Winter Lawn Care: To Prune Or Not To Prune

During winter, the last thing on your mind is probably your lawn. Most likely, your yard is covered by snow and slush, your flowers have wilted for the winter, and it’s too cold to go outside and trim your trees. Yet, long, harsh, and cold winters can take a significant toll on your home’s yard. In this blog, we’ll break down the effects winter can have on your yard and how an experienced landscaping company, like TurfOne Landscape Management can help keep your yard beautiful and healthy all year long.

Winter Lawn Care

The best way to ensure your lawn doesn’t fall victim to a harsh winter is to take preventative steps in the fall, summer, and spring. Proper lawn care is essential to upkeep curb appeal on your property, keep your plants healthy, and less money spent trying to replace dead trees, shrubs, or flowers.

In the fall, the best way to help your lawn is to rake up any fallen leaves so they don’t build up or get stuck under feet of snow. Ridding your yard of leaves helps prevent the death of your grass by suffocation and the growth of fungus.

Even if the summer’s hot and dry, it’s important to monitor how much you water your lawn. This will ensure your lawn isn’t too dry while not drowning it in water. By setting up a system that works for you, you can also aim to keep your lawn watered but your water bill low. Summer is also the best time to apply fertilizer to your yard, and if you’re unsure which fertilizer is best for your yard, we can help.

Spring is when everything starts to grow back and start a new. With everything blooming, flowers growing back, and snow melting, spring serves as the best time to prune your flowers and trees. The best time to prune your flowers is right when they emerge but before they’re fully bloomed.

What is Pruning?

The act of pruning your plants and trees is when you remove branches, buds, roots, and other parts of plants. This is done to help plants keep a more excellent shape and structure but also to promote new healthy growth. It also allows plants like; bushes, shrubs, or trees to not become overgrown. If you have overgrown plants in your yard or garden, it can attract certain pests to build homes there and may lead them into your home when the winter hits so they can escape the cold.

To Prune or Not to Prune

As stated earlier, the best time to prune most plants is in the spring unless they are deciduous plants. A deciduous shrub or tree is one that sheds its leaves, flowers, or fruits seasonally, typically during the fall. An example of a deciduous tree in Missouri is a red mulberry or river birch. Winter is the best time to prune deciduous trees because when their leaves are no longer on the branches, it is easier to shape and identify dead branches and new growth.