Many owners of private houses dream of seeing the lawn under their windows forever green, beautiful and well-groomed. Alas, the climate in our country makes this impossible: for at least four to five months it will be covered with snow. And for at least a month, it will definitely not please the eyes of the owners with the beauty and luscious greenery. To close this gap, the lawn needs help. And for this - to know about lawn care after winter.

It looks like a spring lawn

This is a rather complex set of work, which will take a lot of time and effort. So it's worth preparing for everything in advance. There may be less work if you are.

Spring has come, and the snow everywhere has begun to melt, turning into gaily murmuring rivulets. So it's time to start preparing the lawn for the summer. Make sure there are no large snowdrifts in the area. If there are any, try to distribute all the snow evenly over the lawn. Otherwise, after a few weeks you will get unnecessary problems when caring for it: in some places the soil will already dry out, while in others puddles form, making it impossible to carry out any work.

If the snow is evenly distributed, then it will melt and partially be absorbed, partially evaporate in about the same way. The only exceptions are heavily shaded areas, where try to leave less snow.

So, the entire territory of the lawn will be ready for the start of work at the same time. If an ice crust forms on top of the snow, try to get rid of it. It is enough just to break it with a shovel. This crust protects the snow from the sun's rays and wind, which will make the snowdrifts melt much more slowly than we would like.
If there are special drainage channels, be sure to clear them of dirt and last year's leaves. This will significantly speed up the process of draining lawns.

Beginning of work

Finally, all the snow melted on the lawn, and the puddles evaporated or soaked into the soil. It seemed that it was high time to start work in order to quickly see the luxurious, well-groomed lawns covered with bright greenery. But there is no need to rush here. Make sure the soil is dry enough first. Walking on too damp ground will leave visible dents that are very difficult to get rid of. Of course, they will seriously harm your ideal lawn. Until the lawn dries out and the soil becomes elastic, it is better not to walk on this area at all.

Completely dried lawn

When the soil is dry enough, it's time to start seasonal work.

Moreover, all this work must be done in the period from mid-April to early May, that is, before the vegetative period of plants begins (in this case, the growth of grass). Only then will they help to achieve the desired result. Since not all people are well versed in terms, it is worth describing in more detail each of the stages of work.

Someone may be intimidated by such a significant list of seasonal jobs. But don't you want the perfect lawn? And if so, then you will have to spend a lot of time. Of course, you can invite specialists to do all the work for you. But in this case, you will not only have to pay a considerable amount for their services, but also lose some of the pleasure. Still, it is much more pleasant to look at an elegant, well-groomed lawn, knowing that all this beauty was created with our own hands, than to see the same lawn grown by hired specialists. However, only you can make this choice.

Fertilizer use

After completing the work described above, you can start fertilizing the soil. After all, every lawn owner wants the grass to delight him with its density, rich color and great appearance. And for this it is necessary to apply special fertilizers.

First of all, it should be nitrogen fertilizers. They provide fast growth, so they need to be applied just before the growing season.

In most cases, 100 square meters enough from 1 to 1.5 kilograms of nitrogen fertilizers.

However, nitrogen fertilization isn't the only thing your lawn needs to grow faster. You should also use urea and ammonium nitrate. But finding the right proportion is quite difficult. It is necessary to take into account the type of soil, its natural composition and freshness. Therefore, it is best to purchase ready-made fertilizers.

Comparison of the amount of fertilizers per year

In many specialized stores you can see a set of fertilizers for lawn grass called "Spring". Yes, it costs a little more than other plants. But here all the substances necessary for the lawn grass are carefully balanced. Using this fertilizer, you as soon as possible you get a dense, bright green lawn that will delight you until the coldest days.

Fertilizers are applied in different ways. Some need to be dissolved in water and sprayed over the lawn, while others are introduced as capsules using a seeder or by hand. The capsules will dissolve in the first rain, and the grass will receive useful substances.

If one or more varieties of perennial lawn grass were used for landscaping the land plot of the local area, then when should the lawn be fertilized after winter?

Hard to find habitable land plot where not enough attention has been paid to the improvement of the adjacent territory. By planting lawn grass, you can create an excellent natural background, thereby ensuring that the soil is covered in half or most of the personal plot.

Benefits of Perennial Lawn Grasses

Plants for the lawn can be either single or perennial. Perennial varieties herbs differ in several characteristics:

• have increased indicators of frost resistance;
• in winter, such crops are characterized by the complete dying off of the terrestrial part of the plant;
• with the beginning of the spring season, plant shoots grow back from the preserved root.

