You can protect your lawn from winter damage by preparing your lawn properly in the fall through aeration, fertilization, and fall cleanup. In the winter, keep off the grass and be careful when melting ice.
- Keep your yard clean of leaves and debris
- Aerate your lawn in the fall
- Fertilize before the first freeze
- Adjust your mowing height for the final cut
- Stake your driveway and walkways
- Make sure your lawn is well-draining
- Water your lawn in the winter
- Be careful while melting ice
- Keep off the grass
- Practice good lawn maintenance year-round
- FAQs about protecting your lawn from winter damage
Keep your yard clean of leaves and debris
Protecting your lawn from winter damage actually starts in the fall through lawn winterization. One of the most important preventative measures you can take is to keep your lawn as clean as it can be before the freezing temperatures come.
Both cool-season grasses and warm-season grasses will be susceptible to winter lawn damage if you don’t have a clean lawn. Piles of leaves and other debris can wreak havoc on your turf by:
- Suffocating your grass, as debris on the lawn can block out sun and air from getting to your turf.
- Prevent new growth by choking your young grass, especially if the leaves mat together.
- Foster fungal diseases such as snow mold (including the more destructive pink snow mold). This is because fallen leaves can trap moisture, which fungi love.
- Invite pests like voles that will eat their way through your grass and cause winter damage.
Performing fall cleanup is something you should have already been doing if you’ve been keeping up with your fall lawn care.
You don’t even have to bag your leaves. Among the ways you can repurpose fall leaves is by mulching them and leaving them on your lawn, which can benefit your lawn in many ways. Sam Bauer, a turfgrass instructor at the University of Minnesota, mentions the following benefits of mulching your leaves on your lawn:
- Mulched leaves return nutrients and organic matter to your lawn.
- Maple leaves can prevent weed seeds from germinating.
- Some tree leaves (mainly those of legumes) can add more nitrogen to your lawn.
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Aerate your lawn in the fall
Your lawn’s soil can get compacted throughout the year. While that’s bad any time of the year, it’s especially harmful in the winter. You should aerate your lawn in the fall as your grass needs time to recover from this invasive lawn care procedure.
Here’s how aeration prevents winter lawn damage:
- Allows air, water, and nutrients to reach your turf’s roots, which gives grass the building blocks it needs to grow strong.
- Lets roots grow unrestricted. Roots have trouble pushing through compacted soil. A stronger grass root system makes for a stronger lawn.
- Helps reduce thatch that can house pests and lawn diseases. If you have severe thatch issues, you should dethatch your lawn in addition to aerating it.
- Lowers the risk of snow mold through better air circulation. Snow mold is an issue on cool-season lawns in states that get snow.
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Fertilize before the first freeze
Applying fertilizer to your lawn before the first freeze of fall (or winter) sounds kind of counterproductive – after all, the grass won’t be growing – but it actually helps prevent winter lawn damage. However, not just any fertilizer will do. Your grass will benefit most from a winter fertilizer.
Winter fertilizer is specially formulated to aid in lawn winterization. It supports healthy root development, which leads to stronger turf. Winter fertilizer also replaces nutrients lost in the summer.
However, it’s important to apply the right type of fertilizer at the right time:
- Warm-season grasses benefit more from potassium-rich fertilizers. Stop applying nitrogen fertilizers 6 to 8 weeks before the first frost or else you run the risk of brown patch and winter kill.
- Cool-season grasses prefer nitrogen-based fertilizers. Excess potassium can foster snow mold and other lawn diseases. Apply winter fertilizer after the last mow of the season.
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Adjust your mowing height for the final cut
Your turf’s height going into winter can do wonders for its ability to survive winter lawn damage:
- Cool-season grasses should be mowed low to prevent snow mold (which becomes more common in long, matted grass). Short grass is also less attractive to voles and other rodents, which will eat their way through your lawn.
- Warm-season grasses prefer the same or higher height as it can help prevent winter damage.
How short should you cut your grass to prevent winter damage? It all depends on your grass type. You can read more about this in our article, “How Short to Cut Grass Before Winter”.
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Stake your driveway and walkways
If you live in an area that regularly sees blankets of snow in the winter, you might be familiar with the pain of not knowing where the boundary between your pavement and the grass lies. Well, you don’t have to live like that this winter (and future winters). You can stake your lawn with snow stakes to mark the edge of your turf.
Snow stakes help prevent winter lawn damage by clearly marking where it is safe for people and machines to pass through while shoveling or plowing snow. Going in blind runs the risk of damaging grass and sprinkler heads.
