“On a cold and frosty morning” …
When you look out of your window on a wintry morning and see that Jack Frost has visited overnight, it can certainly make for a pretty picture. But is it a good or bad thing for your lawn?
Strange as it may sound, frost can actually bring benefits to your lawn. As the grass plants’ cells adapt to being frozen, the process helps to strengthen their roots. Grass tends to very hardy and resistant to frost damage. However, if we walk on frozen, frosty grass we are certain to damage it. More detail on this follows below.
The sun comes up, to reveal a frosty landscape…
So what exactly is frost?
Vegetation (such as grass) is one of the surfaces which most easily attracts dew, and therefore frost. Moisture evaporates from the surface of vegetation, and as the temperature drops to ‘frost point’ this turns the moist dew into frost.
Here are our top tips on how to care for your frosty lawn:
Jack Frost nippin’ at your lawn.
THINGS WE SHOULD NOT DO;
Try not to walk on your frozen lawn. The grass will have been literally frozen by the frost, making it brittle. If stepped on, the leaf cells will be ruptured, which damages the individual blades of grass making up your lawn. The resulting footprints not only stick out like a sore thumb at the time. They may take months to disappear completely.
Don’t even think about mowing! Never cut your grass when the ground is frozen or there is frost on the lawn.
Never apply any lawn treatments to frosty grass. Treatments such as fertiliser and weed killer should not be applied until the spring, once ground temperatures have risen. Our lawn treatment year begins in March, with an application of Early Spring Fertiliser.
SOMETHING WE CAN DO;
Checking for Frost Heave (once ground temperatures have risen). Caused by the soil swelling when the water freezes within, extreme cases of Heave after prolonged spells of sub-zero temperatures can even lift up stretches of roads and pavements. Characterised by pronounced humps in the soil and large cracks where the freezing water has expanded and burst out from below (think chocolate roulade!), the effects of Frost Heave tend to settle back of their own accord in all but the most extreme cases. Should you be unfortunate enough to experience this, a light rolling of your lawn in springtime should help it recover.
If damage is unavoidable, small lawn turf repair packages are available from our sister company www.thelawnstore.co.uk . These packages enable you to repair any damaged areas using the appropriate high quality turf. Alternatively, if you find Jack Frost has left your lawn looking worse for wear, why not Contact Us for a free, no-obligation visit.
