If you want a beautiful lawn next year, you can’t just walk inside and forget it at the end of summer. And, unlike our friends in colder hardiness zones, it won’t hide under a blanket of snow this winter. It’s time to winterize your lawn to protect it from the first freezing temperatures and get rid of winter weeds before they overtake your grass.
Know Your Grass Type and Why It Matters
If you live in the Lower South, your lawn should be a warm-season grass. In the Upper South, cool-season grasses provide the best looking lawns, and Middle Southerners use one or the other depending on their USDA hardiness zone or microclimate.
It’s important to identify what type of lawn grass you have because cool season grasses can benefit from late fall fertilization. Warm-season grasses enter dormancy in the late fall and adding fertilizer, especially one high in nitrogen, can cause injury when cold temperatures arrive.
Cool-Season Grasses
Kentucky BluegrassPerennial RyegrassTall Fescue
Warm-Season Grasses
BahiagrassBermudagrassBuffalograssCarpetgrassCentipedegrassSt. AugustinegrassZoysiagrass
Watch the Weather and First Frost Dates
Frost dates matter when it comes to winterizing your lawn and everyone knows that timing in life and lawns is everything. While Mother Nature can be tricky, here are the general guidelines for the first frost dates in the South:
Upper South (Zone 7a-7b): October 19 and November 15Middle South (Zone 8a-9a): November 7 and November 28Lower South (Zones 9b and above): November 25 and December 13
By keeping an eye on the weather forecast, you can plan when your lawn should be fertilized and chemical weed control applied, a new watering schedule set, and when it should mowed for the last time.
Mow One Last Time—But Adjust the Height
As temperatures cool, the growth of warm-season grasses slow. Cool-season grasses, however, enjoy the weather and require mowing later in the fall or winter. One of the best indicators of when to stop mowing is soil temperature. Stop mowing warm-season grasses when temperatures dip below 55ºF. and cool-season grasses when the soil temp is below 40ºF.
When it is time for that last cut, you want to leave the grass as thick and healthy as possible. A buzz cut or ‘scalping’ leaves grass vulnerable to freezing temperatures and cool-season weeds that like to take over. At the same time, leaving grass too long over the winter can shade the soil and weaken the grass.
You should slowly raise the mower blades in late summer for healthier winter grass. For warm-season grasses, the final lawn length should be 2 to 4 inches depending on the type of grass. Cool-season grass final cuts are best around 2 to 2.5 inches.
Fertilize Smart—Root Support Over Growth
Garden centers are filled with bags of ‘lawn winterizers’. Before you grab a bag, (be wary of ‘weed and feed’ blends, too) be sure to read the label carefully. Your lawn does not need a fertilizer that contains a high nitrogen level. Nitrogen triggers new growth that will be killed when freezing temperatures hit. Look for a blend that has a higher level of potassium such as 5-5-25.
One way to be sure you are fertilizing smart is to take a soil sample and have it tested. It will reveal what your lawn needs. For example, if you have used a fertilizer containing 8 to 15% potassium throughout the summer, it’s unlikely a fall application is necessary.
Water Wisely (But Not Too Much)
Your lawn still needs water in late fall and throughout the winter, but not nearly as much as when it is actively growing in spring and summer. Apply about 1/2 inch of water in one deep watering session every 7-10 days, depending on rainfall, to maintain the root health of the turf.
Once freezing temperatures hit, stop watering to protect your lawn from repeated freezing and thawing. Ice forming on grass can damage the root system.
When To Stop Watering
You should begin tapering off your lawn watering routine in late October or early November, depending on the temperatures and rainfall in your area. When nighttime temperatures consistently stay below 70°F in the South, the grass growth rate significantly decreases. That’s a good time to adjust the amount of water you apply. Continue to provide irrigation until the first frost.
Once freezing temperatures hit, stop watering to protect your lawn and your hoses and sprinklers. Ice forming on grass can damage the root system from repeated freezing and thawing.
Prevent Weeds Before They Sprout
We’re back to timing when it comes to winter weeds; prevention is better than a cure. To get the benefits from pre-emergent winter weed control products, they should be applied in late summer to mid-fall in the South. Beyond that, it’s generally too late to apply a pre-emergent.
You can, however, manually remove weeds with a weeding fork or stand-up weeding tool. For chemical control use a 3-way herbicide containing 2, 4-D as the main active ingredient to control broadleaf weeds like clover, henbit, and chickweed. Grassy weeds such as annual bluegrass need a control product that contains atrazine.
Clean Up and Let It Rest
There are a few chores you should take care to prepare your lawn for the winter. Then you can both rest up and dream of spring.
Remove thick layers of leaves, especially wet ones, from the lawn. Use a mulching mower to chop the leaves into tiny bits that can be left on the lawn to nourish the soil.Prune evergreen shrubs and trees that provide too much shade on the lawn. The turf needs sunlight even in winter to remain healthy.Core aeration is most effective when grass is actively growing but it can be done in the fall before the grass goes into dormancy.
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