Marking the boundaries of your lawn with snow stakes also lets you know where it’s safe to put down salt or ice melt so you don’t damage your lawn.
Make sure your lawn is well-draining
Before snow falls, you’ll want to make sure your lawn is well-draining. You really don’t want water or melted snow to pool up somewhere and freeze when the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. That is a surefire way for your lawn to be hit by crown hydration, which is a pretty destructive cause of winterkill.
You can prevent drainage issues by:
- Dethatching your lawn to remove excess thatch
- Aerating your lawn to get rid of compacted soil
- Leveling your lawn to get rid of little dips where water can pool
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Water your lawn in the winter
Grass still needs water even in the winter. Homeowners in snowy climates don’t have to worry as much as snow can keep moisture in their lawns and eventually water the grass when it melts.
However, those who live in areas with drier, milder winters might need to water their lawns. Nicole Stoner, an extension educator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says that newly planted lawns will likely need supplemental irrigation during the winter.
How much should you water your lawn in the winter? Stoner says winter watering is only really needed once or twice a month. Only water when it’s 40 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. It’s recommended to check your soil’s moisture before watering your lawn, too.
What if you live in a warmer part of the U.S. that doesn’t get snow in the winter? Warm-season lawns will need about half an inch of water every week in the winter. You can irrigate with sprinklers if you live in a warm climate; water by hand if you live in a colder climate and have to winterize your sprinklers. To learn more about warm-season winter care, check out our article, “Winter Lawn Care For Warm Climates”.
Pro tip: Water by hand if you have already winterized your sprinkler system. This is only a problem if you live in a colder climate; homeowners in warmer climates can irrigate with sprinklers.
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Be careful while melting ice
Melting ice is another winter chore for homeowners up north. While necessary, you should be careful when removing ice near your lawn.
Salt is a commonly used ice melt that can wreck your lawn by making the soil salty. Plants like grass typically can’t survive in salty soil; even plants that can tolerate salt will die if there’s too much of it in the ground.
You can protect your lawn from winter damage by using these ice melt alternatives:
- Sand
- Coffee grounds
- Beet juice
- Wood ash
- Rubbing alcohol (we have a DIY ice melt recipe involving it and dish soap)
Keep off the grass
During freezing temperatures, grass blades can freeze. Stepping on frozen grass will injure it – and in the worst-case scenario, kill it. Walking on your lawn’s frozen soil can damage your turf’s roots and young grass.
So, don’t walk on your lawn if you don’t have to. Don’t be tempted to take a shortcut through your lawn and use your walkways instead. Otherwise, you’ll end up with brown grass where you frequently walked come springtime.
You should also avoid shoveling or plowing snow off of your lawn. Not only does it remove the protective layer of snow, but the act of shoveling itself also injures your brittle turf when the shovel or plow makes contact with the grass.
Practice good lawn maintenance year-round
Lastly, maintaining a healthy lawn will result in strong grass that can withstand the winter much better. That means you should be taking care of your turf the other nine months of the year to protect your lawn from winter damage.
Good lawn care practices include:
Growing healthy and resilient grass is especially important because some winter damage can’t be prevented.
Read more:
- “Beginner’s Guide to Lawn Care”
- “Your Comprehensive Guide to Lawn Care”
- “Tips for Spring Lawn Care”
- “Summer Lawn Care Tips”
- “Fall Lawn Care Tips”
FAQs about protecting your lawn from winter damage
What causes winter lawn damage?
Winter lawn damage can be caused by:
- Ice
- Winter desiccation
- Pests (mainly voles and other rodents)
- Fungal diseases (mainly snow mold)
- Crown hydration
It’s important to know these causes so you know how to protect your lawn from winter damage.
What are the signs of winter damage?
The common signs of winter lawn damage include:
- Discolored grass
- Wilting or drooping grass blades
- Bent grass blades
You will see these signs in the spring after the snow has melted.
How do I fix winter lawn damage?
Fixing winter damage on your lawn starts in the spring. While grass can recover from winter damage through good lawn care, some turf is just too far gone and will need to be replaced by overseeding your lawn or laying down sod.
Hire a pro for a healthy lawn
Protecting your lawn from winter damage starts with a healthy and strong lawn. That means keeping up with the mowing, fertilization, and weeding throughout the year. If you’re a busy bee who doesn’t have the time for lawn care, hiring a Lawn Love pro is the way to go. We have pros in your area who can keep your lawn in top shape so that you don’t have to.
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Main Photo Credit: Claudio Divizia | Adobe Stock Free | License
