Winter Lawn Care Tips: How to Keep Your Grass Green All Winter Long

One of the best aspects of living in the Southwest is the ability to grow lush, green grass year-round. Luckily, we don't have to contend with snow in most of Arizona, which allows us to keep a gorgeous lawn through the winter months with just a bit of knowledge and minimal effort. 

Tips From the Pros for Healthy Winter Lawns

Homeowners are always asking our nursery professionals how they can keep their lawns looking green as the seasons shift towards cooler weather. Below are three of the most important steps to keeping your lawn healthy and happy during the winter.

1. How to Water Your Winter Lawn

Water is a crucial aspect of keeping your lawn looking green. When you first overseed you will want to keep your soil moist by watering it at least three times per day for very short periods of time. Once your seeds have begun to germinate and have grown to around 1-½ high you can cut back on the watering to just once per day. Once your lawn is established, you can cut back to watering every other day. Watering in the mornings before sunrise will be most effective allowing the moisture to fully saturate the grass' roots. 

As we begin to hit early spring, it is important to remember to make the proper adjustments to your lawn, landscape, and garden watering schedules ensuring they will continue to thrive into the spring growing season. Check out our watering guides to learn more about the best watering schedules for your specific trees and plants each season. 

2. How to Mow Your Winter Grass

You need to wait at least 10 days before you give your lawn the first mowing after planting your winter grass. Keep in mind that you do not want to remove more than 30% of the leaf blades during mowing. Removing more than 30% may prevent the grass from its ability to photosynthesize and you may pull out new seedlings. Once your ryegrass is established, you can choose how frequently you'd like to mow your lawn. If you like thick grass, let it grow. If you like shorter grass, mow more frequently. Just remember that you should not mow more than 30% of the leaf at a time.

3. How to Properly Fertilize Your Grass

Our native soils can be hard and tough, which prevents vital nutrients from being absorbed by our lawns. It’s always a good practice to feed your lawn with fertilizer to encourage healthy growth. These are the main reasons why we created our Moon Royale Professional Turf Fertilizer™. It includes a 19% (Nitrogen), 6% (Phosphorus), and 13% (Potassium) mix along with sulfur to help break down tough soils and to fight off salts to keep your lawn looking green all winter long. Our Moon Royale™ is easy to use in either a drop spreader or broadcast-type spreader. Complete instructions and application rates can be found on the bag of the bag, and our nursery pros are always happy to help answer any questions.

Now that you know all the crucial elements to keeping your lawn looking green all winter long, you too can grow like a pro! If you have any questions be sure to visit any of our nursery locations. Our professionals will be able to assist you with anything you need.  

This article was updated by Luke Kalawsky on January 18th, 2022