Keeping your lawn healthy requires a substantial amount of time, effort and maintenance, especially in winter. However, there are several steps you can take to keep your lawn in pristine condition during the colder seasons.
Here at Gustharts, we’ve covered everything you need to know to keep your lawn fresh in winter, from how often to cut your grass to winter lawn care!
Table of contents
- How to cut grass
- How often to cut grass
- Winter lawn care
- How to prevent a frosted lawn
- Keep your lawn fresh this winter with Gustharts
How to cut grass
When maintaining your lawn, knowing how to cut your grass properly is essential to keeping your garden looking neat. No one wants their garden to look lopsided or scrappy, so what is the best way to keep it tidy?
Before cutting your grass, you must check your lawn for any debris, such as leaves or branches, to avoid damaging your lawn mower. Then, mow your lawn up and down in straight lines, slightly overlapping each time, to ensure you cover every blade of grass.
Mowing in dry weather is also an important part of maintaining your lawn. Mowing your lawn in dry weather will ensure that the blades of grass will cut better and also mean that the lawn mower won’t get clogged with wet grass.
What height should I cut my grass?
You should never cut your lawn more than one-third of the height of the current grass. Doing this keeps your lawn at a good height and allows your grass to grow. Leaving your garden too short will stunt growth, making your lawn look fragmented and patchy.
In Spring and Autumn, you should ensure your grass is not cut shorter than 4cm (1.5 inches). In Summer, you should cut grass no shorter than 2.5cm (1 inch). Cutting your lawn too short can leave bare patches, which makes your exterior look messy. Moreover, grass can become more susceptible to drought and weed damage if cut too short, requiring more frequent maintenance.
How to cut tall grass
To manage areas of tall grass, use a strimmer to cut down the grass to a manageable height before you start mowing your lawn. Doing this enables your lawn mower to efficiently cut your lawn, as tall grass may damage the lawn mower.
Cutting your grass slightly longer in sloped or shaded areas can help maintain an equal lawn height across your garden. Garden Seeker recommends cutting your garden 50% in sloped or shaded areas.
Once you have mowed your lawn, collect or rake up grass clippings to prevent fungal problems. In dry weather, you can reuse garden clippings to benefit your garden, as they can be spread around your lawn to help retain moisture, reduce soil compaction and add nutrients to surrounding plants.
Finish up your lawn around the edges, using shears to create a neat trim which doesn’t overlap your garden’s boundaries.
How often to cut grass
Frequent lawn care is important in maintaining your garden’s health. Regular mowing helps eliminate unwanted weeds while keeping your lawn in good condition, but how often should you cut your grass?
Cutting grass in Summer
You should cut your lawn weekly during the summer or fortnightly in periods of drought. Lawns rich with flowers should only be cut every four to six weeks to give the flowers time to grow. Long grassed lawns are best being cut once or twice as they are more prone to drought.
Cutting grass in Spring/Autumn
Mow your grass weekly or fortnightly, depending on the growth of your lawn. Avoid mowing your grass too short, as this can allow weeds and moss to run rampant. Leave any flower-rich lawns uncut in Spring.
Cutting grass in Winter
You will never usually have to mow your lawn in winter unless the weather is mild and the grass is still growing. Avoid mowing your lawn when the ground is soft, wet or frozen or if there are cold, dry winds. If you mow your lawn in winter, you will compress the soil whilst walking across it. Doing this should be avoided as this will stop critical elements circulating around the grass.
No Mow May
Flowers are a pleasant touch to any garden and encourage local wildlife. With this in mind, don’t mow your lawn in May if you want flowers in your garden. This is known as No Mow May.
No Mow May allows plants and flowers to grow and blossom, as well as helping to boost the local wildlife. If you hope to add flowers to your garden, either re-start mowing your lawn in June or hold off until August.
Winter lawn care
Frost forms when the ground temperature drops below freezing, harming your garden. Heavy frost can kill flower beds and bring on dormancy in plants. So, how can you take care of your lawn in winter?
Rest the lawn
If frost has formed on your lawn, resting it is one of the best things you can do. Keep foot traffic to a minimum by using your driveway or the sidewalk to get around your lawn. Frozen grass will split if walked across, ultimately stunting your lawn’s growth and leaving footprints.
Additionally, ensure you don’t drive on the grass and keep pets off the lawn for the same reason. Frozen blades of grass will split and prevent the grass from getting the sufficient hydration it needs, leading to your lawn turning an unaesthetic yellowish-brown colour.
Don’t mow the lawn
Lawns that freeze over during the winter will stop growing, so mowing your lawn is unnecessary. If you mow a frozen lawn, you could cause unnecessary damage to your garden. The grass may not grow back for a long period as the blades of grass will struggle to get the sufficient nutrients they need.
Mowing your lawn in winter is only suitable if temperatures have not dropped below freezing and your garden is still growing.
Look out for debris and puddles
Sweep up any leaves or debris that you find on your lawn. Leaves and debris prevent moisture from reaching the grass and encourage disease and worms.
Moreover, keep an eye out for any puddles forming on your lawn. Puddles suggest that the soil has become compacted, meaning your lawn is not getting the hydration it needs to grow. To solve this issue, use a garden fork to relieve the soil compaction, improving drainage and allowing air to enter the root system.
How to prevent a frosted lawn
Knowing how to prevent a frosted lawn is just as important as knowing how to take care of your lawn during winter. Keeping your lawn hydrated can reduce the impact of frost damage, whilst watering your lawn before a frost will enable your lawn to retain heat, making it less likely for the root system.
Covering your lawn with peat and moss can act as a layer of insulation and will protect your lawn from frost damage. A light bed sheet will also work effectively as a layer of protection and insulation for your lawn. However, you should avoid plastic tarps if you want to protect your lawn during winter. Plastic tarps can cause damage to new grass as they can freeze and stiffen.
Keep your lawn fresh this winter with Gustharts
Following this guide’s tips will help you keep your lawn in good condition and prevent frost from damaging your garden. To help you get started, why don’t you browse our range of shears and lawnmowers?
