Switched to watering newly seeded lawn 2x/week about 3 weeks ago. Now that we’ve had frost 2 days in a row do I stop watering completely? Good fertilizer to apply?
Frosts won’t hurt cool season grasses. They go dormant (winter dormancy) when the soil temps drop below 40 degrees F (4C) they don’t care what the air temp is. The back-flow preventer (if you have one) does care.
Ricka77_New
Stop watering. No need to fertilize either. The grass is going to sleep soon…
effortornot7787
a few things here. the frosts are going to slow down growth considerably. watering to promote growth is not really going to do much. The same for fertilizer…that window has passed. if it is already freezing at night, your water system will freeze as well so consider winterizing that.
jimbo831
From what I’ve read, you should water until the grass stops growing. Your grass will continue growing after a frost.
PastAd1087
Id still water if the day temps are in the high 50s and 60s like here. Once the ground temp is below 50 you can stop.
Mean-Industry7314
Awesome question. Had the same.
DefianceUnstable
Dont know where your at but im in zone 4. I stopped watering a few weeks ago and put my ground setup away and the grass looks healthier than it did all summer. Not a single dry spot to be seen and new growth has appeared because the ground has stayed wet from just the rain and morning dew.. also im in a desert.
ItzBenjiey
I just put my hoses/sprinkler’s up yesterday. Last fertilizer application was around 2 weeks ago. I’m done for the season, might get 1-2 more mows in, havent winterized the 2 stroke engines yet. We pick up next spring with pre-emergent and maybe some spot seeding.
parker_db15
Pretty much yes grass will go dormant for the winter
rage675
Once ground temps are like 50-55, the soil usually will stay moist unless you go weeks without rain and you really don’t need to water.
Heavy_Fronds
Piggybacking on this thread—I stopped watering today but my grass is longer than I’d like it, it could use one more mow. Should I mow it in the afternoon (temps in upper 50’s) or leave it long for the winter? I’m new to this and just laid new sod this September.
Savings_Variation553
Can I just say that the square pattern looks cool!
Qwertyham
Grass looks perfectly fine. Coulda stopped watering a week ago.
13 Comments
Frosts won’t hurt cool season grasses. They go dormant (winter dormancy) when the soil temps drop below 40 degrees F (4C) they don’t care what the air temp is. The back-flow preventer (if you have one) does care.
Stop watering. No need to fertilize either. The grass is going to sleep soon…
a few things here. the frosts are going to slow down growth considerably. watering to promote growth is not really going to do much. The same for fertilizer…that window has passed. if it is already freezing at night, your water system will freeze as well so consider winterizing that.
From what I’ve read, you should water until the grass stops growing. Your grass will continue growing after a frost.
Id still water if the day temps are in the high 50s and 60s like here. Once the ground temp is below 50 you can stop.
Awesome question. Had the same.
Dont know where your at but im in zone 4. I stopped watering a few weeks ago and put my ground setup away and the grass looks healthier than it did all summer. Not a single dry spot to be seen and new growth has appeared because the ground has stayed wet from just the rain and morning dew.. also im in a desert.
I just put my hoses/sprinkler’s up yesterday. Last fertilizer application was around 2 weeks ago. I’m done for the season, might get 1-2 more mows in, havent winterized the 2 stroke engines yet. We pick up next spring with pre-emergent and maybe some spot seeding.
Pretty much yes grass will go dormant for the winter
Once ground temps are like 50-55, the soil usually will stay moist unless you go weeks without rain and you really don’t need to water.
Piggybacking on this thread—I stopped watering today but my grass is longer than I’d like it, it could use one more mow. Should I mow it in the afternoon (temps in upper 50’s) or leave it long for the winter? I’m new to this and just laid new sod this September.
Can I just say that the square pattern looks cool!
Grass looks perfectly fine. Coulda stopped watering a week ago.