Such lawns sprout, gradually filling the soil. Perennial varieties of lawns provide dense landscaping and give abundant flowering in the future. The main condition for impeccable appearance lawn, uniform coverage and color saturation is the correct measures for the care of the vegetation cover, including planned feeding procedures. Special attention requires the issue of landscaping with the arrival of heat and snow melting, when the lawn should be fertilized after winter in order to restore it.

Features of care in the spring

Absolutely all plants need regular feeding. Such replenishment is especially relevant in the spring, as the growing season begins. Recommendations for feeding the lawn state that the procedure must be carried out three times, but it should be noted that the first fertilization is carried out after the snow melts. This fertilization technique is based on the absorption of all useful elements by moist soil.

The effectiveness of feeding depends on the following factors:

• fertilizing exclusively in wet soil;
• correspondence of the type of feeding to the planted plants;
• fertilizers applied in the spring are mostly characterized by an increased nitrogen content;
• rationing of the consumed dressings varies within the limits of 30 - 50 g / m2;
• the best time for feeding is the moment before the young growth begins.

Dry fertilization techniques

Having correctly planned the time, choosing the type of fertilizer suitable for the planted grasses, you can begin activities to recharge the soil and planted crops.

There are several ways to apply fertilizer to wet soil:

1. Manual spreading of dry fertilizers over an area with not yet emerged lawn. This method is rather ineffective due to the excessive labor intensity and the possibility of uneven distribution. nutrients on the surface of the earth.
2. Spread fertilizer using a mechanical garden spreader. This method will not only shorten the duration of the work carried out, but also save the consumption of the applied top dressing.

Associated procedures for the restoration of a perennial lawn

Top dressing of the lawn in the spring is far from a one-step procedure based solely on spreading dry nutrients.

To help the perennial lawn recover and ensure it looks as attractive as possible, work should be implemented in stages, such as:

1. After applying top dressing to the soil, a pause of 1.5 - 2 weeks should be maintained. During this period, no action should be taken towards the development and improvement of this site.
2. After the allotted time, as the top layer of the lawn area dries out, carefully remove all detected plant residues.
3. It is necessary to get rid of the crust formed during the winter by carrying out work on when the plant felt from the surface of the earth rises by carrying out vertical movements.

In parallel with scarification, scarification is encouraged, which implies a kind of scraping off unnecessary elements at the site of grass germination. If it is not possible to feed the lawn immediately after the snow melts, it is possible to fix this by adding additional food after scarification.

The need for mandatory aeration of the site

Top dressing will not give positive results if the actions to aerate the site have not been carried out. Considering the fact that during the winter period the soil becomes denser, harder, accumulates carbon dioxide in quantities harmful to lawn plants. The flow of air to the roots of plants can not only be hampered, but blocked. To avoid oxygen starvation of the roots, aeration work should be carried out in any available way.

The most common ones are:

• using special gardening equipment that allows you to change the nozzles and parameters of the depth of the soil puncture;
• manually, using a conventional garden fork.

Such manipulations will provide not only the flow of oxygen into the soil, but also contribute to the accelerated oxidation of the applied fertilizers.

In the second half of April, care should be taken to carry out measures aimed at controlling weeds. The most effective is the method of introducing herbicides, even at the stage of formation.

Video - restoring the lawn after winter

After winter, the lawn fell into a deplorable state, which seems to be completely lost. Where did the lawn disappear to? What to do to avoid lawn problems?

Where did the lawn disappear: what to do,

if the lawn deteriorates after winter?

Lawn or lawn on garden plot always pleases the gaze of the owner and his guests. Even if it's just a narrow strip of grass along the driveway, refined by frequent mowing.

And if the grass cover is entirely man-made and it took a lot of work to create it, then this is already a matter of special pride.

Fluffy and lush green grass usually remains until the very frost, the same goes under the snow. But then spring comes, and the lawn appears before the eyes of the owner, sometimes in the most pitiful form: here it is drawn with black dead stripes, here there is a wide bald patch ...

Where did the lawn disappear to?

Very often in disappearance or spoilage lawn it is not the weather conditions that are to blame, but the gardener himself.

Usually, after the last mowing in late August - early September, after the last feeding with phosphorus-potassium or full-feed fertilizers, the lawn simply falls out of the circle of gardening concerns. It is somehow forgotten that the grass that makes up the lawn, like other living plants, continues to grow and prepare for winter.

In the autumn, the lawn is most defenseless. It happens that the dirt road along the edge of the lawn becomes dirty and damp, then people begin to bypass the puddles on the lawn - after all, its surface is more elastic and dry.

