and renew itself in spring. Take steps beginning in late summer to winterize your lawn and prevent problems next season.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bow Rakes
• Garden Hoses
• Garden Rakes
• Lawn Fertilizers
• Lawn Sprinklers
• Spreaders

1. Raise your mower's cutting height one notch for the last month of summer mowing. Mow in a different direction - if you usually mow east to west, change to north-south.

2. Fertilize lawns in late summer. Stop using nitrogen on southern lawns - warm-season grasses go dormant in winter, so feed only with phosphorus and potassium.

3. Give cool-season grass what it needs to grow - fertilize with a slow-release, balanced lawn formula. Apply compost with a spreader to add organic matter.

4. Control insects and fungus diseases to deny them overwintering privileges in your lawn. Cut down any weedy patches adjacent to the lawn for the same reason.

5. Use a stiff-tined garden rake on the lawn to pull out dead grass and let in winter's renewing rains. Overseed warm-season lawns with perennial ryegrass - mow monthly at least and add the clippings to your compost heap all winter.

6. Reduce watering on warm-season lawns as they go brown and increase watering on cool-season grasses as they begin to grow again. Always water lawns before and after fertilizing in a dry season.

Tips & Warnings

• Rake leaves off the lawn promptly - but in any case before they reach ankle depth and begin to smother your grass.
• Test your soil and add lime or sulfur to alter its pH in fall if recommended.