December and the onset of winter mark the end of the lawn care season, right? Well, sort of. You’ve gotten a lot of physical exercise fertilizing, mowing and weeding your beautiful lawn, but now it’s time for some mental exercise! Winter is the best time to cozy up with a hot beverage and evaluate the growing season — what worked well and what didn’t — and make a plan to improve your lawn next season. Incorporate strategies into your plan that consider you and your family as well as the wildlife and natural resources that interact and connect with your yard.
Step 1: Document Success
Start on a positive note! You worked hard all year — take time to reflect on the goals and improvements you’ve achieved in your yard. Maybe you established a new lawn that is looking great, or repaired some patchy spots after identifying a disease. Perhaps you fine-turned your irrigation system to promote grass health while saving water or changed your residue management program to take advantage of the nutrients within grass clippings. Document your efforts and the positive outcomes so you have a reference to follow in the future.
Step 2: Learn from Mistakes
After noting what went well, reflect on what didn’t quite go as planned. Did you not have time to change or sharpen mower blades, resulting in uneven cutting and grass damage? Is your new pet creating dead spots in your lawn that have been a challenge to fix? Maybe you're not seeing the wildlife you’d like to see in your yard, so you want to focus on developing habitat. Make a list of projects that require attention, and put them in priority order. For tasks that are outside your expertise or comfort level, consider hiring a local lawn care or landscape service.
Step 3: Build a Strategy
With your prioritized list of lawn projects in hand, you’re ready to build your lawn strategy. Here are some things to consider:
First, take care of the projects that require outsourcing. Service provider schedules can fill up quickly, especially in the spring. If your mower needs service, for example, call soon and get on their schedule in the off-season.
If you need any tools or equipment to complete projects, right now is a great time to purchase those items while they are discounted, or better yet, put them on your holiday wish list!
Does your plan include complicated tasks that feel overwhelming? Break them into multiple steps to simplify the process, or sketch out ideas so you can visualize a project.
Do you need to order plants or seeds? Ordering these items early ensures you get exactly what you want before things sell out in the spring.
The key is to think ahead! Build a lawn strategy that works best for you, keeping in mind that it may take a few months or even years to complete your vision. The strategy that you build may change over time as you learn better ways to approach projects, and that’s okay!
Good luck to you during your winter planning, and have a very happy holiday season! You’ve got this!
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