Getting your lawn ready for the winter will help it to a better start in the spring. The sooner your lawn can get going in the spring, the sooner you can enjoy a nice healthy green lawn. Taking just a few steps will help prepare your lawn for the winter.
- Get a soil test. This will check the pH of the soil and its nutrient needs. A neutral soil pH will help keep a healthy lawn, otherwise it may start to thin out. Applications of lime can correct the acidic soils found in Connecticut. Having the correct amount of nutrients will ensure that your lawn is not burnt by over-application. Applying a winterizing lawn fertilizer will help increase potassium levels, giving your lawn strength under stress. Soil test instructions and forms can be downloaded here... http://soiltest.uconn.edu/sampling.php
- Remove weeds. Weeds compete for nutrients and encourage disease, therefore they should be removed. If you would like to kill weeds, but not your lawn, be sure to use Weed-B-Gon. It is also recommended that you thatch your yard in the fall prior to overseeding to remove any dead weeds and debris.
- Remove leaves. Removing leaves allows sunlight to reach your lawn, increasing cold hardiness, because the lawn is able to continue to feed itself.
- Raise your mowing height. A higher mowing height will allow your lawn more area to absorb the sun. This will also help reduce the germination of weeds.
- Aerate your lawn. This allows for better air, water, and nutrient flow through your lawn. This increased air flow keeps the soil from becoming too cold compared to compacted soil.
- Seed your lawn. Fall is the best time of year to seed your lawn. Adding an application of grass seed to your entire lawn will help encourage a thicker lawn. For step by step instructions on how to seed your lawn, click here.
- Fertilizing new grass seed in the fall: Fertilizing new grass seed in the fall helps encourage root growth which will significantly help your lawn in the spring. As the new grass reemerges in the spring, it has already developed a strong root system creating denser thicker grass, this will help choke out any new weeds that could potentially grow. An application of a weed preventer in the spring is highly recommended.