In autumn, detour paths can be completely invisible, but in spring they show through in every detail. The soil saturated with autumn moisture instantly compresses, the grass suffocates and falls out. Moreover, the relief of the lawn is disturbed. The soil freezes unevenly, and this leads to the fact that in the spring the paths "fall through", and the compacted "patches" stick out.

In winter, the grass lives under the snow. Some gardeners don't mind celebrating New Year at home. And where is the most convenient place to put christmas tree or light a party fire or even a skating rink for the kids? On the lawn, of course!

All this threatens the grass with death. In the spring you will be provided with "crop circles", but these will not be traces of aliens, but clear prints of winter round dances under the tree, a fire and melted snowmen. True, after the ice rink there will be no traces, but this is only because the lawn will die completely.
Of course, if the lawn is used in summer time as a playground for playing or sunbathing, in autumn and winter, the owners, without hesitation, continue to use it, and in the spring the grass has to be sown or even completely restore the grass cover.

After a few years of such ordeals, you may have to abandon the lawn. And I don’t want to!
In order for the lawn to serve as a garden decoration, you need to follow a few simple rules.

It should be remembered that after the last agrotechnical measures, the lawn area is, as it were, closed for walking until the soil dries up in spring, that is, until your footprints cease to be imprinted on the soil.

Do not forget that plants live both in summer and winter, and at any time of the year they need our attention and protection. Then you don't have to ask yourself in the spring: where the lawn disappeared ?

What to do if the lawn deteriorates after winter?

First of all, it is necessary to provide the plants with access to air, and, on the contrary, to return the exposed roots underground. Rolling and combing the lawn are effective measures.

For rolling, it is advisable to use a special roller, which will press the grass bumps to the soil and return the roots to the ground. Then the area needs to be combed. Walk an iron rake over the entire area, first in one direction, then perpendicular to the first. This will ventilate the lawn and remove the remnants of dry grass and leaves.

To save the lawn after winter, an aerator is useful. It improves the oxygenation of the soil and also kills weed germs.

Another device, a verticutter, is necessary for vertically loosening the turf and removing the dead part of the lawn - felt.

Methods for eliminating "bald spots" depend on their size. Small ones can be "draped" with a piece of turf from the flower bed or from the end of the lawn. If a large area of ​​grass has died, you will need to sow a new one. This is done on prepared - loosened and leveled soil.

Examine the area for depressions where water can collect. The soil in such places must be loosened by mixing with sand or turf in a one-to-one ratio. If symptoms of fungus are found - a whitish or pink coating sticking together the tips of the leaves, you need to cut the lawn shortly and treat with an antifungal agent.

Rescue measures need to be carried out until mid-spring in order to be in time for the beginning of the growing season. This is usually enough. But in some cases, if the lawn has deteriorated too much after winter, it will still have to be sown and re-grown.

The lawn after winter often looks quite deplorable - bald patches, yellow spots appear, the grass can vanish in places. However, if exercised during the season proper care behind a green lawn, many problems can be avoided: correct and timely feeding, cutting and watering give excellent results... If the winter was too harsh or, conversely, with thaws, then the grass cover may lose its splendor. In this article, we will show you how to restore your lawn after winter to restore its healthy appearance and beauty.

Lawn care in autumn and winter

For successful wintering of plants, it is enough to adhere to simple rules:

Removing excess water

Spring lawn care begins with ensuring a good flow of melt water. During snow melting, water can stagnate, leading to damping, mold on the grass and yellow spots.

If the drainage system was properly made before laying the lawn, then such problems should not arise. What to do with the lawn if there is no drainage? In this case, the snow must be evenly distributed over the entire area, avoiding the formation of large snowdrifts, then it will melt gradually. This is especially important for shady areas... Try to start this work as early as possible, before the ground has thawed yet - otherwise, dents and footprints will remain on the lawn, which will be difficult to remove.

In order for the drainage system to perform its functions well, it is necessary to clean all drains and wells.

Rolling

At the young lawn, the sod has not yet compacted, so the thawed earth can rise in some places with ugly hillocks. Most often this happens if the area was not rolled out before sowing the grass mixture. To remedy this situation, you need to roll the lawn in the spring. You can use a roller or self-made accessories. We pass in one direction 1 time - this will be quite enough.

Compaction is not required for old, perennial herbaceous plantations.

