Your COMPLETE Guide To WINTER Lawn Care

In the month of December, the end of Fall, and the early parts of Winter, there are a lot of things we can do to the lawn to make it look its best throughout the off-season. In fact, some of these lawn care tips will help your lawn perform much better in the Spring when all the grass starts waking up from dormancy.
Weekly lawn reminders are available here:
► turfmechanic.c...
Helpful Supporting Information Links & Videos
► How I Woke My Lawn Up From Winter: • TRICK Your Lawn / WAKE...
► Soil Temp Video: • A HUGE Moving Target ~...
► Dormant Seeding Tips: • How & When To Dormant ...
► Warm vs Cool Season Grass Explained: turfmechanic.c...
► Do You Need To Winterize An Irrigation System: • Do You Really Need To ...
► Best Hoses For Winter: turfmechanic.c...
► Is It OK To Leave Leaves Over Winter: • Is It OK To Leave Leav...
► Do Battery Mowers Have Good Suction: • Do Battery Powered Law...
► Cut Grass High or Low For Winter: • Should The Grass Be Cu...
► Never Throw Grass Clippings Away Again: • No Way You'll Ever Thr...
► Seaweed vs Cytokinins: • Seaweed & Sea Kelp Ext...
► Lower Lawn Soil pH with Elemental Sulfur: • Elemental Sulphur To L...
► Can Iron Make Your Lawn Green In Winter: • Will Iron Turn Grass G...
► How Organic Lawn Soil Food Works: • How Organic Lawn Care ...
► The Winter Pre-Emergent Process: • The Most Forgettable L...
► Winter Lawn Care Mistakes: • Top Winter Lawncare Mi...
The weed killer I featured in the video is the Triad Select product which is just about as strong as they come. It can be used year-round so long as daytime temps don't climb over 90 in the summer and overnight temps don't drop below 40 in the winter. Here's a direct affiliate link to price it out. shrsl.com/2vkc5
Resources Still In Development
► The Strongest Weed Killers: • Three Weed Killers Tes...
► What Mycorrhizae Does To The Lawn: • Gardener's Secret To A...
► Mower Blade Maintenance Tips: • How To Sharpen A Mower...
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[@TurfMechanic]

►►► Want to fix your lawn for the long haul but don't know where to start? I can help! Click here right now and get started today: turfmech.link/dont-know-where-to-start ◄◄◄

[@matthodel946]

Great tips as usual. I hope you're loving your new home Brian. I appreciate every video you've made.

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks so much Matt! We're slowly learning to love the new place; still settling in but at least it's starting to actually feel homey. Hope you have a great Christmas season!

[@Kenjiro5775]

Just moved to a place with a small lawn in front that is highly visible, so I became interested in keeping it looking good. Your channel has really helped in getting me up the learning curve faster than I imagined. I've got a TTTF lawn in central Oregon and your advice helped me keep it green all summer and heading into winter. Thanks for the very helpful advice. 😁✌

[@TurfMechanic]

Love hearing from people like you! With tttf in central Oregon you're probably going to have good color and maybe even growth in the fringe months of growing season. Hope you enjoy the holidays and enjoy the winter ❄️

[@MagnumVideos]

This is an excellent video, Brian. Tons of info.

[@juzoli]

Pro tip: Sweep all the leftover discounted stuff from the stores. It needs some luck, but there are pretty sweet deals around, like $50 fertilizer for $10.

[@PNWLawnGuy]

Vancouver Washington and I’m mowing my perennial ryegrass 12 months per year. Great video!

[@thankful0329]

great video lots of great info . going to go try a few things later today.

[@TurfMechanic]

whatcha up to? I'm prepping for my mychorizae app today and tomorrow and a few lawn projects that I never make vids on, pavers by the chicken coop being the big one.

[@thankful0329]

@@TurfMechanic i just had to do some yard pick up. i tried the mower with bag to pick up my leaves and some flower bed clean up . I did my last app of organic fert. and i had to move around my landscaping pavers because i had to clean up some of the stuff left from putting in a new roof. the mychorizae app sounds very interesting . enjoy your yard work and hope your pavers by the chickens comes out good. look forward to seeing more videos and what things to do in the winter. thank you

[@donnarizzo3510]

Hi Brian, still green here in NY 40-42 ground temp and from your video have a plan to put my last fert by the end of Nov between now and next week. Can I put down the granules via Scotts broadcast spreader and water in? I believe that's what I heard. Does that sound right? I know you dissolved your in water and used a sprayer. Please advise ty Brother ☺️

[@donnarizzo3510]

Speaking about Ammonium Sulfate!

