When the temperatures are low and snow is falling, you will be tempted to forget all about your lawn in St. Louis, MO. Please don’t make this mistake–there are several ways you can prepare your yard for the spring.
Here are some easy tips to winterize your lawn and make your “spring greening” chore list that much easier.
Fight invisible weeds
One of the most common lawn weeds homeowners deal with in St. Louis is common chickweed. This friendly-sounding pest can cause real problems whether you have a Tall Fescue lawn or Zoysia turf. Attack these unseen winter annual weeds now with pre-emergent herbicides. Striking now aids your post-emergent weed control in the spring.
Control muddy areas
If your warm-season grass is too thin, you may have muddy areas on your yard come winter. One easy fix is to overseed with a hardy cool-season grass like Rye. This inexpensive grass, at approximately $44 per 50 lb. bag, will die off when swimsuit worthy temperatures return but will provide cover for those muddy spots your neighbor keeps mentioning.
Improve your layout
You don’t need to be a landscape designer to lay out your lawn properly. Whether you perform your own mowing or hire a pro, mowing should be a smooth chore. The best way to make that happen is to round off the lawn. No sharp angles! This cuts down on the need to trim areas the ole mower can’t get. Plus, curves are more pleasing to the eye. Keep stacking those Yard of the Month odds.
Mulch
Get a jump on mulching your flower beds now so you aren’t pushing 80 pounds of mulch around in a wheelbarrow in the heat of summer. You might even find a deal on mulch in the dead of winter. Remember to round off the flower beds, since curves are the goal. And three inches of mulch is a good rule of thumb.
Protect your equipment
Do you know why mower repair shops are insanely busy in the springtime? Because gas-powered machines are meant to be used, not sit idly in a garage for months. Since you are not using your mower, trimmers, and blowers in the cold winter months in St. Louis, you must winterize this equipment. Adding fuel stabilizers to the fuel tank or draining all the fuel from the machines is crucial. If draining, be sure to run the engine long enough afterward so all the fuel is removed from the lines as well. Or consider battery-powered lawn equipment to avoid fuel issues altogether.
Wintertime in St. Louis can make you want to stay indoors, but a little time spent in your yard during the winter can make a big difference the rest of the year. And with these winter lawn care tips, you should have a stronghold on the best yard in your neighborhood come springtime.
Have additional questions? Visit our lawn care page for more information!
Featured image source: Zillow
