How to Prepare Your Lawn for Winter in Dallas, TX

We all know that Dallas and Fort Worth dwellers have a long history of love-hate relationships with winter. On the one hand, you have gorgeous winter decorations (Galleria Christmas tree, anyone?), as well as temperatures that won’t turn your freshly showered hair into icicles. But when freezing temperatures do start to kick in around late November, Dallas weather has a way of keeping its inhabitants on their toes. While heavy snowfall isn’t much of an issue, freezing rain and sleet are unwelcome visitors that arrive with little-to-no warning. Here are some tips on how to conquer these winter foes so you can properly celebrate with your families on the days of beloved winter advisory school cancellations. 

1. Rake (and mulch) those leaves. Prepping your lawn for the challenges of winter requires a clean slate. Before you make major moves on bolstering your lawn, make sure that it’s free of any and all fall debris. Once this job is done, we also recommend that you mulch the leaves so your soil can soak up all the spare nutrients that would have otherwise gone to waste.
2. Aerate after your final mow. To ensure that your lawn can absorb every ounce of the nutrients to come, aeration is absolutely vital. Aeration is the process of perforating your lawn with small holes so that air, water, and nutrients can make the greatest impact possible.
3. Top dress. Topdressing is the process of applying compost over the surface of a lawn. Compost is inexpensive and very effective in greening up the lawn quickly. An annual application of nutrient-rich organic material promotes healthy root and soil structure by infusing the soil with beneficial microbes and essential minerals, increasing soil aeration, improving drought resistance, and relieving compaction problems.  Typical topdressing mix consists of 40% turkey and dairy compost, 30% pine humus, 20% ground cotton seed and 10% sand. The pine humus is included to reduce our soil alkalinity which usually is extremely high. It is not muddy nor does it have much of an odor so you don’t have to worry about pets or kids.
4. Fertilize. Fertilization is the most common (and foolproof) way to make sure your lawn stays green and lush. Pairing fertilization with aeration, top dressing, and watering will put your lawn on the fast track to long-term perfection.
5. Water. As always, any efforts to prep your lawn for winter can only turn into reality with good, old-fashioned H2O. When the cold temperatures start to roll in, make sure to drain and remove your garden hoses from their outlets. Then, cover all faucets to prevent damage brought on by freezing temperatures. Doing so will save you valuable time, hassle, and money.
6. Bring in potted plants. With all the time and love you put into your potted treasures, be sure to bring them inside so they can survive the cold season indoors. Keep them in areas where they can receive what little sunlight they can during the winter. Before you know it, it’ll be time to set them outside again.
7. Relax. Your lawn has persevered many winters before, and it will continue to do so for many winters to come. So enjoy your fall and winter. If you’re unsure of which steps to take, our lawncare specialists are always just a click or call away!

And there you have it!  Follow those steps and you’ll be all set for winter in the DFW area.  For more info on LawnStarter’s service offering, visit our Dallas lawn care page.

Junie Lee

Posts by Junie Lee