Wintertime can be a nightmare for your lawn but a lot of it depends on how severe the winter is in your area. The lack of light, the frost and cold weather can have a severely detrimental effect on your lawn over winter but if you live in a cold area that is just part of life.
In this article, I am going to tell you how to revive your grass after winter with some simple steps that I follow every year.
I do love my lawn so when it gets to springtime and it’s time to get my lawn back in shape for the summer it’s definitely a time I look forward to every year. Most of the advice I am going to tell you is mostly common sense but if you want to revive your grass this is the routine I follow so I know that it actually works.
Your lawn will revive itself naturally a bit when the sunshine starts to come out and the temperature rises but if you are looking to achieve lawn perfection I would definitely recommend you follow my advice.
Whether you choose to carry out all of the steps I do or just choose some of them your lawn will improve but generally the more work you put in the better the results will be.
To revive your grass after winter does take some work but it is definitely worth the effort. The process I use is to remove debris, mow the grass, rake the thatch, fertilize, aerate, add topsoil and overseed. This works well and I have used this process for years.
Remove Debris From Your Lawn
The first thing you should do when the winter comes to an end is to remove any debris that has ended up on your lawn. Depending on where you live and how severe your winter weather is there might not be much or there might be loads of debris on your lawn after winter.
I think it is important to clear any debris off your lawn as I like to think of my lawn like a piece of art so it’s important to have a clean canvas to start my work on.
Removing the debris is a simple task but a vital one, I remove any leaves, sticks, and twigs or any litter that has ended up on my lawn.
This is really not difficult or technical to do so maybe you could send the kids out to do it for you. I normally do this task as soon as the snow has melted as I really don’t like to see any what I consider mess on my lawn.
Check out my article on the last mow before winter to keep it healthy.
Mow Your Lawn To Revive It
The most important thing you can do to start reviving your lawn after winter is to give it a mow.
When you mow your lawn it will stimulate it to start recovering and hence it will start to grow fresh shoots.
The improvement I see in my lawn after I mow it for the first time in spring is quite remarkable and I always think that first mow signals to my lawn that it is time for it to come out of hibernation.
During the hot summer months, the ideal length to keep your grass is 3 inches long as this will help protect the soil from the heat which means it won’t dry out nearly as much compared to having really short grass.
However, for the first cut of the year i always cut my lawn as short as possible as a have found this is the best way to stimulate my lawn into growth and it shouldn’t be hot enough yet for it to dry out too quickly which is the reason for keeping grass longer during the hottest months.
Rake The Thatch
All lawns have a layer of thatch between the grass and the root zone and it is healthy for your lawn to have this area.
You only want your lawn to have a small layer of thatch and this is why I recommend you put some effort into deeply raking your lawn to try and remove any excessive thatch from your lawn.
When you deeply rake your lawn while removing thatch you will more than likely damage the grass that is growing on your lawn but do not worry, this is a good thing, when your grass starts its recovery process this will stimulate fresh growth and that is what you are looking for as you revive your grass after winter.
There are all sorts of mechanical dethatching machines out there and you could use one of these but I always find for the purpose of reviving my lawn just putting some effort into deeply raking with a standard garden rake will do just fine.
Fertilize Your Lawn
Fertilizing your lawn I don’t think it is ever a bad idea as it will add all sorts of nutrients back into your lawn that it requires to thrive.
Which type of fertilizer you use really depends on where you live and what variety of grass you have on your lawn so in this instance I would recommend you ask a local expert what is the best fertilizer to use on your lawn at springtime.
What I will tell you is that you should definitely use fertilizer on your lawn every springtime as it will be extremely beneficial and should result in your lawn looking healthier all summer.
I would recommend you regularly fertilize your lawn throughout the year but fertilizing your lawn at springtime is the most important period as it will help revive your grass after a long cold winter.
I normally stay away from any weed and feed fertilizer combined products and only use a pure fertilizer, that’s just my preference as I like to add seed at this time of year and weed removal products at the same time as germinating seeds is kind of counterintuitive.
Aerate Your Lawn To Help Revive It
You definitely want to be aerating your lawn as part of your springtime lawn maintenance routine.
Regularly aerating your lawn is one of the most simple yet effective things you can do to improve the health of your lawn and lots of people never carry out this process.
This process is even more important if your lawn has been under a thick layer of snow all winter.
Aerating your lawn will ease the compaction that happens naturally over time and it also opens up holes in your lawn that allow nutrients and air down to the root system and it will also be very beneficial to the drainage of your lawn.
You might want to invest in a pair of aerating shoes as a simple way to carry out this process and all you have to do is wear them when you mow your lawn and you can aerate it at the same time.
Add Fresh Topsoil
Adding fresh topsoil to your lawn is an excellent way to revive your grass after winter.
Lots of people never add fresh topsoil to their lawn which surprises me as it is an awesome way to improve the health of your lawn for the long term, not just the short term.
When you add topsoil or compost to your lawn it is a natural way to add all sorts of nutrients and organic matter back into your lawn.
It is not an immediate effect like when you spray it with liquid fertilizer as it may take several weeks for the nutrients to be absorbed down to the root system where it will do its good stuff.
When the effects of adding topsoil do start to happen it will improve the health of your lawn for many months possibly the whole summer. I don’t add fresh topsoil to my lawn every year but I do it every second year and my lawn is lush green like you wouldn’t believe.
Overseeding will revive your grass after winter
Springtime is the best time to overseed your lawn as the fresh seeds will have the whole summer to bed in and grow before the winter hits again.
If your grass has been under snow for any period of time during the winter there is a good chance there is going to be bare patches because of the lack of light.
Overseeding your lawn during the springtime will not only give you a chance to repair any bare patches but when you overseed your lawn with fresh grass seed it will improve the health of your lawn in general.
When you add fresh grass seed to an already healthy lawn it is a good way to keep it healthy and stop it becoming infected with weed growth as weeds need room to grow so if your lawn has abundant healthy grass it will be more difficult for weeds to take hold and start growing.
That is the process I use to revive my grass after winter so you can be sure this process works as I have one of the most beautiful lush lawns you will ever see.
Even if you don’t copy my exact process and just use some of my ideas you will see an improvement in your lawn.
If you want a beautiful green lawn, you really do have to do some work on it during springtime to get it ready for the summer months.
