If you raised your own lawn from scratch, you will certainly worry about how the grass will transfer the first winter. After all, a lot of effort has already been put into the lawn, and I do not want the spring result to disappoint. But you don’t have to worry if you prepare the lawn for the winter in time and competently. It is this problem that should concern owners who care for the lawn in the fall. Consider a series of basic autumn works that will help the grass successfully withstand hibernation.
Strengthening the root system - aeration and top dressing
In winter, the aboveground part of the lawn will freeze and vypreet, so the owners should throw all their efforts to strengthen the roots. They will give spring thick shoots and should not die in cold weather. Strengthen the root system in two ways: moderate dressing and aeration.
Only phosphoric and potassium fertilizers are suitable for feeding the lawn in autumn, which help the maturation of plants. Absolutely eliminate nitrogen top dressing. They accelerate the growth of grass and provoke the development of young shoots, and this is just not necessary in the winter, because young shoots tolerate subzero temperatures more difficult and die first.
You can learn more about how to properly care for the lawn from the material: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/uxod-za-gazonom.html
Wood ash can be added together with peat and chernozem, mixing the composition. So you both fertilize and level the soil
Where to get phosphorus and potassium? You can search for the sale of complex autumn fertilizers for the lawn. But it’s cheaper to buy separately: potassium sulfate and superphosphate. By the way, a lot of potassium is contained in wood ash, so if you often burned a fireplace in the summer or grilled kebabs on the grill, you will get this fertilizer absolutely free.
Feeding is better before the rain. In the autumn it will not be difficult, because the rainy weather in these months pleases with an enviable constancy. It is advisable that feeding be in early autumn (early September). Then the grass is more likely to absorb and absorb the maximum of nutrients from fertilizers.
Aeration is equally important for the roots. Getting a lot of oxygen, the roots ripen and harden faster. In addition, through punctures during prolonged cold rains, the water will go into the deep layers of the soil, and will not remain on the surface with puddles that will turn into ice with morning frost. The easiest way is to move the lawn with ordinary forks, piercing them with a lawn in many places and tilting slightly towards yourself to raise the roots. You can also use special tools for aeration of the lawn in the fall - nozzles on the walk-behind tractor or aerators. Stirring in dry weather.
The factory aerator punctures the soil perfectly, but you can do it with ordinary garden forks, which must be planted in the soil at an angle
Autumn chores with a lawn are less voluminous than summer ones, but it depends on them how well the grass will tolerate winter.
Lawn mowing: how not to be late?
Any lawn (and this year, and growing for several years) should go under the snow with a “haircut”. If the weather is warm, then there may be several autumn haircuts. But for you the most important is the last. It should be carried out about 2 weeks before the first frost in your area, so that the grass has time to grow by 6-10 cm. If its height is less, then the probability of freezing of the roots in severe frosts is high. If the lawn has time to rise above 10 cm, then there is a risk of aging. For example, when frosts and thaws alternate, an ice crust forms. And if the grass goes under the snow with such a crust, then it will suffocate without air and vomit. In addition, in the spring, dead grass will become an obstacle to breaking new sprouts out of the ground. She will block them, like a mulch, which prevents weeds from growing.
If you do not collect old grass that turned into felt in the autumn from the lawn, then in the spring it will become an obstacle to the growth of a young lawn
All grass and leaves collected from the lawn can be used as fertilizer for vegetable beds, sprinkling them on the soil and digging them a little
Cut grass will also hinder spring growth if you do not remove it from the lawn in the fall. After mowing, be sure to comb the lawn with a fan rake to remove debris, old grass that forms felt, and the last mowing. Take on a wheelbarrow all the collected "wealth" directly to the empty beds and dig. Over the winter, grass-based waste will produce an environmentally friendly fertilizer.
It will also be useful material on methods of weed control on the lawn: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/borba-s-sornyakami-na-gazone.html
Lawn repair and trample insurance
By the fall care of the lawn include its redecoration. Small pits and potholes can be leveled during this period, falling asleep with a mixture of humus and sand. Leave large pits in the spring, because they will need to add grass seeds.
The lawn responds well to the fall season with a mixture of peat and compost. Having scattered the mixture on the grass, you will even the ground and fertilize the soil at the same time.
When the heavy rainy season comes, and the soil becomes soft, you need to insure the lawn from trampling, if you often pass along it to other buildings. To do this, throw boards on the grass and move only on them, because under the pressure of the feet the soil "plays" and pits form on the lawn. If the weather is dry, then it is better to put the boards after the onset of stable subzero temperatures. So you will take grass less during the winter and avoid the “bald patches” that often appear on the paths. And it’s better not to walk on the sleeping grass in winter.
You can learn more about how to prepare a lawn for winter from the material: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/podgotovka-gazona-k-zime.html
Such bald spots are the result of trampling the paths on the lawn, because the crushed soil prevents the roots from being saturated with oxygen and contributes to their freezing
Should I plant a lawn in the fall?
Having understood the intricacies of care, we will focus on the planting of grass. Some summer residents finish preparation of the site for the future lawn too late, and seed planting just falls in the summer. If we compare the summer and autumn crops of the lawn, then the preference should be given to autumn. For good germination, seeds need moist soil and lack of heat. All these are clear signs of the September weather, when the rains begin, and the days are warm, but not hot anymore. In addition, planting a lawn in the autumn gives more friendly shoots, because weeds do not interfere with the grass. By this time, they begin to prepare for winter and sprout weakly.
In late sowing the lawn, it is recommended to increase the rate of seed consumption by about 1.5 times, because some of them will freeze over the winter
If you qualitatively dig the site and choose the roots of all perennials, then you can not even spill the soil with herbicides. Sow the plot and wait for seedlings. True, you should not delay the sowing dates. September is the best time. Before the onset of cold weather, the blades of grass will have time to grow stronger and grow so that you can mow them once. But try to mow not the very soil, but only the tops.
Some gardeners also recommend winter sowing, i.e. planting seeds in frozen soil (approximately in November). Then you will see the shoots early in the spring, and they will be strong, because they have been hardened by frost. But in our climate, there are several factors that can spoil such landings. Firstly, in areas with a slope, spring floods can wash away part of the seeds along with snow. Secondly, the fall may be delayed, and after the cold weather the thaw will begin. Feeling warming, the seeds will hatch, germinate - and the first winter frosts will kill them “still warm”. If you decide to winter planting, you need to sow a larger proportion of seeds than usual, with the expectation of partial freezing.
