Make the lawn winter-proof & hibernate

What is the best way to prepare a lawn for a potentially severe winter? We have helpful expert tips for overwintering your lawn.

More than a third of all Germans have a garden – and usually also a lawn. While the potted plants are mothballed and the roses are lovingly covered with winter protection, the lawn often goes unnoticed. A harsh winter also saps the strength of the beloved garden plant. To the Winterizing the garden it also includes making your lawn winter-proof. From the last fertilization to mowing at the right height - with our tips your lawn will withstand the winter. Then we also show what needs to be considered when spring returns after winter and the new year begins again for your lawn.

Overwintering the lawn: Preparing the lawn for winter

The green carpet in the garden needs to be well and properly cared for in autumn, otherwise its owners will be punished with holes and yellow or brown grass in the spring. The last time you fertilized, the last lawn cut before winter and the correct lawn height - all these factors should be taken into account before the cold season.

When should you last fertilize your lawn before winter?

when the last lawn fertilization depends primarily on your choice of fertilizer and lawn use. In general, October is considered the last sensible month for lawn fertilization.

If you use an organic lawn fertilizer, it is important to fertilize regularly - ideally once in late spring and once in September or October. Since the organically bound nutrients are converted depending on the temperature and humidity, you have to however, don't worry about overfeeding or leaching if you don't know this time period exactly retain. The autumn fertilization should also contain a sufficient amount of readily available potassium. This is because potassium increases cell wall stability and frost tolerance, two properties that can protect your lawn from winter damage. Our all-organic and high-potassium Plantura Organic Autumn Lawn Fertilizer we present it to you in more detail here.

If you use a mineral fertilizer that does not have a long-term effect, you can do the last fertilization between June and October. This time depends on the load on the lawn. The rule of thumb is: the higher the load, the more frequent the cuts and the more intensive and longer the fertilization. So if you have a utility lawn and don't want to play football on it all autumn, you don't have to fertilize until the last possible moment.

In the case of autumn fertilization with a mineral long-term fertilizer, the last fertilization can be brought forward a few months. When using it, make sure that its effects expire in October to avoid leaching. For example, if you use a mineral long-term fertilizer with a four-month effect, the last fertilization will take place in June or July.

Any form of mineral autumn fertilization - as a long-term fertilizer or as a fertilizer without a long-term effect - must contain sufficient readily available potassium. Since significantly less nitrogen should be fertilized from August, a slow-release fertilizer used in June or July must not be nitrogen-rich. Late nitrogen fertilization lowers frost tolerance and can result in frost damage with yellow lawns.

Summary: When should the lawn be fertilized for the last time?

• October is the last month when it makes sense to fertilize your lawn before winter. For a less stressed lawn, the last fertilization can take place as early as June.
• An organic, mineral or organic-mineral slow-release fertilizer can bring forward the last fertilization.
• Although organic fertilization can be done throughout the year, late spring and September are best due to the relatively slow implementation.
• If you fertilize with minerals, your last fertilization depends on the stress on the lawn: If it has to be mowed frequently, fertilization is also longer to keep the lawn dense.
• All fall lawn fertilizers should be high in potassium to make the grass plants more frost tolerant.

tip: If a fertilizer that is too nitrogenous is used in autumn, the frost tolerance of the grass plants suffers. Most of the time, the lawn will turn partially or completely yellow and later even brown. These spots mark frozen blades of grass that have been killed.

Overwintering the lawn: when was the last time you mow it?

It is well known that a lawn does not consist of just one type of grass: regular seed mixtures contain both fast-growing genera and species, as well as the slower, so-called "Undergrasses". They usually provide the dense base of the lawn. If the last cut is very late, they are at a disadvantage: while the fast-growing grasses with the the last rays of sunshine in late autumn, the undergrowth will no longer come after. As a result, they are shaded throughout the winter and remain at a disadvantage when spring begins. The stunted growth caused by the shading can lead to the death of the undergrowth, which can result in a patchy, thin lawn with brown spots. To avoid this, the lawn should be mowed for the last time in mid-November at the latest.