Combing (scarification) of the lawn

After the snow melted, did your lawn look like a caked felt mat? Old dried grass, leaves fallen in autumn - all this inhibits the growth and vegetation of plants in spring, therefore, cleaning the lawn is necessary. For combing, you can use a fan rake - they have less distance between the teeth, and they will not hurt the young turf if the lawn is young. To do this work carefully, you will have to go through the entire area in two directions: up and down. It is better to renew the lawn by combing before the emergence of young shoots.

If this felt mat is thick and dense, it is better to mechanize the combing and use a special unit - a scarifier, which not only removes the felt layer, but also makes small cuts in the soil, improving its ventilation. This procedure is called lawn scarification.

Aeration

Aeration of the lawn is the piercing of the turf with sharp thorns. This technique is necessary to improve the supply of oxygen, water and nutrients to the roots of plants.

As you know, two types of bacteria live in the soil: aerobic and anaerobic. Aeration activates aerobic soil bacteria by supplying oxygen to them. As a result, the assimilation of nutrients by the plant roots, as well as the structure of the soil, is improved.

It is imperative to do aeration once a year in the spring. With intensive use of the coating, as well as in severe drought or heavy rains, the procedure will have to be repeated.

Important: we carry out aeration before spring feeding.

To find out whether the lawn needs aeration, you need to make a small vertical cut of the turf: if the rhizomes penetrate only five centimeters or less, then this procedure is vital for the plants, followed by intensive care (feeding and watering).

Aeration tools:

1. Special sandals with spikes.

The spiked sandals are attached to the shoe. Moving along the lawn in small steps, we pierce the soil, pressing our weight on the sod. The more often the steps are, the better the aeration. For 1 sq. meter, you need to make 200-300 punctures. On a young lawn, sandals are not used - the sod is still too weak and you can easily damage it. If you find it difficult to pierce the soil, try removing a few teeth, but you will have to step more often.

2. Aerator.

This garden tool is a long-handled sprocket or spike roller. It can be mechanical or equipped with an engine (electric, gasoline). When choosing an aerator, first of all, it is necessary to be guided by the size of the area sown with grass, as well as its distance from the power source.

Mechanical aerators require a lot of physical effort to work, so they are best used on a small lawn. Among the advantages of such a tool, one can note a low price, independence from energy sources, low weight, and no noise.

Electric aerators have a higher performance, but you will have to stretch an extension cord to their place of work. Such a tool will successfully process a medium-sized lawn and a woman will easily cope with it.

Aerators with a gasoline engine are distinguished by their maximum productivity and large loosening depth. They are designed to handle very large grass coverings and long continuous operation.

When choosing an electric or gasoline aerator, consider the following tool parameters:

• engine power
• tool weight
• tillage depth ( best models equipped with 3-5 modes)
• working width (the wider the grip, the faster a large area can be worked)
• the presence of a grass catcher

If no other tools are available, you can use a conventional gardening fork with sharp tines. Pierce the turf as often as possible without turning the layer over. To make the holes even, and the forks can be easily pulled out, do this: stick them into the ground and swing a little back and forth or right and left.

How to properly aerate your lawn?

1. We carry out this event only in cloudy weather.
2. It is better if the soil is sufficiently moistened: in a couple of days, in the absence of rain, we water the area well.
3. We pierce the sod in rows with an overlap of 3-4 cm. Increase the number of punctures if the sod is very dense (old lawn).
4. We leave the lawn for several days to dry the clods of earth pulled out by the thorns. Then we remove them with a rake.
5. We apply fertilizers.
6. We water the lawn.

In the spring, nitrogen-containing mineral or organic fertilizers are introduced to stimulate the growth of the aboveground part of the plants. Read about how to choose and apply fertilizers correctly in our special article.

Overseeding of the lawn grass mixture

After the activities carried out on spring care problem areas where the grass has come loose or died becomes clearly visible. The repair of the lawn in the spring in such areas is carried out by overseeding the grass mixture. It is best to use the seeds left over from the lawn. If they are not there, select a mixture of the same manufacturer that is as similar in composition to varieties as in the entire area.

We carry out sowing as follows: in the place where there is no grass, we scatter the seeds evenly, scatter the earth from above, carefully leveling it with a rake. In the absence of rain, the overseeding site must be carefully watered.

Dealing with problems

In the spring, unpleasant stains... This can be due to various reasons:

1. Mold, mildew.

If the grass in the area of ​​the spot is dark and covered with a whitish bloom, this area is affected by a fungal disease and must be treated with a fungicidal preparation. Measures of a radical struggle are also possible: cut out a piece of turf and sow seeds on this place again.

