Many people ask us how to maintain their lawns in Florida during winter. That’s because in our state we’re lucky enough to enjoy winters under the sun; so despite temperatures dropping, grass still needs to look vibrant. While friends and family suffer amongst deep snow and treacherous conditions up north, Florida folk get to sit around in the garden, near the pool and have gatherings all year long.
If you want a garden that impresses during the winter, you need to know how to keep your lawn healthy and shining! Here are our key tips for using your Clearwater Sprinkler System to protect your lawn during winter:
Start Preparing in the Fall
Ideal winter lawn care starts a good month or so before the turn of the new year. By preparing for the changing temperatures, your grass will benefit when the colder weather hits. Changing your watering times and using the advice below in mid-fall will pay-off as the seasons change.
Stop Fertilizing in advance
The optimal time to stop fertilizing your grass is around September to October. Although grass in Florida grows well during the hot months, it tends to struggle during the winter. Fertilizer and cold weather isn’t a good mix, so adding fertilizer can actually damage your grass and ruin all the work you’ve put in earlier in the year.
Overseed!
Fertilizer won’t do the trick, but overseeding will. You need lots of seeds that are known for providing grass that can endure winters. The cold weather grass will keep your lawn healthy during the winter, but die off in time for summer when it’ll be replaced by your warm weather grass again!
Pro-tips:
- Make sure you mow your lawn and remove any debris, fungus or weeds before you start seeding!
- Ryegrass is a popular, reliable winter grass that is cheap and fast-growing!
Be Careful with Watering
Winter means less evaporation, and that means water stands on grass and promotes the growth of fungus and disease. You definitely don’t want that as it’ll destroy your lawn if it spreads.
To prevent that, you may only need to water once every couple of weeks. Make sure to water your grass if you notice the following symptoms:
- When a majority of the blades on your lawn fold in half
- When patches of the grass seem blue and grey.
- When footprints remain in the grass while walking, and the blades don’t spring back up.
Consider Coloring Your Lawn
Coloring your lawn is a sneaky trick for anyone who wants a green looking garden for months where that is hard to achieve naturally. Turf colorants are paints and dyes that are often used on golf courses and sports fields. We advise that by using lawn colorants, you don’t neglect caring for and watering your grass correctly.
Check over your Irrigation System and Pumps
Cold weather doesn’t just affect your lawn and sprinkler system; it affects your irrigation system too. Even though in Florida we don’t have to endure freezing temperatures, the moving parts in your irrigation system and pumps need to be slick and steady. A simple check over every winter should prevent you from hitting any costly, long-term problems.
Hire the Clearwater Sprinkler Professionals
Our team can check your property and advise you on the best watering schedules and plans based on your particular garden layout. We can also check over your sprinkler and irrigation system to make sure it’s not vulnerable to freeze damage.
