Winter Lawn Care For Grand Junction Homes

The winter weather here in Grand Junction is never predictable, but fortunately, there are some best practices for lawn care that remain the same year after year and season after season. In this how-to lawn care guide from Green-Way Pro, we’ll give you the information and tips you need to ensure that your yard remains healthy throughout the coldest — and snowiest! — months of the year.

For more information on lawn winterization for homes in the Grand Valley, or to schedule your initial consultation for hardscaping and landscaping services, please contact Green-Way Pro Landscape Co. today! 

Sprinkler Blowouts

If you haven’t already blown out your sprinkler system to prepare for the frosty winter temperatures, it’s wise to take any precautions you can regardless of whether your irrigation pipes still have water inside them.

Sprinkler blowouts in Grand Junction are usually performed in September or October, typically in advance of the first frost or temperature drop that falls below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. If you haven’t had the time to take care of this lawn care maintenance task, or couldn’t find a landscaping contractor that could provide the service in time, there are still a couple of things you can do to try and prevent your sprinkler pipes from bursting this winter. 

First, ensure that the water supply to your sprinkler system is completely turned off. The primary source of water in most sprinkler systems is a component called the manifold. Not only does it supply water to every sprinkler in your yard, but if it happens to freeze and crack from undrained water, it’s also the costliest and most labor-intensive part to replace. 

In addition to turning off the sprinkler system water supply, you’ll want to drain the manifold if it hasn’t already frozen or cracked from the exposure to low ground temperatures. 

Another way to winterize your Grand Junction home’s irrigation system is to protect the above-ground sprinkler heads. It’s not foolproof, but when you’re crunched for time and the air is literally freezing cold, you can wrap up your sprinkler heads in small strips of black tarp or a cut-up trash bag. There’s no guarantee these sprinkler units will survive the expansion of frozen water, but at the very least, you’ll have an easy way to clean up any broken bits and pieces when the first thaw of spring arrives.

Snow Removal

It may sound strange, but there’s actually good reason to shovel snow off your lawn if you want to ensure its healthy return in the spring. Heavily trafficked areas of your yard — those patches and paths that have been walked on more frequently than others — may become compacted if trapped under significant snow cover for months on end. 

If you’re expecting a hard frost (temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit) or an additional dump of snow after a mini-blizzard, take the following steps to protect vulnerable areas of your yard from the elements and prevent post-winter brown spots: 

• If snow has already fallen, remove as much of it as possible without directly scraping or shoveling the lawn

• If the forecast calls for temperature drops or a winter storm warning, remove snow and ice from low-lying areas of your yard where grass is thinning or discolored

• If you missed fertilizing it in the fall, take advantage of a melt period between snowstorms to add a nitrogen-rich product to your temporarily exposed lawn

• If you need to salt your walk or driveway, use a snow removal service or an eco-friendly defrosting product, such as Scotts® Eco-Blend Snow & Ice Melt

Keep Your Yard Clean Of Debris

It’s not uncommon in Grand Junction to see snow on the ground when there are still a few leaves on the trees, but when they do finally fall, you’ll want to remove them from the snow covering your lawn. The same goes for any kids’ toys, lawn care tools, gardening gadgets, or other bulky items and pieces of equipment that could potentially clutter your yard. 

Snow and ice are already heavy enough to kill vulnerable areas of grass, so if you can mitigate the load being placed on your lawn by taking your housekeeping savvy outdoors, you’ll likely thank yourself later — that is, in the spring, when you don’t have to worry about re-sodding compacted patches of grass. 

Winterize Your Grand Junction Yard With Our Local Landscapers 

From all of us here at Green-Way Pro, we hope you’ve enjoyed this winter lawn care guide and that you feel more prepared to manage and maintain the yard of your Grand Junction home. If you have any further questions or would like to know more about the top-rated landscaping and hardscaping services we offer, please contact our lawn care team in Montrose today! 

At Green-Way Pro, our team of professional landscape contractors services nearly every populated area along the Western Slope, including Grand Junction, Delta, Olathe, and more than a dozen others. We’re happy to provide you with free consultations on lawn care, outdoor property management, seasonal maintenance, and more, so if you want to ensure that your lawn stays as lush as ever, no matter the season, give us a call now at (970) 964-4610.