2. Chemical burn.

If fertilizers were applied unevenly in the fall or there was no watering after they were applied, the grass may burn out. The same burns remain from spilled gasoline or oil when using the lawn mower, as well as from the waste products of animals - cats or dogs. To restore the damaged area, we carry out all the standard care measures: combing, aeration, watering, feeding. If there are no changes, then the roots are damaged and only removing the sod in this place and sowing the seeds will help.

To clear the lawn of fungi, they must be removed along with the mycelium in the soil. Carefully dig a trench as the mushrooms grow, cover it with new soil, compact and fill in the seeds.

Fighting moles. The appearance of large piles of soil on the lawn in the spring signals that moles have been here. These animals feed on worms and various insect larvae. When digging holes, moles periodically throw earth onto the surface, which forms the so-called "mole holes". It must be removed from the surface of the lawn, and the course must be covered. Numerous folk methods the fight against moles often does not bring any results: the mole closes up the old tunnel and digs a new one.

The most effective remain: purchased ultrasonic scarers, mole traps and poisonous baits.

1. Scarers.

In order for the devices to help in the fight against moles, keep an eye on the number of repellents on the site. It must match the one recommended by the manufacturer, replace the batteries in them in time.

2. Mole traps.

Mole traps are installed in a path dug by a mole, which can be found along slightly raised ground. Carefully open the stroke with a shovel and put in it, moving as far as possible, two mole traps, oriented by the entrance in different directions. We put one mole trap to the right of the hole, the other to the left.

3. Poisonous bait.

To lay the bait, you need to pierce the ground along the tunnel with a sharpened stick or pin. We put the bait through the hole with a spoon, carefully fill the hole with earth, trying to prevent shedding.

Conclusion. If you have completed the entire range of lawn care in the spring, in a few weeks it will regain its former healthy and beautiful view... It's time for regular haircuts and watering. In our special article, we talk about how to properly lawn, as well as the tools necessary for this.

Lawn is an artificially planted grass cover, which is the main or background element landscape design... V middle lane In Russia and in more northern regions, it is advisable to use meadow bluegrass for planting.

Decorative lawn can be of the following types:

Parterre lawn... Should be uniform in composition, color and height. To create it, it is most advisable to use one type of grass.
Moorish lawn... Diverse in composition and contains not only herbs, but also flowering plants.

In order for the decorative lawn to always look perfect, it needs careful maintenance. This is especially true after winter.
The main recovery activities in the post-winter period

You will need to carry out the following procedures:

1. Neutralization of the ice crust on the surface of the lawn. The ice crust formed on the lawn, when the snow melts, provokes damage to the root system of lawn plants, as it disrupts air circulation. Any garden tool, such as a rake, can be used to neutralize the crust. Important: it is required not only to break the ice, but to remove it from the lawn. This is because the crushed ice will melt faster and freeze again. It is also recommended to take preventive measures against the appearance of an ice crust, which is typical for spring, when the day is warm, and at night it is freezing. Prevention is carried out by organizing drainage from the lawn: surface (creating a slope) and internal (piercing the soil with a pitchfork or similar devices).
2. Fertilization. In the spring, lawn grass is clearly lacking in nutrients and nutrients necessary for growth, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. This is due to the winter freezing of the soil during the winter, which contributes to the destruction of nutrients, and leaching of the soil with spring waters. Important: fertilization is adequate, only after the snow has completely melted. Otherwise, another washout and minimization of the required effect is possible. It is not recommended to apply complex fertilizers before the first mowing of the lawn grass.
3. Mulching. This is not an obligatory procedure, but it is recommended in order to reduce the number of irrigations (the lawn requires a large number of watering to maintain a highly aesthetic appearance). A mixture of sand and peat is ideal for mulching.
4. Weed control. Most important for a homogeneous lawn, where the appearance of other types of plants, except for uniform green grass, is unacceptable. Removal of weeds is allowed manually using summer cottage tools, or by exposure to chemicals - herbicides. When using chemicals, it is necessary to apply herbicides directly to the weeds to be destroyed.
5. Restoration of the original appearance of the lawn. After winter period as a rule, “bald spots” and areas with yellowed grass cannot be avoided. In this case, it is necessary to re-sow the damaged lawn.

The set of actions is as follows:

• the lawn should not be located on a level higher than other territory, as this will provoke excessive leaching of nutrients and soil;
• it is recommended to enclose the lawn with a stone or similar solid border;
• it is necessary to remove the waste products of animals from the lawn, otherwise it can provoke a chemical burn of the grass cover with the subsequent formation of bald spots.