Vas Sladek

Winter mow?

I did it! Today I mowed a lawn just three days away from the new year. In my twenty-five seasons in landscaping I had never mowed a lawn past early December.

Here’s how it happened. My client called me to see if I could clean up her garden beds. Of course I could; I’m off on holidays recovering from a long season and she lives ten minutes away. But why the rush, right after Christmas? Mother-in-law is coming! Aha. I wonder how excited she gets when she looks out at the backyard and it’s not exactly looking mint.

Always a pro

Now, when the topic of lawn care came up, I did smile and tell my client that I had never mowed a lawn between Christmas and New Year’s. However, I didn’t tell her that it would make for a good blog. Why not try something new and see what happens?

Of course, I’m a professional. I don’t ruin lawns for profit, in any season. So, I checked the lawn. It did look shaggy because it was never put to bed. My client’s mower died in the fall, allegedly. I know people are busy; I’m not judging.

Frosty?

The test is always frost. Frosty grass blades have very little water and oxygen and can, therefore, break easily. That’s why you shouldn’t even walk on frosty lawns, if you can help it.

This shaggy winter lawn passed the test because we’re having a mild start to the winter. And I hope it stays this way until spring because it helps me financially. Cold weather affects my side-gigs, except tree work.

So I brought my mower, fuelled it up and went at it. I think it turned out well. The lawn needed a final mow and it also sucked up any remaining leaves. We should be good until spring.

Rules

Most lawns stop actively growing by late November, depending on the weather. You should aim to have your last cut done by November. But if your mother-in-law comes to visit and you haven’t done your last cut, give it a shot. Just make sure the conditions are decent: do not mow in freezing temperatures when the grass blades don’t have water and oxygen in their tissues. Frosty grass blades can break when you step on them. Definitely don’t mow over frosty grass.

Lawn care mastery online course

When I first put together my course outline, I had five of the biggest lawn care mistakes covered. The course was done and published on Teachable: greenfirstacademy.com. I thought I was done and I started working on course number two. But then I started noticing lawn creep at work and in online posts.

What’s lawn creep?

Lawn creep happens when the edge between say a sidewalk and lawn gets bigger and bigger. Eventually a large gap develops, giving the impression that the lawn is retreating from the sidewalk.

How does it happen? It’s caused by landscapers vertical edging with line trimmers from the lawn side. Since the line doesn’t hit the edge at precisely ninety degrees the way a blade edger can, the lawn edge gets shaved off on weekly or bi-weekly basis. Here’s an example.

What’s wrong with lawn creep?

Lawn creep looks ugly and, once the gap is wide enough, weed seeds will take hold in the gap. Now you’ve created extra weeding work for yourself. See below how beautiful the blade edger is. The difference is huge.

How to prevent lawn creep

The best way to prevent lawn creep is by using a blade edger with a skinny blade. Since the blade follows the hard sidewalk edge at ninety degrees, there is no creep. All we get is a sharp line that keeps the lawn from spilling over the sidewalk. Here’s an example:

I can hear the complaint: what if I don’t own a blade edger? No problem. When you vertical edge, stand on the sidewalk. That way if you don’t achieve the desired ninety degree angle, you will just chew up your line, not the lawn.

Lawn creep happens more than you think.

Stop lawn creep

Stop unsightly lawn creep by using a blade edger or vertical line edging from the sidewalk, not the lawn side. The gaps created by lawn creep look awful and invite weeds to move in.