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In the winter, you’ll have snow covering your lawn like a fluffy white blanket. While it’s fun to play in the snow, you feel bothered that there’s too much snow there. You may get tempted to remove the snow, but is that a good idea?
You should not remove the snow from your grass, as it offers a protective cover. It protects it from the freezing winds and helps to lock in nitrogen from the air, adding nutrients to your grass. It can also help break down old grass that might be there from the previous season.
In this article, you’ll read why removing the snow from your grass isn’t a good idea. Let’s begin.
Why You Shouldn’t Remove Snow From Your Grass
Shoveling, snowplowing, or snow blowing the snow off your grass may cause more harm than good to your lawn. Sure, it may look like the right thing to do. However, in the spring, you’ll notice that removing the snow caused damage to your grass.
Here’s why you shouldn’t remove snow from your grass.
The Frozen Grass Blades Bend and Break
During winter, the cold temperatures cause your grass to freeze and be less flexible, and if you exert pressure on the grass blades, they’ll break. Removing snow from your grass will require you to walk on it as you shovel. Your weight might be too much for the grass, breaking the blades as you walk by.
In addition, the shovels won’t only scoop the snow but also break the grass.
Unfortunately, you won’t notice the damage on your grass until later in the spring. The boot prints will leave reverse footprints, and the patches will be annoyingly visible. When the grass starts to bloom again, you’ll notice that the patched areas take longer to regrow.
Introducing Harmful Chemicals to Your Grass
The salt and asphalt on your footpaths are only good when on the paths. However, if you keep walking from the footpaths to the grass, you’ll leave deposits of these chemicals on your grass.
And why is this a bad thing?
Well, salt steals moisture from your grass, causing it to dry out, so in the spring, you’ll notice dry patches on your grass. Moreover, the grass will dry up to the root levels in extreme situations.
The asphalt and salt deposits might cause so much damage to your grass that you might have to replant several patches. Consequently, your lawn will look uneven and less attractive in the spring.
Shoveling Causes More Damage
Your grass is naturally strong enough to handle the cold winter temperatures and the snow cover. However, if you shovel away the snow, you’ll leave the grass exposed to freezing elements that destroy it.
Furthermore, the weight of the shovel on your grass could damage it by breaking the crowns. In the spring, your grass will have uneven patches that are unsightly.
Snowplows, Shovels, and Snowblowers Cause More Harm to Grass
If you’re using a snowblower to clear the snow from your grass, it’ll harden the snow. This makes the snow harder and slower to melt when spring comes. The snow piles on some corners of your lawn will stay there longer in the winter, causing more damage to your grass.
Piling the snow on your grass will exert more pressure on it and make it more vulnerable to drying out. Sometimes, the weight’s so heavy that it can crush a shrub into two.
Imagine what it’ll do to your grass.
Removing the snow requires you to exert pressure on your shovels. The extra pressure will only break the grass under the snow cover, which is already vulnerable because it’s frozen. Snowplows are also heavy and exert pressure on the grass, causing it to break.
Exposing Your Grass to Debris
When you remove the snow cover from your grass, you leave it exposed to debris carried in by the winter winds. The debris will be buried under the new snow cover that forms and cause cold-weather fungus on your grass.
You’ll see the damage caused by cold weather fungus on your grass in the spring, as it will have gray and pink spots.
Benefits of Snow On Your Grass
I get it; you miss seeing your nice green grass. The layers of snow don’t look as attractive, and you just want to clear out your lawn. However, while it’s tempting to get a shovel, snowplow, or snowblower and remove the snow on your grass, you might need to consider the benefits that snow gives your grass.
Here are some of the little-known benefits of snow on your grass.
Offers a Protective Cover
Snow protects your grass from the harsh winter winds, and if your grass is exposed, the harsh winds leave it exposed to transpiration, which is the process where your grass loses moisture from the grass. It breaks the crown and later kills the root.
You won’t see the effects of transpiration on your grass until the warm weather sets in. Your grass will start yellowing, then eventually die because the roots are dead.
Provides Constant Watering
The snow cover on your grass serves as a slow watering method to keep it replenished all through winter. The harsh winter winds blowing over your lawn constantly draw water from your grass. However, the snow on your wind traps moisture and waters your grass.
Your grass will be well moisturized and ready to bloom again when the spring comes.
Natural Fertilizer for Your Grass
Nitrogen is a basic and important component for the healthy growth of your grass and it’s readily available in the air. However, under the cover of winter snow, grass can’t draw in nitrogen.
Snow traps nitrogen in the air and delivers it to the soil, which helps your grass to stay replenished all through winter. In the spring, your grass will have enough nitrogen in its roots to help it grow.
Conclusion
Plowing or shoveling the snow cover on your grass in the winter isn’t the best idea. The snow cover protects your grass from harsh winter winds, keeps it moisturized, and gathers natural fertilizer for your grass.
If you remove the snow cover, you’ll leave your grass exposed to harsh wind debris and exert more pressure than your grass can handle. If you want healthy grass on your lawn in the winter, don’t remove the snow cover. Let the grass adapt to the cold weather naturally.