Summary: When is the last time you should mow your lawn?

• The last lawn cut before winter should be done in mid-November
• Cutting too late can result in the death of the important undergrowth

More information on the topic "cut the lawn” you can read in our special article.

tip: If large amounts of leaves are still falling on your lawn after the last mowing, you should roughly remove them. Because the leaves lying on the lawn take away the light and ensure uneven budding in spring. What you with the Autumn leaves in the garden can start, we have compiled them for you here.

Overwintering the lawn: What lawn height is the best?

The best lawn height depends on the type of lawn you have. While an ornamental lawn can be mowed very short, there are actually no specifications for an extensively treated lawn or even a wild meadow. Basically, a lawn should go into the winter for a short time so that all lawn grasses are equally illuminated. In this way you can achieve a uniform budding in the next year.

In the following table you will find the right cutting times for your lawn and a recommended cutting height for winter.

lawn type	Cutting time at height [cm]	Winter cutting height [cm]
ornamental lawn	3-6	2
Utility lawn/playground	6-10	3
Heavy-duty turf/sports turf	6-8	3
Extensive lawns/meadows	-	6

tip: Seed mixtures for Play and sports turf counted. Extensive lawns are those that are rarely walked on and therefore do not have to have a hard-wearing scar.

Summary: What lawn height is best?

• Which lawn height is the right one depends on the type of lawn.
• A lawn should go into winter with a short mowing.
• The ornamental lawn is mowed very short before winter, a lightly used extensive lawn stays much longer.

Caring for lawns in winter

Didn't manage to do the lawn care before winter? Before you reach for snow shovels and fertilizer spreaders, it is better to read up on the rules for lawn care in winter.

Fertilize your lawn in winter?

Your lawn does not need fertilizing in winter. It only grows from a soil temperature of around 8 °C, which is well below this most of the time in winter. Applying an organic fertilizer at this point doesn't hurt, but it also has no effect. Only a few corvids then like to attack the fertilizer granules, which smell good to them.

Under no circumstances should you fertilize with minerals in winter. In particular, the fertilizer cannot penetrate into frozen soil anyway, but it can be loosened by briefly melting snow or sleet and then washed away. Wherever it ends up, it's probably not wanted or is gathering in harmful concentrations in depressions in your lawn. The result would be salt damage to the grass plants, which are already stressed in winter, and show up as yellow spots.

Summary: Fertilize your lawn in winter?

• Lawns do not need fertilization in winter.
• Although organic fertilization is not harmful, it may be preyed on by birds and is not effective.
• Mineral fertilization in winter can damage your lawn or other garden areas.

Mow the lawn in winter?

As explained above, the last mowing should take place in mid-November at the latest. Normally, your lawn will stop growing after this point. Even if it's still growing, don't mow it again. Because in the cold season, the grass plants are no longer able to compensate for the cutting of their leaves. Leaflets opened by the cut are susceptible to frost and the stimulated emergency shoot shares this characteristic. A cut in winter makes your lawn more susceptible to frost damage and should therefore not be done.

Summary: Mow the lawn in winter?

• The lawn should not be mowed in winter.
• Winter mowing can result in more frost-prone plants.

Sow the lawn in winter?

lawn seeding should take place between mid-April and September. Under no circumstances should there be a risk of late or early frost. Sowing outside of this time window can lead to a shift in grass composition. The reason for this lies in the different properties of the grass species contained in the seed mixture and -cultivars: Some still grow well at lower temperatures, while others barely stir or even freeze to death The grasses that have an advantage due to the prevailing temperature overgrow the less vigorous grasses. The result of the sowing then no longer corresponds to the desired and sown type of lawn.

Summary: Sowing lawns in winter?

• Sowing a lawn in winter means there is little chance of the grass germinating successfully.
• If the seed sprout, this happens unevenly and the later lawn does not correspond to the desired composition.

Lawn in frost: do not step on it?

