Sinbad the comedian, best known for his character on the television show “A Different World” – and his character was best known for wearing track pants in every scene – once said that growing up in Michigan, no matter what the weather or your plans, Saturdays meant mowing the lawn. As a Michigan native myself, I remember nodding in agreement as a child to Sinbad’s sage words, at least until my dad noticed I was watching television on a Saturday and forced me to begin mowing the lawn myself.
With winter quickly approaching – for those of us who haven’t already been pelted with a snowstorm like the one that hit the Northeastern United States – there are several things that can be done to ensure your lawn is the envy of the neighborhood when Old Man Winter does his final bow at the start of Spring.
How to Start Preparing Your Lawn for Winter
Unplug Water Hoses – While this may seem minor, I can assure you from personal experience it most definitely is important. While in college I agreed to overlook the premises while my parents went to visit relatives in Florida during the frigid winter months. I was awakened in the middle of the night to an extremely loud noise coming from our finished basement, a disturbance that sounded like a window smashing into a million pieces. Alarmed, I grabbed the nearest blunt object and waited for the police while I kept a wary eye on the basement steps. Once the police arrived, standing water was discovered on the basement’s carpet floor courtesy of an exploded pipe. If hoses aren’t disconnected from water outlets outside, pipes can freeze and burst, leading to extensive home damage.
Consider Reflectors on your Mailbox – Another notion that may appear unorthodox, mailbox reflectors might help protect your lawn. Every winter I see it in neighborhoods across Michigan – vehicles that gain too much speed, lose control momentarily and skid into yards, leaving extremely unattractive tread marks imprinted. Besides being unsightly, such tread marks can cause damage to your yard. Putting a few reflectors on your mailbox is a cheap way to remind motorists to monitor their speed. While it may not prevent such an incident from happening, it’s a cheaper method than installing a network of cameras to catch such a culprit.
Take your Grandfather’s Advice – Get Off the Lawn – One of the perks of advancing in years, or so I’ve gathered, is the ability to tell youngsters to get off your lawn or risk being sprayed with a hose. In actuality, it’s not a bad idea. When your lawn freezes it becomes extremely vulnerable, and walking on it can cause damage. So if you see a youngster walking through your yard during the winter, it’s okay to be like your grandfather and tell him to get off – just be aware that using a hose will only freeze your yard even more!
Prepare for the Following Year: Fertilize – Lawns, like bears (when has that comparison ever been made?), can enter a hibernation of sorts during the winter. One way to make sure you have a healthy lawn the following Spring is to fertilize before winter sets in. Utilizing fertilizer in this manner will ensure your lawn has plenty of nutrients to draw from when it’s in its own winter slumber.
This post was written by staff writer Scott Janssen.
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