The temperatures have officially dropped and as we get closer to Christmas we’re seeing more and more snow and cold weather forecast across the UK. We’d all love to see a White Christmas, but what would that mean for our lawns and how can we prepare and protect our gardens from the predicted snow?
Carlos Real, lawn care expert and managing director of Total Lawn, reveals how we can prevent snow and cold weather from derailing our luscious lawns.
How to protect your lawn from snow
give it the best possible chance
If you know snow is in the forecast, you’ll want to make sure your lawn is in the best condition it can be, to avoid cold snaps and reduce your risk of developing diseases. . This includes removing any weeds growing on your lawn. Weeds will compete with the grass plant for the nutrients and sunlight it needs to survive. Removing weeds will reduce the risk of spoilage and damage to your grass.
Also, clean your lawn thoroughly and make sure there is no debris or garden equipment left on the ground. If you leave things out on your lawn, it will suffocate the lawn and increase the risk of it dying when the snow comes.
Read more: How to keep your grass green in winter: follow the four essential rules
remove snow
When it snows, make sure you remove snow from your lawn as often as possible. Even though snow is not directly dangerous to your lawn, the conditions in which it leaves your lawn can cause the lawn disease ‘snow mold’ aka fusarium patch to develop. Snow mold can be harmful to the health of your lawn and in some cases can kill grass plants.
It is much easier to prevent snow mold from developing than to treat it. Therefore, the best possible prevention is to continue to remove snow from your lawn as often as possible.
stay off the grass
When it’s fall, the grass plant is in an extremely vulnerable state and walking on your lawn can cause severe stress to the grass plant, increasing its risk of diseases such as moss and snow mold. Therefore, as tempting as it may be to build snowmen, snow angels and have snowball fights, we strongly advise you to avoid visiting your lawn while it is covered with snow. Ideally, you should wait for it to defrost completely before attempting to walk on your lawn again.
We all love the picturesque view that snow brings and although it doesn’t directly harm our lawns, it can be a catalyst for a variety of problems on our lawns when spring returns. Therefore, it is important to make sure that we prepare and protect our lawn as best as possible to prevent any serious damage.