[@TurfMechanic]

Yes am sulfate you can apply...but don't go heavy. If you want to go heavy with natural sources then go for it but amm sulfate keep it light and the grass will be good for the next couple weeks and also in the early spring. If you use granular then water helps to get it in the soil or you can dissolve it and apply it with a hose end sprayer or backpack sprayer if your hose it already put away for the season.

[@donnarizzo3510]

@@TurfMechanic Ty and Lord’s blessing on you, your family and your new home. Happy Thankgiving 🧡🍂🦃

[@Lawn_Care_Lounge_tv_uk]

our average temp here in the uk south west 6c today night time is around 4c my rye and tall fescue still growing

[@jimshorts5970]

I used to leave my Bermuda lawns as high as possible going into winter to help prevent winter weeds from getting in. The fall Barricade application did a good job with that but you’d still have some get through. Then scalped it down to the ground and bagged it in late winter/early spring before it started coming out of dormancy. Then applied Barricade and sprayed with glyphosate. It IS a time consuming and physical job on large yards when you leave it tall over the winter. There were times where I’d end up with 15-20, 55 gal can liners packed to the max all over a yard. Not fun to have to throw em up on your shoulder and carry them to the trailer then haul em out to a buddy’s acreage and throw em off and tear them open. Luckily I was young, strong, and kinda dumb:)

[@TurfMechanic]

lol, I still think I'm young and dumb; I do too many things the manual (hard) way - if I had a full Bermuda lawn I'd absolutely do a short cut at end of fall to shrink the amount of work I'd have to put in at end of winter; some might also argue the longer Bermuda will help insulate the ground and protect roots from winter damage but if you are growing bermuda then your local temps probably imply you won't ever have extended stretches of extreme cold that could kill off bermuda root systems. Even the cold of TX in Feb this year didn't kill off the Bermuda down there. It's hardy stuff and the roots go crazy deep.

[@ronherman8067]

🎃🎃ooh hmm Ppp pop pop🎃

[@jimshorts5970]

@@ronherman8067 ?

[@carldale7048]

Really helpful content! My question regarding dormant seeding is that I'm in Minnesota and we could get snow at any time. I'm watching the forecast to see when it looks like we'll get our first snow that'll stick and at that point I was planning to get the dormant seeding down on a couple of bare spots. I want to time it so that the seed isn't exposed long enough for birds and critters to eat. The video says that I should keep waiting at this point, but I assume that you'd recommend getting the seed down UNDER the snow.

[@TurfMechanic]

Yes, hard to cover everything without talking for two hours lol, for you you'll want to put seed down just before your first major snow that you don't really expect to melt off. Here we get dustings of snow most November's but they always melt off. Last year I tried dormant seeding a patch at the very beginning of December and we just had too many days with no snow cover and eventually I lost my seed to accidental washout from my hose of all things! Just use your judgment while watching your 10-day forecast. If weather seems to be turning hard then put the seed down just prior to snow and cold and then have a cup of coffee for a few months 😁

[@JBSwanstrom]

MN here as well and plan a dormant seeding!

[@raymondmcdonald7085]

Man you are lucky to have sun over there. Freezing fog the last few weeks here. The lawn really took a hit from leaving the leaves. I have the squashed grass in the mud syndrome here. Looks like a reseed this spring. 😕

[@TurfMechanic]

Lol, well we are getting the same freezing fog, the frost on the car windows in the morning I crazy thick but the fog burns off by 10 and has been leaving us with super blue skies until sun down. It's actually really pleasant weather I just wish it would give us some real snow.

[@JackBristow12345]

Rhode Island, Trying to keep the lawn (PerRYE and Bluegrass),watered and adding Ironite (I know you like liquid Iron better). Seeing how long I can keep it green. Grass is still very green, luckily.

[@TurfMechanic]

Lol, I do prefer liquid but ironite works too when applied correctly. Honestly my lawn is holding color really well now. Best it's ever looked for Dec 1. We've had a lot of sunny days over the past 10 days which has helped. I will be applying michoriza to the lawn this week before our temps dip back down again but I'm tempted to throw down a bit of iron too at the same time, I may even go the ironite route because I'll have to water in the michoriza. Stay tuned Phillip and thanks so much for your viewership and for your comments!

[@JackBristow12345]

@@TurfMechanic Thanks for all the great information, awesome videos. Thanks for the tip also. I will have to look into the michoriza.

