Five Simple Steps to Prepare Your Lawn for Winter

I am not feeling all that well tonight and so I thought that I would just send out some ideas for finishing up your lawn in preparation for winter. I have been following Scott's lawn care fertilizer plan for several years and I think that it is a good one, at least it works for me. This is just the winterizing part of what I try to do in mid fall.

Now that temperatures are beginning to drop and the growing season has faded to memory. But that does not mean your lawn chores are finished...and you should not let your lawn settle into a long winter's slumber without properly tucking it in, either.

Fall is arguably the most important time for lawn care. Here are five steps to take if you dream of a green healthy lawn next spring.

Step One: Mow until your lawn goes dormant.

You will know it has reached this phase when the grass stops growing.

When mowing late in the year, lower the blades to cut your lawn 1 inch shorter than your normal cutting height. This will give you a little cushion before you have to mow next spring.

Step Two: Pick up debris on your lawn.

This includes leaves, sticks and anything else you might find scattered about; give it a good raking. Debris left on the lawn over winter will block sun from reaching the grass and will trap moisture, encourage moss, snails and slugs. This increases the risk of disease or even the die off of your lawn.

Step Three: Reseed bare areas.

Fall is an especially good time to plant grass (overseeding your existing lawn) as conditions are ideal for the seed to take root and since the sun does not cook the seeds they actually have a chance to grow. Also by planting now, you eliminate space for weeds to grow in spring.

Step Four: Aerate your lawn as needed.

This procedure removes small cores or plugs of soil from your lawn. It should be done if soil is compacted or to break through thatch that's deeper than a 1/2 inch. Thatch is the build-up of dead grass, roots and stems that collect on your lawn. The resulting holes allow roots to breathe, improves drainage and helps your lawn absorb more nutrients. I have also raked in a thin layer of sand at this time; this of course depends on what type of soil you have as the sand helps break up clay type soils.

Step Five: Apply a final feeding.

Fall fertilization will give the lawn better fall and winter color, earlier spring green-up and strong root development. Apply fertilizer to cool-season grasses (fescue, bluegrass and ryegrass) in late fall, before the grass goes dormant, and to warm-season grasses (Bermuda and zoysia) in early fall.

For cool-climate grasses, look for a slow-release winterizing fertilizer with a high nitrogen content, like a 20-5-15 ratio. Warm-season grasses will thrive if treated with a fertilizer that has more potassium, like a 5-5-25 ratio. Such formulas are designed to help your grass survive the winter and emerge with a healthy resistance to disease. Before applying any fertilizer, however, it is important to conduct a soil test first to see exactly what amendments your soil might need. This is pretty easy to do; simply fill a old quart jar about three quarters full of water and then put about a half of a cup of soil in it; put the lid on and shake it up well.

If you have a university extension service near by they can check it out for you or most good garden shop or nursery should also be able to tell you what type of soil you have. Of course you could probably go on line and check it out as well.

Spread fertilizer evenly, I like using a drop type spreader as it allows for a more even spread of the fertilizer. However you choose to spread your fertilizer following the label instructions, and water it thoroughly afterward to prevent burnt turf.