If your lawn looks unloved after a harsh winter, it’s natural to want to start your post-winter yard work. However, starting certain tasks too soon could adversely impact your results.

Cold temperatures can put emerging grass shoots under stress, leading to a patchy or unhealthy lawn. Conversely, beginning too late could prevent your lawn from recovering fully from the winter weather. Let’s explore which factors impact the timing of your post-winter yard cleanup.

Where You Live

Whether your area has mild or prolonged winters significantly impacts your after-winter lawn care time line. People living in regions with relatively mild winter conditions can often start their lawn care routines earlier because spring tends to arrive earlier in these locations.

On the other hand, you should exercise caution if cold weather persists into the spring where you live. Late frosts and lingering snow pose a risk to emerging shoots. Therefore, you should wait for consistently warmer weather before tackling tasks like aeration and overseeding.

Local Weather Conditions

Winter conditions can vary significantly between locations in the same climate zones. Keep track of local weather trends to avoid starting lawn care before the last frosts.

Grass Species

Some grass species tolerate cold temperatures better than others, so it’s worth knowing which grass types your lawn contains. Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and other cool-season species are relatively frost-tolerant, so you can safely start post-winter yard care earlier in the spring.

Warm-season grasses, such as Bermuda grass and Bahia grass, emerge from dormancy later than cool-season species. Therefore, you’re more likely to cause damage by starting your lawn care routine too soon. Wait until the last frost ends before fertilizing, aerating or overseeding warm-season grass.

Determining when to start lawn care after winter can be challenging without expert knowledge. If you’re unsure, a lawn care professional can assess your lawn and advise you on the most optimal time to start your routine.

Post-Winter Lawn Care Steps

Lawn care after winter involves treating any issues that could stop your lawn from regenerating and encouraging new, healthy growth. Follow this checklist to achieve a lush springtime lawn:

1. Assess the Lawn’s Condition

Inspecting the condition of your lawn helps you spot problems that could affect grass growth. When assessing your lawn after winter, you should:

• Check your lawn for dead patches, paying particular attention to slopes and other areas where snow typically accumulates.
• Locate and remove any thatch accumulation to improve drainage.
• Check for burrows, chewed grass and other signs of pest infestation and book a lawn pest control service if necessary.
• Test the soil’s pH and nutrient levels to help you determine how much fertilizer to use.

Alternatively, you could hire a lawn care professional to inspect your lawn. Lawn Doctor can create a personalized post-winter lawn care plan to suit your climate, grass type and yard characteristics.

2. Remove Debris

Ideally, you should rake your lawn throughout winter to remove dead leaves as they accumulate. However, heavy snowfall can make this task practically impossible. After the snow melts, remove rock salt, leaves, pine cones and other debris and thoroughly weed your lawn to promote healthy growth.

3. Aerate and Overseed

Aerating your lawn improves drainage and increases the soil’s mineral content. You should consider lawn aeration if your lawn becomes waterlogged over the winter. While you can aerate small areas by pricking the soil with a garden fork, aerator rollers are more efficient for large areas.

After aeration, encourage any dead or damaged areas to regrow by overseeding. Loosen the soil with a garden rake and apply fresh grass seed at the rate recommended on the packaging.

4. Apply a Fertilizer

Applying fertilizer to your lawn increases the nutrient content of the soil and can give new shoots a boost. Quick-release fertilizers rapidly increase nutrient levels and can help you revive damaged areas quickly. Meanwhile, slow-release formulas release nutrients more slowly, so you don’t need to apply them as often. If you test your soil, the results can help you determine the best fertilizer for your lawn.

5. Mow Regularly

You should stop cutting your grass completely over winter and wait until the ground thaws to resume mowing. Avoid damaging new growth by mowing in dry conditions and using a higher cutting height until the lawn is established. Most spring lawns require weekly mowing, but you should cut the grass more often if it grows rapidly.