Do you know that winter is your lawn’s make-it or break-it period? You read that right. That’s when you should prepare your property for the upcoming spring and cold months. Although grass doesn’t grow much and becomes dormant in winter, you can keep it lush with a little preparation. So, to know how to keep grass green in winter, keep reading.

To keep the grass green in winter, get rid of leaves and other debris, aerate the lawn in the fall, and fertilize it during the season. After that, overseed the yard with cool-season grass seeds in the early fall and feed the turf with a high-nitrogen fertilizer. Keep watering the yard appropriately during the winter and use turf colorant if your lawn becomes dormant.

How to Keep Grass Green During Winter

You can maintain the grass’s green color in winter by using the following strategies;

1. Get rid of debris

Debris blocks your turf roots from getting enough sunlight and nutrients and introduces harmful mold and moisture. This results in unhealthy lawns. Therefore, to keep your grass green throughout the winter, frequently rake the debris in the fall.

2. Aerate the lawn

Summer heat often compacts the soil, blocking the vital nutrients, moisture, and sunlight from reaching the turf roots. So, aerate in the late fall or early winter. This loosens the soil and allows essential nutrients and moisture to flow to the turf, improving winter grass growth.

3. Overseed

Overseeding your warm-season lawn with winter grass seeds is the best way to retain a green property throughout winter. Once the warm-season turfs enter dormancy in cold months, the cool-season grasses you overseeded with in fall thrive.

4. Fertilize your lawn

Feed your grass with a high-nitrogen fertilizer in the fall to maintain a green property in winter.

5. Water your grass

Ensure your property receives adequate water in winter to keep your lawn green. Follow the proper winter watering schedule.

6. Use turf colorant

All remedies to maintain the green grass color may fail. In this case, use grass paint or turf colorant such as COLORBACK Mulch Liquid Color Concentrate (pictured below) to color your dormant grass green. The color has no harmful effects on the lawn.

How to Make My St Augustine Grass Greener

Here are the things you should do to keep your St. Augustine grass greener;

• Mow the grass frequently and avoid cutting over one-third of the grass blades.
• Water St Augustine grass deeply and only when the lawn needs it.
• Give the grass a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer more frequently than other grass types.
• Identify and control the weeds, pests, and lawn diseases that can harm your St. Augustine grass early enough.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What happens to green grass in the winter?

A: Winter has colder temperatures and shorter days, slowing down grass growth. With the continuous cold, grass blades go dormant, and older grass leaves wither and eventually die, making the lawn brown.

Q: How can I make my yard nice in the winter?

A: Despite the cold winter temperatures, you can still keep your lawn looking nice with various helpful winter yard maintenance checklists. These include removing debris, aerating, fertilizing, mowing, raking, weeding, and watering the lawn as required.

Conclusion

Warm-season grasses become dormant in winter due to cold temperatures. However, you can maintain green grass with some preparation and practicing a useful winter yard maintenance checklist.

If you need to know how to keep the grass green in winter, clear all debris and aerate the lawn in the fall.

Also, overseed with cool-season grass seeds before winter, and fertilize the lawn. Keep watering the grass; if all remedies fail, apply turf colorant.