How to Prepare Your Lawn For Winter
Get your lawn winter-ready with our comprehensive guide. Learn essential tips and techniques to protect and maintain your lawn through the cold season.
As much as we like to not think about it, winter is right around the corner. Fall reminds us that there’s change in the air and now is the time to prepare your home and yard for cold, icy weather. We have the tools, tips, and techniques to help you take care of your lawn this fall so it can take on winter.
You’ll want to prep your lawn by aerating and fertilizing the grass, and reseeding where you see patches in your lawn.
Key Steps to Prepare Your Lawn for Winter
- Fertilization
- Aeration
- Grass Seeding
Importance of Winterizing Your Lawn
Winterizing your lawn means making sure your lawn is protected from the elements. It’s important to have peace of mind about your lawn. You can feel confident your lawn isn’t going to need major reseeding once spring rolls around if you take steps to prepare it for winter. Preparing your lawn for the cold months is vital to your yard’s health and appearance. Let’s take a look at some simple ways you can improve the longevity of your lawn.
Yard Prep Tips
Fertilization
Fertilizing your lawn in fall is great for deeper root growth to withstand harsh winter climates. The best time to fertilize your lawn is in October when temperatures start to cool.
To decide on a fertilizer, buy a soil test to find the exact combination of nutrients your lawn needs. The easiest way to disburse fertilizer evenly across your yard is using a broadcast spreader.
Shop Broadcast Spreaders at Fleet Farm
Find the right tools to maintain your lawn this fall.
Learn More: Fall Fertilization Guide
Aeration
Aerating your lawn is a great way to promote grass growth. Aeration loosens the soil, allowing it to absorb more nutrients to allow water, fertilizer, and air to enter the soil for superior growth.
You may want to aerate your lawn before and after you reseed your yard. Other reasons to aerate your lawn are:
- Thatch: To minimize damage from too much thatch
- Water runoff: Helps soil absorb sufficient water levels
- Lawn dries too quickly: Helps with water retention
Lawn aerators are a useful piece of equipment for your lawn care tool shed. You can hire a landscaping company to aerate your lawn for $100+ or you can purchase an aerator for less than $300* on FleetFarm.com to save down the road.
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Learn More: How to Aerate Your Lawn
Fall Grass Seeding
It’s important to choose the right lawn seed for your yard. Different grasses and environments call for different grass seed blends. If you need to reseed shaded areas in your yard, your grass seed will have a different blend than a sunnier area of your lawn. We recommend brands like Scotts and Superior Sun & Shade Premium Grass Seed to help support root development for healthier lawns.
Key Benefits of Fall Grass Seeding
- Warmer soil and cool air are perfect conditions for grass growth
- Avoids summer dryness and heat for easier growth
- Lower risk of weeds and disease
- Stores nutrients in the fall to last through winter, prepping it for spring
- Builds deep, strong roots for water, resulting in thicker, greener grass in spring
Shop Grass Seed at Fleet Farm
Find the right grass seed for your lawn at low Fleet Farm prices.
Learn More: Grass Seed Guide
Hire or DIY?
If you only need to fertilize a patch of grass or tackle another small project, these tips can help you find success this fall. However, if this is your first time reseeding or fertilizing your lawn, you may want to take it slow at first and do more research to help you learn more.
If these tasks seem challenging to you, or if your lawn needs too much work, it may be best to hire a team of professionals. Stop by your local Fleet Farm and talk with our Lawn & Garden experts to see what you need to do the job right.
Winterizing your lawn is an important part about taking care of your yard. Make sure to plan out your fall lawn care strategy before the cold weather comes. Our experts are happy to help you learn more about our lawn and garden products. Visit your local Fleet Farm or visit us at FleetFarm.com for more information.
