If you are already familiar with Lawntech, or a regular reader of our blogs, then it’s very likely you’ll know by now our famous autumn mantra; “If the lawn is growing, keep on mowing!”
Well, the same is very much true for the winter months too. If the weather conditions are mild, this will be prompting your grass to grow. Our advice is, if you are able to give your grass a cut whilst it’s growing, please do. You will be helping your lawn in several ways and giving it a gentle kickstart heading into spring.
Is it necessary to mow my lawn in winter?
During the winter months it’s usually not necessary to mow your lawn as the cold weather renders the grass dormant so it won’t be growing. However, we need to keep in mind that grass will continue to grow all year round if weather conditions are right for it to do so.
This time of year, your well cultivated lawn may well take second place to Christmas preparations, and with less time outdoors, it’s not long before our lawns can be looking less than tidy. That’s when we’ll often be asked, ‘can I mow my lawn in winter?’
The simple answer is, yes. You can mow your lawn in winter, and we certainly recommend you do if your grass is still growing as, it’s in your lawn’s best interests. However, there are some important rules to remember when it comes to mowing this time of year.
If your grass is still growing in winter, giving your lawn a mow will be helping your lawn in several ways giving it a gentle kickstart heading into spring.
Winter lawn mowing advice
There are plenty of benefits to mowing your lawn in winter whilst the grass is still growing. Cutting your lawn will allow for better airflow around the grass plants. On bright, crisp, sunny days properly clipped grass will lessen the shade so that the grass plants can make the most of every last drop of sunlight that you can give them.
There are also plenty of points that must be considered when mowing during the cold, winter months. Here’s everything you need to know to get the right cut:
Don’t mow a frosty lawn
There’s no doubt a crisp white layer of frost can make for beautiful viewing, however, don’t let it entice you onto your lawn this winter. Walking on frozen grass can significantly damage your grass plants. Frozen grass is unable to spring back up, meaning footprints can stay in your lawn for a very long time, and potentially kill the grass by damaging the cells that make up your grass plants.
With that in mind, it goes without saying, you certainly won’t take a mower to a frozen lawn.
Whilst your lawn is frozen, your grass plants are brittle and any foot traffic is likely to fracture the grass plants and damage your lawn. So it goes without saying, don’t mow a frosty lawn.
Avoid mowing a wet lawn
Avoid mowing and walking on a wet lawn as this will be compacting it. This will cause problems for your lawn later in the new year as the compaction will result in your lawn being patchy. Mowing a wet lawn will mutilate your soil and grass and your mower will be clogged. Grass clippings will wait for the most awkward moment to throw themselves off your machine, falling in clumps which cover the lawn and stifle its growth. In extreme cases, this can even kill off a lawn altogether.
As a rule of thumb, if your lawn sinks underfoot as you walk on it, it’s too wet to mow.
If your lawn is too wet, avoid mowing or walking on your lawn to prevent compaction.
Be mindful of your mowing height
Given it hasn’t rained too much and you decide to mow your lawn in winter, be sure not to scalp your grass. This can be avoided by raising your cutting blade a little higher than usual. Grass plants need to harvest sunlight as a source of energy to keep your lawn alive and healthy. By cutting too much of the grass, you will, in fact be damaging your lawn by preventing it from storing this energy. This can be detrimental to your lawn during winter when sunlight is already decreased.
So remember to keep the height of your cut in check, not too long and not too short for the perfect trim this winter.
For a healthy cut, raise your cutting blade a little higher than usual. Only mow if the grass is growing and conditions are suitable to do so.
Remove grass clippings
Like any other time of the year, it’s important to remove grass clippings from your lawn. Leaving grass clippings to sit in your freshly cut lawn, will only be blocking those vital air and nutrients such as sunlight from reaching your grass roots, leaving your lawn starved of energy. It’s important through winter, your lawn can harvest as much energy as possible to survive these dull, cold months.
Wet grass clippings in particular make the perfect breeding conditions for lawn disease such as fusarium patch so be sure to remove any clippings after mowing.
Grass clippings make the perfect breeding ground for lawn disease such as fusarium patch. if you do mow, make sure to remove any grass clippings from your lawn.
What do we recommend?
If your grass is growing and needs a cut, wait until the afternoon on a dry, sunny day once the lawn has had time to dry out and defrost to avoid mowing and walking on wet or frosty grass.
For more advice on caring for your lawn in winter, take a look at our winter lawn care guide. To provide your lawn with a winter boost, find out more about our lawn care treatment programme. You can contact our friendly team today, or get your own instant, online quote using our handy measuring tools here.
If your grass is still growing then a mow in winter when conditions are favourable, will lend your lawn a helping hand.
