Wherever you live, at some point in the year the temperature will drop and your lawn will freeze. When this happens you should avoid walking on your lawn as much as possible. Walking on a frozen lawn can cause the blades of grass to swell and potentially rupture. As the grass blades burst, it damages the cell structure causing the grass to turn grey/black in colour. Check out our top tips for a frosty lawn.
Let it defrost naturally!
The best way to look after your lawn is to let it defrost naturally. Avoid using salt or de-icing products to defrost your garden. De-icers and melting salts, often contain sodium chloride which in larger quantities will kill your grass.
You should also avoid spraying weed killers or lawn fertilisers onto a frozen lawn. These gardening products are unlikely to be able to penetrate the lawn and will run off the lawn into ponds, rivers etc. harming the environment.
Sometimes when it is cold enough for the grass to freeze, snow also accompanies it. While snow on your lawn isn’t a huge problem for your grass, it can become one if large amounts are piled into a heap on top of it.
These mounds of snow prevent sunlight from reaching the grass and if left for long periods will suffocate the lawn as it will not be able to photosynthesise sunlight and turn it into food. This is often the case when people clear paths and walkways from snow. When moving snow you should try and scatter it evenly across the lawn to avoid this from happening.
If there is snow on top of plants and trees, a good tip is to gently shake the branches to remove it. If enough snow collects on the branches they will snap damaging the plants. Gently shake them from the bottom up to avoid adding more snow to the bottom branches as you go.
Lastly a good tip when the temperature is expected to drop is to insulate outdoor pipes. This will help prevent them from cracking with the cold and excessive amounts of water being sprayed around the garden.
