Winter Lawn Care Tips

Lawn Care Tips: Protecting Your Yard in the Winter

For many homeowners and property managers, winter is a season for taking time off from lawn maintenance work, especially if you’re living in the northern or central California region. The California drought has been a challenge for all of us in the lawn care industry so naturally we welcome the rainfall.Now is the time where you have probably moved the lawn mower into a storage shed or garage. Homeowners take advantage of the cozy fireplace and a little extra time to relax. You have no expectations from your turf, as loss of grass cover and loss of density are just a natural result of the freezing northern California temperatures.

But the arrival of winter doesn’t mean that you simply let your lawn or garden go to waste. You want to make sure it will survive the biting cold. You still want the grass to grow and be healthy once the snow or frost lifts off the ground. You want the plants, trees and shrubs in your yard to last the season, and into the next ones as well.

Proactive Winter Yard Care

That can only be possible through proactive care. Protecting your yard in the winter, lawn care experts say, helps you prevent severe and fatal injury to your greenery. Some of the types of damage that winter can bring to your lawn and lawn plants include:

• • Severe damage due to harsh wind and freezing temperatures.

• • Discoloration and desiccation of foliage, bark, branches, roots, buds and flowers.

• • Damage brought about by the strong presence of salt in the soil during winter (Salt is used to remove ice from ground surfaces).

• Damage from pests that were mostly driven away from their habitat due to food shortages.

While there is no single winter protection formula to suit all types of plants (different plants require different levels and methods of winter protection), there are universal techniques you can undertake in the quest to shield your yard and lawn elements from winter damage.

Identify how hardy your plants are when it comes to cold weather. You may move the portable plants to an area where they are sufficiently protected from drastic temperature changes, such as in a protected courtyard, under a homemade cover such as burlap, or within a micro-climate. Other tips  are to cover your plants and garden vegetables with sheets when the temperature drops.

Protecting your evergreens from damage due to sun scald, excessive water loss and winter burn starts right even before you begin planting. It’s important to position them in an area where they won’t get excessive exposure to winter elements.

Last, keep pests such as rats, rodents, deer and rabbits away by creating wire fences that surround the greenery and prevent the animals from getting near your shrubs and plants. Ground Squirrels are often quick and sneaky culprits to ruined gardens. If you have pest control or lawn care needs that we can help you with, be sure to call AAI Pest Control, we are happy to provide you with a free estimate for service.