Creating A Lush and Welcoming Landscape

It's just about time for the last bout of landscaping maintenance before the winter arrives. The following tips can help ensure you have a green lawn after the spring thaw.

1. Clear Fall Debris

Those fallen leaves may add a satisfying crunch underfoot, but they will destroy your lawn over the winter. The leaves create a heavy mat that chokes out the lawn grass over the winter months. The leaves can also make issues like mold, fungus, and disease more likely on your lawn, with the result being large dead spots in the grass come spring. Rake up your leaves and either dispose of them or compost them. Leaves also make good mulch around dormant perennial plants.

2. Aerate Before the Freeze

A long summer of mowing, walking on, and playing in the yard can lead to compacted soil. Then, the heavy snow and moisture of winter just lead to more compaction. Before the ground freezes, schedule lawn aeration. The aeration will open up the soil so moisture and nutrients can seep in. Further, winter snowmelt will drain more readily on a freshly aerated lawn. Core aeration is the best option, as removing cores opens up the soil without any further compaction, unlike spike aeration.

3. Perform the Final Mow

Don't leave your lawn overgrown at the onset of winter. Perform one last mow, cutting the lawn about 1/2 inch shorter than its normal summer length. You don't want to scalp the lawn, as this reduces the grass plants' chances of survival, but you do want it a bit shorter so it doesn't become matted or fungus prone. Then, when the lawn begins growing again in spring your first mow will remove the dead tops and leave behind a green and lush lawn.

4. Overseed Bare Patches

Late fall, right before the winter snows arrive, is the prime time for overseeding any bare spots on the lawn. The snows cover the fresh seed so that birds don't quickly gobble it up. The seeds remain dormant until the spring thaw when the moist soil will lead to the rapid growth of the new grass.

5. Mark Your Plow Lines

Another landscaping task to handle before the snow arrives is making sure your lawn is ready for snow removal. Purchase some snow poles or large stakes and place them along pathways or in the corner of the lawn. This way you won't accidentally tear up strips of the lawn when you are shoveling and plowing out your sidewalk and driveway.

Contact a landscaping service for more help with pre-winter lawn care.