It can be hard to tell if your grass died over winter—the colder months may leave you with a dull, brownish lawn that can make you nervous about what has happened and what you’ll have to do in the spring.
The good news is that a brown lawn doesn’t necessarily mean your grass has died—it may have become dormant over the winter. When grass becomes dormant, it directs its energy towards keeping its roots alive, rather than towards growing that green grass you’re used to. The grass turns brown, conserving nutrients and water for the roots. This natural process helps the grass withstand temperature changes—like the winter cold—and keeps the grass alive so it can come back in the spring.
You may even have seen a similar protective measure during extreme summer heat, when the grass turns a dull brown and goes dormant. This process in the winter keeps the grass from dying and is no cause for concern. If your lawn is simply dormant, your grass will come back with the return of warmer spring temperatures.
While it can be hard to distinguish dormant versus dead grass in winter, Spokane’s Finest Lawns (SFL) will work with you in the spring to determine if your lawn is dead or if it needs reseeding or fertilizer.
We will also be able to begin lawn cutting as your grass starts to grow again in the warmer weather, following a pattern that will keep it healthy as the grass wakes up—for more information on your yearly lawn-cutting schedule, you can look at this reference guide.
During the winter, our lawn care professionals help with yard work and snow removal, which helps your grass stay healthy until the spring—the buildup of leaves and other debris can choke out your grass and leave you with dead patches in the summer.
If you can’t stand that dead grass color all winter, a lawn care company like ours can plant winter grass during the fall to keep your lawn green over the winter. While many lawn grasses are warm-season grasses, which become green in the spring and turn brown with the onset of colder temperatures, a winter grass is a cold-weather grass, which turns green during the colder months and dies off as the weather becomes warmer.
In the fall, a lawn-care company can seed winter grass that will keep your lawn green over the winter and that will allow your normal warm-season grass to take over in the spring and summer.
If you aren’t sure what’s going on with your lawn, if you’re interested in winter grasses, or if you want to establish a full-year lawn care schedule, hiring a professional lawn care company is the way to go.
Our lawn care professionals at Spokane’s Finest Lawns will help you figure out what steps to take and can check on any concerns you have and can remedy common lawn care problems, including helping you distinguish dormant versus dead grass.
Call us today at (509)910-8515.