Just because it’s winter that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be thinking about having a great lawn. A lot can happen to a lawn over the winter months. Below are some great tips to do in winter and beyond to have a great looking lawn all season.

Fall into Winter 

If there hasn’t been significant precipitation; winter lawn watering can be crucial to your lawn coming back strong in the spring (it’s helpful for your trees too!). If there hasn’t been about 2 inches of moisture in a month, it’s time to water your lawn and trees.  

Tip: You want to water the lawn when it’s 50F or above.  

Watering your lawn to avoid long periods of dry spells will help avoid getting spider mite damage in your lawn as well. Spider mites hate moisture! If you do start to see spider mite damage, don’t worry, there is an organic option to control them called Ecotrol.   It’s a good idea to avoid foot traffic on the lawn as much as possible during winter. This will help the lawn from getting overly compacted. It’s best to aerate the lawn in the fall and spring to help the root zone more easily get moisture. 

Tip: Make sure to have the lawn moist before aerating. If the lawn is moist the aerator machine can pull deeper plugs resulting in a thorough aeration!  

The photo above is spider mite damage on a lawn. It is often found near evergreens where spider mites take refuge during precipitation.

Spring and Beyond 

Spring aeration will help alleviate any compaction that happened over winter. In Colorado, it’s especially important to aerate at least once a season if not twice because the lawns are heavily composed of clay.    Mowing your lawn is an often overlooked part of lawn care, because who doesn’t know how to mow a lawn? Mowing your lawn tall, at least 3 inches, will promote deep digging roots. This one step alone will greatly improve how your lawn looks through the season.  

Tip: Only mow 1/3rd of the blade off at a time. You might need to mow once a week when it’s most actively growing to avoid taking off more than a third.  

Lawn watering is another major component of a great looking lawn. Organo Lawn uses the 1-2-3-2-1 lawn watering technique. This is a deep and infrequent watering technique that will ensure the lawn is being watered correctly through the season.  

Tip: Sprinkler coverage will be a major factor in getting the lawn watered properly, you can purchase rain gauges to measure the output of the sprinklers in different areas of the lawn.  

Organic lawn fertilization will be an important factor in getting that deep green lawn. A lot of soil in Colorado is nutrient deficient, so it will need to be supplemented. Organic compost is a great way to add organic matter to the soil.  

Tip: By using organic fertilizers you are feeding the soil rather than the plant (like chemical fertilizers). Feeding the soil will be more beneficial in the long run! Chemical fertilizers harm soils.