Gardening expert Ish shared his key December lawn care tip to prevent waterlogging and keep your grass healthy through the dormant winter months
December is here, which means it’s time to monitor garden maintenance as numerous plants and flowers enter their dormant winter phase. Whilst you won’t expect your grass to flourish during this period, maintaining its condition remains crucial to ensure it weathers the cold temperatures and frost successfully, reports the Express.
Gardening specialist and TikTok content creator Ish recently revealed some essential gardening jobs we should all be completing in December. One focuses on lawn maintenance, noting that now is the ideal moment to tackle it.
Your won’t even need to get your lawn mower out of the shed to complete this task.
How to help lawns survive winter
An issue you might encounter during winter is your grass becoming saturated or waterlogged. Ish recommended aerating lawns using a garden fork to help resolve any drainage problems.
Ish said: “It’s not officially too cold to worry about mowing your lawn, it will stay dormant and in shape until next spring. But if you’re starting to notice wet patches then don’t be afraid to use a garden fork to add a little bit of drainage.”
“By poking a few holes in, and then just chuck in a little bit of lawn sand in there, you’ll help that drainage, so it doesn’t become all boggy and gross over the winter months.”
Lawn aeration means puncturing the earth to form openings that enable oxygen, moisture, and nutrients to penetrate the grass roots, easing compaction and enhancing root vitality. To aerate, employ a core aerator, spike aerator, or a garden fork, ensuring the ground is damp beforehand.
Aerating your lawn can stimulate deeper root growth, reduce thatch, and help the lawn withstand drought and disease. B&Q suggested giving your lawn a good soaking to aid soil moisture absorption.
They also recommend that the optimal time to aerate the lawn is one or two days after a rain shower, when the soil is still moist. If you’re keen on eliminating any residual thatch on your lawn, scarification might be the solution.
Scarifying is a lawn care technique that utilises mechanical blades or tines to cut into and remove a dense layer of thatch – dead grass, roots, and organic matter – from a lawn. By thinning this out and removing it, it enhances the lawn’s health by allowing better airflow, water, and nutrient penetration to the soil by eliminating any competition for the soil.
However, it’s advisable to steer clear of aerating lawns after “extremely” heavy rainfall, as the ground could become waterlogged.
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