[@thurstonr9929]

Morning Brian, What a great video with relevant content. Your information on mowing in December was very helpful. I’ve been trying to get one last mow in to bring lawn down another inch but we’ve been getting snow flurries here in Upstate NY. I’m trying to avoid mowing it ( TTTF/KBG) wet as you mentioned. I’ve had issues with snow mold and now I know why. Again, thanks for another informative video. You should really think about a live stream next season. Also, I haven’t done a soil test for the fall. Is the too late? Happy Holidays to you and your family.

[@TurfMechanic]

I'd really like to get some live stream in, I did one back in August, kind of like a learning experiment for me. So far it's been hard to do them with the little kids and my wife's work schedule, she works long hospital hours so evenings are usually out. Next year my youngest will be two so doing those might be easier and I'm sure you and others would appreciate them. Good luck with getting in a last trim!

[@siggi5395]

Good Video😁

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks Siggi! 😊

[@Longenecker1776]

Here in Northwest Ohio (AKA THE BLACK SWAMP) the issue is it’s been a very wet year. Sure would be nice for the leaf collecting if it dried out a bit. I’ll be raking or running the zero turn with the bagger for the next month waiting for the neighbors Oak tree leaves to drop 🤬.

[@TurfMechanic]

That sounds miserable 😬 I'd hate to have to take a heavy zero turn on a soggy dormant lawn but if you gotta do it then... Thanks for watching Kilton! Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

[@Longenecker1776]

@@TurfMechanic You’re probably right, but my plan is to go back and forth with my 21 inch Husqvarna and the 34 inch Cub Cadet. I do have about 3/4 acre so it’s a bear sometimes to push mow if I don’t have the time. Have a great December!

[@samcuratolo3885]

i have lived in n.e. ohio my whole life....never heard of the BLACK SWAMP......so i learned something today

[@Longenecker1776]

@@samcuratolo3885 North West Ohio was underwater at some point, allegedly. I’m not originally from here, but that’s what I’ve been told.

[@samcuratolo3885]

@@Longenecker1776 i should know more about my state....none of that was taught in ohio history during the time i went to school...back in the dark ages(1960's)

[@chriscorbray4457]

The seedlings in this video at 19:24, would you mow those before it snows or freezes, or let them remain until early spring? Some of mine is almost that height in some areas. I’m trying to figure out if I should cut it or leave it alone. I reseeded October 10th. Today is November 23rd and the seedlings are different heights depending on the area. I’m gonna have about 4-6 decent weather days so it could recover some. What do you think?

[@TurfMechanic]

Sorry for the late reply but I think id just leave it alone if my seedling were that immature this late into fall...then again, it's always tempting to give them a trim so if weather allows I don't think it's a bad idea and might encourage early thickening of the turf.

[@chriscorbray4457]

@@TurfMechanic I was to afraid to cut it low since cold weather was coming. So actually what I did was set the mower to 4 inches since most of the seedlings were 3 inches or shorter. Several areas had higher growth. I figured to just trim the regular grass to 4, and give the seedlings more sunlight, and seedlings over four inches would get a little trim as well. You were correct in one of those videos I watched when you said you don’t really need anything to germinate seeds. One of the areas in my yard doesn’t get much sun if at all with the lowering of the winter sun. I watered everyday and in a few weeks, grass was coming up. I’m excited to see what happens in the spring.

[@chrisweidmaier3619]

A lot of good information! Im fighting the leaf battle with a large oak tree. What is the best way to get the acorns off my yard?

[@italianballbreaker]

Hey Chris what I do is light rake it then use my blower and after that I walk the lawn and pick out any acorns left behind. It takes a little time but it’s worth it.

[@TurfMechanic]

I'm planning on buying an earthwise lawn sweeper this winter to help pick up cores after aeration, grass debris after dethatcher, and the I read it should pick up acorns pine cones, and pine needles. I'm hopeful. Otherwise I'd maybe run the dethatcher on the highest setting to see if that picked them up to the top of the leaf canopy. Obviously I've never had acorns to deal with so I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on this too

[@TurfMechanic]

That sounds like a good plan of attack, id definitely trying blowing them first to see if you could skip the raking. This is where the strength of the blower comes into play. 700 cfm time 😲

[@jimshorts5970]

I had 3 covering my entire front yard and the acorns drove me nuts (pun intended). Mow it low and use a combo of a large wide plastic leaf rake and a backpack blower. Blow them until your pile gets too big to push effectively, rake into piles and pick em up. No real easy way. You can have them sprayed by companies with growth regulator but it’s expensive and the timing is critical. Trimming them regularly (every few years) helps some too but not everyone wants to climb to the top of a 40-50 foot tree with a chainsaw and walk out onto branches:) Obviously you can hire a tree service to do it if you have the bucks.

