How & When to Winterize Your Lawn in Austin, Texas?

As much as winter offers a bit of a break from most lawn care activities, it’s still not a time to relent in your lawn’s care and maintenance. Winter lawn care is important to your lawn health and must be taken seriously as it sets the tone for the new lawn cycle. Lawn care in Austin requires several steps aimed at preparing and keeping your grass ready.

In this post, we discussed ideal lawn care steps in winter in Austin, TX. Read more to learn how and when to winterize your Austin lawn even while hiring lawn care services.

Winterizing Your Lawn

To winterize your lawn refers to all lawn care practices taken to prepare the grass for the cold of winter. It’s important to carry out these activities as they will fortify your lawn against low-temperature freezing. Most lawn species will hibernate during winter as a means of protecting themselves against the harsh elements. Knowing the species of grass on your lawn is crucial for maintaining and protecting its health during this time of the year in Austin.

To start preparing for winter, start as early as late October to have enough time. At this time of the lawn care cycle, the lawn can still be mowed, watered, and cared for with relative ease. Pre-winter nutrient feeding and watering are a must before the freeze sets in. For lawn mowing in Austin, keep mowing the grass until late November or until it’s no longer physically possible to do so.

Steps to Winterize the Lawn

Cutting Grass in Winter

Winter lawn mowing is necessary to keep the grass in good condition for the cold weeks ahead. However, it’s key to mow high rather than low to leave enough cover for the lawn roots against the cold. Keep the lawn height above 2.5 inches for all grass types and mow infrequently. Winter season is the ideal time to feed your lawn in preparation for spring season. Continue mowing the lawn until it goes dormant or the weather condition prevails against it. GOMOW Lawn Care Service provides a professional lawn mowing service designed for this purpose.

Water the Lawn

Even with how damp the weather can get in winter, it’s important to still water the lawn yard. Winter season means less watering because there’s often little sunlight and the grass in the yard will often go into dormancy. Get your lawn service in Austin to water only in the morning, once a week if the soil conditions aren’t frozen.

By watering early, there’s enough time for absorption to happen, as against having the water sit on the soil’s top levels. While dormant, the lawn soil still needs water now and then for its metabolic activities.

Feeding the Lawn

Lawn grass requires nutrient enrichment in winter even while being dormant. Feed nitrogen and phosphorus-rich fertilizer to the grass just before the onset of freezing conditions. By doing this, your lawn will have enough nutrition to keep up with its metabolism during winter dormancy.

If in doubt about the type of fertilizer to apply, seek the professional counsel of a lawn mowing service in Austin. Fertilization is ideally more effective in the early spring season and late autumn.

Tackle Weeds Early

Eradicating weeds early before winter is important to avoid their proliferation while your grass is dormant. Weed removal is a crucial part of lawn care in Austin. Several methods are effective for dealing with weeds but it’s important to know the type of weed and how widespread it is before getting started. Pay attention to your lawn in short periods and detecting weeds early becomes fairly easy. Removal of weeds can be done by hand-pulling, topical powder and spray applications, lawn growing methods, chemical treatment, etc. Whichever method is decided on should be safe and preserve the lawn yard rather than cause more harm.

Keep Your Lawn Yard Clean

An essential part of winter lawn care is cleaning the yard. Leaves, branches, and dirt can easily pile up on the lawn yard during the winter season. Using a rake, sweep up debris consisting of leaves, dirt, and other items off the lawn to keep it clean. The reason for cleaning the lawn is simple, dirt and debris can attract germs that cause diseases. When the lawn is often cleaned, there is less risk of disease outbreaks and infestation. To keep up with an efficient cleaning schedule in winter, lawn owners can also hire a lawn care service in Austin.

Remove Heavy Equipment & Items from the Lawn

Leaving heavy items on the lawn can affect the grass during winter. The weight of such items or equipment, e.g. cars, or machinery can easily press down and suffocate the grass beneath it. Foot and vehicular traffic can also have this effect on the lawn. Therefore, as part of lawn care in winter in Austin, TX, reduce playtime and foot traffic in your yard at this time of the year.

Winterizing the lawn is most effective in late autumn just before the beginning of the winter season. All efforts towards caring for the lawn in winter are more potent when done on time. Hiring a lawn care service in Austin can improve your turf’s chances of coasting through winter without many adverse effects.

For all lawn mowing concerns, GOMOW Lawn Care Service provides a committed grass-cutting/care service for Austin lawn owners.

Frequently Asked Questions