Warnings are often given before stepping on the lawn in the event of frost. The frozen stalks are said to become brittle and break off in frost, and the risk of soil compaction in frost is particularly high. In the spring brown patches are said to appear where the lawn has been walked on. These claims persist and are never particularly well founded. We clear up the rumours.

On the one hand, the blades of your lawn are by no means completely frozen and as brittle as thin icicles. The high concentration of potassium in the plant cells protects them from freezing completely, just as salt in seawater protects the sea from freezing. If you are unsure, you can test a frosted blade of grass for its flexibility.

The assertion that stepping on a frozen lawn leads to increased soil compaction is completely unfounded in practice: as soon as the soil frozen through, the logging work begins in the forest - precisely because the ground is frozen and for this reason the load from the heavy machines is better resists. We have not yet been able to unequivocally assign the much-cited "brown spots" that can appear in spring to our footprints. Of course, they can occur if piles of snow or other heavy objects are stored on the lawn for a long time.

The turf can be a little vulnerable when the ground is completely frozen and only the top centimeters have been thawed by the sun of the day. Then these parts are quite soft and can literally be "smeared" by stepping on them. Such smearing can result in very superficial densification. But even that can be avoided by being cautious. Such superficial compaction loosens up again on its own in the spring if the soil is healthy and the lawn is healthy. Of course, in winter - just like in summer - driving heavy machinery or vehicles on the lawn should be avoided.

Summary: Don't step on the lawn when it's freezing?

• Lawn can be walked on carefully even in frost without causing major damage to the grass plants or compacting the ground.
• Only excessive and unnecessary loads can lead to smearing of the top layer of soil when the soil is thawed.

Maintain lawns after winter

Spring begins with the first warmer rays of the sun – and at the same time, the Lawn care after the winter that gives the green carpet a good start into the new year target.

When the spring sun makes the damp lawn sparkle again and the thermometer begins to climb towards the double digits, the ground gradually warms up as well. How quickly this happens depends crucially on the type of soil you have: If you have sandy soil, it will heat up the fastest. A heavy, loamy or clayey soil contains a lot of water, which needs much more heat to increase its own temperature. A heavy soil therefore heats up more slowly. Accordingly, growth on heavy soil begins later, because lawns only grow from a soil temperature of around 8 °C.

Scarify and aerate the lawn after winter

When the lawn is growing and it has already been mowed for the first time - usually around April - the Lawn scarified will. Heavy soils can be aerated (aerated) and sanded for the first time. Sanding makes sense on these soils because the sand creates cavities that allow the soil to aerate and drain better. The lawn has less to contend with waterlogging and a lack of air at the roots, can absorb nutrients more effectively, root deeper and often visibly benefits from the introduction of the sand. So that the sand gets as deep as possible into the ground, it is only after the lawn aeration deployed. Scarifying, aerating and sanding should be carried out at most once a year. The first reseeding can now also take place on a thin turf.

The first lawn fertilization of the year

The following applies to the first fertilization in spring: Light soils are fertilized early, before natural budding takes place - this time falls in March or April. Heavy soils are only fertilized when natural growth has started and the nitrogen reserves in the soil have already been somewhat exhausted. This time is around the end of May to the beginning of June. A fast-acting, nitrogen-rich fertilization can give your lawn a decisive advantage in spring moss in the lawn and give wild herbs. The latter will be just as happy about the first rays of sunshine as your lawn, and root weeds should already be pricked out or otherwise weeds in the lawn be fought.

Summary: Caring for your lawn after winter

• Light soils heat up quickly and, accordingly, lawn growth starts earlier; heavy soils warm up slowly, so lawn growth starts later.
• Light soils can be fertilized from March, heavy soils from May.
• The first mowing can usually be carried out in April.
• After the first mowing, if necessary, you can scarify, aerate, sand and overseed.
• Wild herbs should be consistently removed from the beginning of the year if they are not to become established in the lawn.

A more detailed plan for the start of the season for your lawn after winter can be found in our special article.