[@TurfMechanic]

@@jimshorts5970 excellent tips Jim, thanks for that!

[@johns1646]

So best time to put down seeds for dormant seeding in the northeast would be after Christmas?

[@homer009x]

Checks colour of grass in Canada: white.

[@TurfMechanic]

🤣🤣🤣

[@donnarizzo3510]

Hi Brian, I am not seeing a place to sign up for your email list to spoke about!

[@TurfMechanic]

You can sign up here but be warned I haven't sent an email out for nearly a year: turfmechanic.com/message-to-subscribers/ I am thinking about setting up an email series during the off season so if I find the time and will to devote some time to it you can expect at least a few mailings eventually.

[@scruffyjohnson]

Microryzawhaaat? Never heard of it. Curious to see what that's about..

[@TurfMechanic]

😁 look for my "stealth December app" video in a week or so.

[@rubenharris9241]

Thanks Brian. Another helpful video, however now I am confused about dormant seeding. I am in the Northeast and soil temp is around 35 degrees. I was planning to dormant seed in the next few days. Based on this video, should I wait until it gets colder or am I already too late for a dormant seeding?

[@TurfMechanic]

The earlier you do it the greater loss you'll have. Other's might counter my opinion but I would say wait as long as you can and then dormant seed just before you get a heavy snow going into a super cold snap. You want the seed on the ground for less time to minimize loss and ensure the best germination rate. Last year I put my dormant seed down somewhere around Nov 27 and it was way too early. It sat on bare soil for so long that it was just gone by feb/march. For the northern grass types it's actually less about temps and more about getting it down just before it all gets covered up by snow for the bulk of the winter season. If I were to do it again, I'd measure out my seed needs and then just wait to apply for as long as possible and then once my 10-day forecast gave me indication of a prolonged cold snap coupled with a healthy expected layer of snow then I would apply a day or two ahead of that weather.

[@rubenharris9241]

@@TurfMechanic Appreciate you doing this video Brian. I was within 24 hours of doing this and would have regretted it. I now understand the concept….very helpful sir!

[@TurfMechanic]

@@rubenharris9241 glad I could help!

[@bbtank3000]

I personally like to keep my grass no taller than 1.5 inches in the winter, otherwise the voles love chewing away at it.

[@TurfMechanic]

Interesting comment, never heard of voles going after the taller cut grass in winter, ill have to research that and their typical activity in winter.

[@bbtank3000]

@@TurfMechanic I read somewhere that taller grass encourages the voles to feed. But that could've been wrong. Anywho, this will be my second winter with shorter grass so we'll see how it goes.

[@TurfMechanic]

@@bbtank3000 I'll research this nevertheless, thanks for the idea!

[@michaelsteele5495]

Through the power of KZbin, I recently found out that "spray painting" dormant warm-season grass is a thing. The spray paint is lawn safe and won't hurt the grass, it will wear off in 2-3 months, just in time for the Spring wake-up. I would love to hear your thoughts and or a video on this.

[@jimshorts5970]

I used to have people ask me all the time if that’s what I was doing for my customers yards in late winter. Had to explain that I was spraying round up and it was just a dye you add to see where you’ve sprayed. Never thought about ACTUALLY painting em:)

[@TurfMechanic]

Yep it's a thing, it's one of those things though that I see very little need for. In the non-lawn care world though I could see it being useful for applying before trying to sell a house, maybe if you were taking professional photos before listing amd wanted the lawn to look green but I can't think of many reasons to do so other than that...unless maybe you had patches of cool season grass in an otherwise dormant warm season grass lawn maybe to make it not look wonky? It's definitely not my thing but I'm sure there's got to be a good handful of useful things that grass paint can be used for. Id love to hear from others in the comments for uses of the stuff aside from general vanity. Lol

[@jimshorts5970]

@@TurfMechanic Ha ha. Yeah mine was two tone but I never thought about it being odd looking because that’s how everyone’s looked that had fescue.

[@mikewarmbold3820]

@@TurfMechanic golf courses with bermuda have always painted the greens when dormant. When all of the grass is dormant, there is no contrast of color for you to be able to see the green. Obviously not talking about a lawn, but a fun fact.

[@TurfMechanic]

@@mikewarmbold3820 aha, that makes sense

[@johnkeith2767]

Looks beautiful there. What part of world are you located?

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks John, Klamath Falls, Oregon - it's the closest "major" place to Crater Lake National Park. Stick that on your bucket list; it's an insanely beautiful location to visit. :)