6 Tips to Winterize Your Lawn

“If you don’t like the weather, wait 20 minutes.” This is one of the first things you’ll be told when moving to Tennessee. It can get cold fast! Are your lawn and outdoor spaces ready? We’ve got 6 tips to get you prepared for the Tennessee winter ahead. The first 2 are combined in Pure Green’s last treatment of the year, which we are doing in November.

1. Fertilize your lawn.

If you haven’t done a late fall fertilization, do it. Give your lawn what it needs to survive winter! It will stock up nutrients before it goes dormant for the winter. Also, fertilizing now will help grass wake up once it starts getting warm in the spring.

2. Treat lawn for weeds.

If your lawn was aerated and over-seeded, you will most likely have to spray a post-emergent for weed control. Aerating stirred up the soil and brought weed seeds to the surface allowing them to germinate and grow! Be sure to treat before they take over your lawn.

3. Rake your lawn.

It’s important to keep debris and leaves raked in the fall an winter. Left on turf, these will suffocate grass. There are lawn mower attachments that will mulch the debris into very small pieces giving turf nutrients as they break down.

4. Winterize irrigation system.

Just as there are different types of irrigation systems, there are just as many ways to get the water out! It’s important to winterize your irrigation systems because water left in them can crack and damage the various components of the system, which is not cheap to install or repair. You can winterize using the manual drain method, the automatic drain method or the popular blowout method. If you don’t know which is appropriate for your system, go with the blowout method. Need a vendor, check out a few we recommend here.

5. Unhook water hoses and bring them inside.

Hoses do not do well in snow, ice, and generally cold weather. Unless you want to purchase a new water hose every year, it’s best to take care of the one you have. The faucet will not be able to drain properly risking damage to your faucet and hose if left connected. Coil it up nice and neat and bring it in the garage for winter.

6. Cover outdoor faucets.

Even if you have freeze proof faucets, cover them. They are generally freeze proof because of the way they are installed. They are graded down so any remaining water will drain once it’s turned off. The cover protects the faucet from snow and ice and also ensures that you actually disconnect the hose. Left connected, water cannot drain from the faucet and will cause it to break when the water freezes completely negating your freeze proof faucet.

Take heart! If you have been practicing great lawn maintenance throughout the year, your grass is already in great shape to survive winter. Take some time and follow our easy tips to ensure your lawn and the rest of your outdoor space will make it to spring!