When winter arrives, the vibrant green lawn you worked hard to curate in summer can seem like a thing of the past.
Many gardeners will constantly rake leaves from the grass; some may have noticed dewy or frosted tips on their lawns in the mornings.
According to Weather and Radar, the first frost in the UK usually occurs within the first 10 days of November for many inland areas but can be up to a month earlier in some parts of Scotland. Generally, the further north you are, the earlier the frost.
Dew on the grass is a surefire sign that your lawn is at risk of turning weak and brittle, as explained by Fiona Jenkins, a gardening expert at MyJobQuote.
She told Express.co.uk: “Dew falls when there is too much moisture in the air to be held as water vapour and forms droplets of condensation on objects or plants on the ground. In cold weather, this water freezes and forms what we know as frost.”
Fiona continued: “Even when the air temperature is above freezing, a ground frost can form because the ground is colder. In particular, grass can be affected by frost even when other surfaces on the ground are not. This is due to the inability of grass to retain heat.”
However, Fiona warned: “If the frozen grass is walked on, the blades will break and can die off, leaving brown footprints on your lawn that can take a long time to disappear. This is why you should always use the path in your garden, not the grass when it’s frosty, and also keep pets off the lawn when possible.”
She added: “Dry, cold air and winter winds can add to the problem of brittle grass by causing the blades to lose even more moisture and essential nutrients.”
Strengthening grass before the depths of winter set in is easy. All you need is a lawn mower and and aerator.
Preparing your lawn for winter weather will give your grass the best chance of surviving the cold months and give it a head start in spring.
Fiona said: “Before winter sets in, there are things you can do to protect your grass. Raise the height of the mower blades in autumn to cut the grass to no lower than two to three inches.
“This will allow it to absorb enough nutrients and moisture to survive the cold weather.”
As for aerating, use an aerator tool to treat areas with compact soil that are prone to waterlogging. The gardening expert suggested: “Feed high-quality potassium and phosphate to promote root growth in winter. Overseed bare patches of ground with new grass seed.”
For those in colder regions that often experience snowfall, Fiona highlighted the importance of removing snow from the lawn surface as soon as possible.
“When you shovel snow, don’t pile it on top of your grass or other plant life as the weight will crush them and snow mould can occur”, she said.
Snow mould is a fungal disease that causes patches of grass to die off, but it’s easy to prevent with timely shovelling and the addition of garden fleece.
While you can’t exactly cover your entire lawn with gardening fleece to protect it from frost, Fiona said, “You can protect your grass from moisture-stripping winter winds by adding windbreaks such as hedges or low walls.”
