Tips For Winterizing Your Florida Lawn

Nov 06th 2020

Wintertime in North Central Florida is mostly mild. Despite a few dips in temperature during the cold season, we’re (thankfully) free from the harsh winter frost commonly experienced throughout the northern states. As such, Florida residents have the benefit of enjoying green lawns year-round, without having to deal with dead, brown landscaping — that is, as long as they’re maintained properly. To keep your grass healthy throughout the fall and winter, follow these lawn winterizing tips from Gainesville lawn care specialists at Evergreen Lawn Care. 

Why To Prepare Your Lawn For Winter

Winterizing can seem like an unnecessary task to add onto a winter to-do list, but it’s a vital step in the lawn care process for keeping a lawn, yard, or landscape looking green and healthy come springtime. While grass tends to go dormant during the cold seasons, growing just a fraction of its typical summer length, it’s still alive and requires care to properly maintain its health through the winter. By winterizing the lawn, property owners can ensure the health of their grass root systems and the required nutrients to surrounding soils.

The Winterization Process

Winter lawn care is a straightforward process — winterization mainly involves the same steps most lawn services in Gainesville, FL utilize when they perform lawn care services throughout the year, just to a lesser extent. Commercial and residential property owners should raise the blade on their lawn mowers before cutting the grass during the winter, as a higher blade will allow for the grass to stay longer, reducing damage to underlying roots. Watering should also be reduced to just once every 1-2 weeks, as grass needs less water during dormant periods. 

Winter Fertilizer & Overseeding

Adding fertilizer to the soil and overseeding can seem like ideal ways to keep grass looking healthy and green throughout the winter. While fertilizer can add required nutrients back into the soil and overseeding can add an extra bit of green to a winter lawn, both these practices should be done at the proper time of the year and with careful consideration of the products used. Adding fertilizer too late in the year can cause grass to grow when the cold rolls in, leaving the grass extra sensitive to temperature changes. Ideally, fertilizer should be added to the lawn either in September or during springtime after the cold temperatures have subsided. Overseeding can be done once temperatures reach the low-70s, but make sure the grass seeds used are appropriate for winter temperatures, such as ryegrass. Proper lawn care practices should be used to help keep this winter grass looking green and fresh.

How Gainesville Lawn Care Professionals Can Help

Keeping a lawn healthy throughout the winter season can be a difficult task, especially for those unfamiliar with the impacts of North Central Florida temperatures on the health of vegetation. To keep a yard looking lush and green all year long, contact the Gainesville landscaping professionals at Evergreen Lawn Care. We’ll work with you to help keep your landscape looking great throughout the cooler winter months, and get your lawn prepped for the coming spring.