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Preparing
a Lawn for Winter
When
it's time for the last cutting
of your lawn, how low should you cut? Your area's winter snowcover
should help you decide whether to cut it short or
leave it long.
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If
you live in a heavy snow area, cut the
grass to about 1.5 inches in fall to prevent it from matting down
beneath the snow and forming a haven for the snow mold fungus.
In
areas with little snowcover, grass dries out and the crowns may be
injured from a lack of insulation. In those areas, leave the grass long
over the winter to help protect the crowns from drying out.
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The two biggest winter problems with lawns on the northern plains are
snow mold and dehydration. In areas where the snow lies all winter
long, lawns suffer from snow mold. This fungus that lives beneath the
snow causes grass to die out in patches. While snow mold is rarely a
severe problem on blugrasses, it can cause concern in spring, when the
dead patches look horrible.
The precise time for the final lawn fertilizer application of the
season also varies from place to place, but fertilizing around Columbus
Day (after the last mowing but about four weeks before the soil
freezes) is a good rule of thumb. Your lawn will green faster in spring
if you remember the fall application.
Source: MSU Extension
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