How snow in April affects your lawn

How snow in April affects your lawn
April is well known for its little showers, but snow? Well that’s an entirely different story!

Parts of the UK are currently experiencing snow that may be delaying or interrupting your sowing plans, so what can do you do about it if you’ve a) already sown new seed, or b) were planning to!

A short snowfall won’t do much damage at this time of year, but you can help minimise the risk by following these steps.

I’ve sown some new seed

  1. Shovel the snow off your lawn as much as you can, as the snow melts as temperatures begin to warm up again it could water log your soil and cause young seedlings to die, especially if a lot of rainfall follows.
  2. As the snow melts and rain may be forecast, do not water your newly seeded areas as it won’t need it. An easy way to test whether your grass needs watered or not is to simply feel the soil – if you pick it up in your hand and it crumbles away then your soil is too dry, if it sticks to your hand then your soil is moist.
  3. Keep kids off the lawn although snow days are fun for almost everyone, they definitely aren’t for your grass. Keep heavy traffic off the lawn including dogs if you can as this will stop the ground from becoming compacted.

I was planning to sow some seed

  1. Forgo the fertiliser – if you were planning to fertilise before you sow new seed, delay this until again temperatures are above 10 degrees for two weeks straight. Your fertiliser will need two weeks to work on your lawn after application and before you can sow your seed, so don’t apply this now in the hope it’ll speed things up when it is warm enough to sow seed.
  2. Slow down on your sowing - We always recommend that ground temperatures need to be 8-10 degrees and upwards consistently for two weeks. This also means paying attention to the drop in temperature at night – if the temperature drops below 8 degrees during the night then it isn’t yet warm enough for your grass to germinate and you may be disappointed when you don’t see results in a few weeks.

Although snow in April is here and gone again, it can leave you questioning what to do next whether you’re sowing or growing – we hope our steps help clear things up for you whether you’re experiencing snowfall or have it forecast!