Fix These 4 Signs of Winter Lawn Damage Now – or Risk Patchy Grass All Season
Sort these issues now, and avoid the woes of a struggling summer lawn
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Twice a week
Homes&Gardens
The ultimate interior design resource from the world's leading experts - discover inspiring decorating ideas, color scheming know-how, garden inspiration and shopping expertise.
Once a week
In The Loop from Next In Design
Members of the Next in Design Circle will receive In the Loop, our weekly email filled with trade news, names to know and spotlight moments. Together we’re building a brighter design future.
Twice a week
Cucina
Whether you’re passionate about hosting exquisite dinners, experimenting with culinary trends, or perfecting your kitchen's design with timeless elegance and innovative functionality, this newsletter is here to inspire
Late winter and early spring are key times for a lawn, and addressing problems early can prevent summer issues. During this important transitional period, a vital step is to improve the oxygen supply to the grass. Treating winter lawn damage helps with strong growth, healthy grass, and means a lush lawn come summer.
Even small, cosmetic winter lawn damage can become more time-consuming later if it is left to develop. Taking simple steps in late winter or early spring to remove moss, clear debris, and reduce compaction means more air gets to the grass roots, which helps them grow deeper, stronger roots that can take in more water and nutrients.
1. Moss
Moss can thrive during the winter months, as it likes cooler, wetter, and shadier conditions. It can take hold of a lawn when the grass growth slows or when the grass is weak. Not only does it affect the look, but it also weakens the soil, allowing the moss to spread.
Peter Chaloner, managing director of Cobra Garden Machinery, says that early spring sets the foundation for how the lawn performs for the rest of the season. And failing to deal with moss prevents the grass from prospering.
‘Moss thrives in cool, damp conditions and can quickly form a dense layer that blocks water, air, and nutrients from reaching the soil,’ he says. ‘If that isn’t addressed early, it becomes much harder to remove and repair once the growing season is in full swing.’
Peter adds: ‘Heavy moss or thatch build-up can prevent moisture from penetrating the soil evenly, leading to stressed or patchy turf during heatwaves.’
To get rid of moss in lawns, late winter and early spring are ideal times to dethatch a lawn. This involves raking out moss and dead thatch from the surface, which boosts air circulation and water penetration into the ground, and helps the grass build strong roots.
This can be done either with a garden rake or with a mechanical scarifier, like this electric dethatching machine at Amazon, for larger areas.
Peter is the Managing Director of Cobra, one of the UK's leading brands of garden machinery, and Henton & Chattell, one of the largest garden machinery distributors in the country. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Peter is a passionate enthusiast when it comes to lawn care and seasonal gardening tasks. He takes great pride in maintaining his own lawn and garden to perfection and is knowledgeable about various techniques and tools that can be used to achieve the best results.
2. Compaction
A compacted, unhealthy lawn may show signs of water pooling over winter, or the grass may be patchy or turning yellow. Chrissie Handley from Online Turf claims that soil compaction is ‘one of the main lawn issues homeowners face after winter’. She adds: ‘If not tackled now, it’s likely your grass will struggle to grow over spring and summer.’
Compacted soil means grass roots struggle to grow deeply. This is primarily because the amount of oxygen, water, and nutrients is being restricted. Weak roots ultimately put the lawn at risk of increased damage come summer.
‘It’s important to ensure your lawn has a strong, deep root system to survive extreme temperatures – both hot and cold – as these roots allow the grass to store nutrients and water it needs,’ claims Theresa Smith, senior vice president at NaturaLawn of America.
‘Additionally, it is a strong, lush, and healthy lawn that is best equipped to choke out weeds.’
To combat any winter lawn damage from compaction, early spring is also the perfect time to aerate a lawn. This essentially means poking holes in the soil so air, water, and nutrients can reach the roots.
This can be done manually with a garden fork placed deeply into the soil at 12-inch intervals, or with an aerating tool, like this rolling lawn aerator at Amazon.
If you are planning to repair patches in grass by seeding, it helps to aerate before seeding, as the new grass develops strong roots quickly.
Chrissie Handley is Lawn Care Specialist providing tailored advice on laying, maintenance and general lawn care for Online Turf.
3. Debris
A lot of debris can find its way onto a lawn over the winter months. While fallen leaves or twigs may not seem much, they will harm the grass if left unchecked for too long.
A quick trip around the lawn at the correct time (remember that walking on frozen grass or a waterlogged lawn will do more damage than good) to clear debris helps the grass grow healthily come spring.
Theresa Smith claims that removing debris that fallen during winter storms should be considered the ‘first step’ to fixing winter lawn damage. She adds: ‘These leaves and limbs block airflow and sunlight from reaching your grass and can lead to diseases if not removed.’
The lawn expert also recommends one quick task to help deal with a common winter lawn disease. ‘In areas where snow mold may be present, it’s also a good idea to lightly rake, or fluff up, the turf,’ she says. ‘This also allows for proper air circulation to help get rid of any disease before it can damage the lawn.’
Gently raking (an expandable metal rake like this at Lowe's is good for clearing debris) is the best way to get rid of snow mold once the ground has dried. Air circulation is crucial to curing the issue, and any bare patches can be fixed by overseeding once the temperatures warm in spring.
Theresa Smith is senior vice president of NaturaLawn of America (NLA), oversees all aspects of NLA's business operations, including corporate strategy, business vendor management, marketing and more. She first started with the family business as a marketing coordinator and quickly became passionate about their mission to be environmentally responsible.
4. Dehydration
One more unexpected form of lawn winter kill comes in the shape of dessication, or dehydration. Brian Feldman, senior director of technical operations and agronomy at TruGreen, claims dessication is ‘the most common damage’ lawns experience during the winter months.
‘This often occurs when turf is unprotected by snow cover and subject to drying cold winds,’ he explains. ‘Under these conditions, the exposed turf can lose significant moisture in crown tissues.’
This kind of winter lawn damage shows as brown or straw-colored patches on the lawn. The good news is that it initially affects the leaves, rather than the crown or roots. However, if not treated, such severe dehydration can lead to total winter kill of the grass.
‘To prevent desiccation, depending on the temperature, water once every one to two weeks if it has not rained,’ advises Brian. ‘You don’t want your lawn to go into a drought-stressed condition. A good rule of thumb is to water your lawn when it is still above 40 degrees with no rain in the forecast.’
Provided the crown itself is not desiccated, continue to water the lawn as required in late winter and rake out any dead grass. The grass should recover by spring.
There is no set date when you should start mowing the lawn in spring; it changes year to year depending on the weather. Watch for when the lawn has started actively growing, the temperature exceeds 50°F, and the soil is dry. When you do decide the time is right, cut spring lawns at a higher mower height than in summer to prevent stressing the grass early in the season.
Tools to Fix Winter Lawn Damage
This tool has a metal foot plate and 15 sharp tines, each 2.8 inches in length. It makes manually aerating the lawn quicker and more efficient than with a fork.
This lightweight rake has a fiberglass handle and sturdy, metal tines. It is ideal for clearing leaves and other lawn debris.
This lawn sprinkler features 16 nozzles and a sliding range control to manage the coverage of water.
