Last Updated on January 8, 2025 by Brian Beck
I have this saying, “people don’t lose their lawns in the summer, they set them up for failure to lose them during winter.” A combination of shallow watering that has developed a short root structure and a thick thatch is a prime candidate for winter kill. This failure continues through the early fall when the rating system from mid October to mid December is bypassed out of fear of a frozen irrigation system and a reluctance to drag out the hose. This combined with dry conditions in January and February cause people to lose lawns. The need for hydration never ends, it only changes in frequency. Whenever it is 40° out you should consider whether or not we have received enough precipitation to provide adequate hydration in the soil. A foot of snow is a good start but this only contains about 10% moisture, the rest of it is pure air. The soil needs about 1/4 inch of moisture per week to stay properly hydrated throughout the winter. This is you know does not happen. Unless we get 6 to 12 inches of snow every two weeks the soils began to rapidly deteriorate from dehydration. This translates into a massive amount of waste in the spring and the manifested forms of excessive watering to rehydrate the soil, lawn repair and general catch up through the month of June. All of this can be avoided. While at the time of this writing it is 15° outside with a few inches of snow on the surface, which is not a good time to water, the need will surely arise soon when temperatures fluctuate with the jet stream movement. Do yourself a favor and plan on watering when the need arises and when you do water deep so that you can prevent the soil from becoming hydrophobic which is a near death sentence for any lawn. It is insulting enough to have a dehydrated soil is far worse to have a soil that repels water. Again, all of this can be prevented in the springtime catch up can largely be avoided by administering routine hydration throughout the winter. For more information feel free to call us would love to talk to you about the subject matter and how to reduce the overall stress and burden of having a lawn by creating an efficient soil.
