When bare patches appear in the lawn in late autumn or winter, the question arises as to whether you can immediately reseed when there is frost. This article explains how useful such a measure is.

In a nutshell

  • in autumn sometimes bare patches remain in the lawn
  • sowing in winter makes little sense
  • Grass does not germinate in frost
  • Birds eat the grass seed
  • young grass can dry up in frost

Bald patches in the lawn

Whether it is due to the lawn care measures in autumn or the frost in winter. Even in the cold season, bare spots can form in the lawn. There is a great temptation to sow them again immediately so that the lawn soon appears as a closed area again. The benefits of seeding lawns in frost seem obvious:

  • in winter there is more time, only a few other gardening tasks are pending
  • Lawn does not need to be watered as often as it is damp anyway
  • Sun exposure is not that strong
  • Lawn has time to grow well until spring

Notice: Clearing snow off your lawn in winter doesn't protect it from bare patches. On the contrary, the snow itself has a protective function.

Occurring problems

Even if it is theoretically possible to sow the lawn in winter, in reality it is of little use. This is for the following reasons:

  1. Grass seeds need a certain minimum temperature to germinate. This is 8 to 10 degrees and must remain constant over a longer period of time.
  2. Tillage is made difficult, if not impossible. Raking and grading don't work that well.
  3. Birds eat open seeds before they can germinate.
  4. If the seed does germinate, the young grasses will dry up with the next frost because they can no longer absorb water. Irrigation doesn't help either.

Notice: Garden irrigation can freeze in frost. For this reason alone, it is difficult to water the lawn properly in winter.

frequently asked Questions

Do other care measures for the lawn make sense in winter?

Since the lawn is dormant in winter, maintenance makes little sense. This applies above all to fertilization, which can even be harmful. Any tillage is harmful in the case of ground frost anyway. Only watering can make sense in mild temperatures and drought.

When is the earliest possible time to sow the lawn?

Basically, once the ground has thawed. However, it can still take a long time for the grass seeds to germinate if the required temperature is not reached.

Is grass frost hardy?

Of course, grass is hardy. However, frost damage can occur if the lawn suffers from frost drought in winter. But then the grasses don't freeze to death, they dry up.

Category:

Garden design