How Important is it to Winterize Your Lawn? 155 Homeowners Answer

How Important is it to Winterize Your Lawn? 155 Homeowners Answer

Homeowners approach winterizing their lawns in different ways. Some swear by specialized fertilizers, while others just let their grass be and bounce back in spring. We asked 155 homeowners to rank how important they think winterizing a lawn is.

Not only will we break down their responses, but we'll answer:

Key Results

Not Very Important - 30

Not Important - 45

Somewhat Important - 21

Important - 39

Very Important - 20

What is Lawn Winterization?

Winterizing your lawn is the process of priming it for the winter. It safeguards your grass against damage during freezing temperatures. While most lawns bounce back regardless after the winter, they're definitely healthier with a little support.

One respondent wrote:

"I started doing more to prepare for the winter a few years back, and I can see the difference. My yard comes back stronger, fuller, and greener weeks ahead of some of my neighbors. Their's eventually gets there, but my lawn is definitely better off ... It makes spring tasks easier since my lawn needs much less attention coming out of winter."

Winterizing helps the grassroots store energy and lower the chances of disease. It also saves you from doing springtime repair work and keeps your lawn in good shape.

RELATED: The helpful guide you need to combat lawn diseases

By winterizing your lawn, you're helping it stay resilient. A healthy lawn coming out of winter is less work in the spring since it already has the groundwork for active growth.

Preparing Your Lawn for Winter

Winter preparation starts early.

Aeration and overseeding are the first steps. They must be completed three to four weeks before temperatures dip to an average of 50 degrees during the day and 30 degrees at night.

The seeds need time to germinate; it's too late if you miss the window. They need time to establish before it's too cold.

From there, you'll need to move leaves and debris. They hold moisture and create an ideal environment for pests and diseases. Then, you need to add a time-release fertilizer.

You'll begin the final steps once the temperature drops between 50 and 60 degrees in late fall. It's when the grass is preparing for winter; this is the perfect time to support it in storing the nutrients.

Hot and cold-season grasses need winterizing in different ways. Cool-season grasses such as fescue and ryegrass need extra nutrients to feed their root systems before winter. Warm-season grasses like Bermuda and Zoysia, by contrast, go dormant and don't need as much nutrients.

With cooler weather in the forecast, reduce the mowing height (but not too much — you don't want to cut it too short and stress the lawn once the cold sets in). A good height for winter is around 2.5 inches. It has a slightly higher risk of inviting lawn diseases if it's too long.

Get one last cut in before the first snow.

RELATED: What Is Aeration? The Truth About This Important Part of Lawn Care

Fertilizing Your Lawn Before Winter 

A fall application of winterizing fertilizer is one of the best remedies for root development. They're loaded with nutrients.

If you have cool-season grasses, you'll want to apply fertilizer between the first of September and the last week in October. Since these grasses remain semi-active in the winter, you'll want to help them develop strong roots before the cold sets in.

Search for fertilizers rich in potassium to make grass resilient to cold and phosphorus to strengthen roots. Avoid fertilizers with lots of nitrogen, which causes blade growth — something to avoid heading into winter.

Once you've spread the fertilizer, lightly water it in so it gets to the roots.

Homeowners with warm-season grasses don't have as much of a need for fertilizer. They go dormant on their own, but some survey-takers we spoke with mentioned adding in phosphorus and potassium based on a soil test.

For those who choose to fertilize before winter, choose a slow-release fertilizer to help your grass throughout the season. Do a soil test beforehand so you know what your yard needs. Most winter fertilizers have a 5-10-20 or 10-20-20 N-P-K formula.

Don't Forget Winter Pest Control

Once winter heads your way, so do insects seeking food and shelter. They will destroy the grass, roots, and soil, resulting in unsightly or infected patches in spring. There are several things you can do to help discourage pests from setting up shop on your lawn:

Clear Lawn Debris

The easiest pest prevention solution is clearing your lawn of leaves, branches, and other fallen items. Insects such as grubs, beetles, and voles prefer to nest in the middle of thickets of debris, where they shelter and feast. Raking leaves and clipping dead grass removes places of hiding so your lawn is less appealing to insects. 

Avoid Thatch Buildup

Thatch is the dead organic matter between the ground and the grass's base. It's not an issue to have a little thatch. But, if you have too much, you're making space for sod webworms and grub worms to do their worst.

So, how do you manage thatch?

First, you should aerate your lawn in late fall and dethatch if the buildup is over a half inch. Doing these two things will lessen the pest's available food sources while increasing airflow and water infiltration to the grassroots.

RELATED: 7 Best Dethatchers of 2024

If your lawn is subject to pests, a preventative pest-control spray in late fall might help. Natural solutions like neem oil and diatomaceous earth are a way to control insect populations without affecting other species. You might need chemical insecticides if the pest population gets out of hand. 

Mow Before Winter

Like we mentioned before, you're going to want to mow your lawn a bit lower than normal for the winter — cut it to about 2.5 inches in the weeks before winter. That height not only helps the grass retain nutrients but also helps prevent pests that like to seek cover. Don't cut it too short. This overtaxes the grass and exposes it to cold and insects. 

Watch Edges and Beds

Some pests invade lawns through garden beds or grass edges. Clean and mow garden beds regularly, snip back shrubs, and remove drooping leaves. Controlling the edges of your lawn means you are making your yard less inviting for critters seeking winter shelter. These are all measures you can take to keep your lawn free of insects and healthy all winter long.

Adjust Your Watering Schedule

You'll need to modify your watering regimen to get it ready for winter. If you overwater, the soil becomes saturated, and you might end up with root rot and other fungal diseases that ruin your lawn during the winter.

In early fall, gradually start cutting back on how often you're watering. Check the weather. If you're expecting rain, adjust so you're not overdoing it.

Quick Summary

With winter on the minds of many — and some already dealing with it — we wanted to survey homeowners to see how important they think winterizing their lawns is. The majority of lawns will bounce back even without winterizing efforts, which is part of the reason most survey takers said winterizing their lawn was not important. But it's clear to many who choose to do so that the results are noticeable. 

Preparing your lawn for the winter involves mowing lower than normal, clearing leaves and debris, fertilizing if needed, dethatching, and ensuring you're not providing hiding spots and food for pests.