Stop Walking on Your Lawn When It’s Frozen—Here’s Why
Sometimes, what you don’t do to your lawn in winter goes a long way toward how much you need to do in the spring. With regions of the country experiencing unseasonably cold and snowy weather, now is a good reminder that you should avoid walking on your lawn as much as you can when your grass is frozen. The consequences aren’t dire, but it can prevent some issues you'll have to deal with late on.
So, what exactly happens when you walk on frozen grass? We talked with J.C. Culwell, a Denver-based professional landscape architect and accredited Green Roof Professional with Wenk Associates, to find out. He's overseen the design and development of parks, campuses, and urban plazas—all green spaces that face a lot of foot traffic in cold weather. Here's everything you need to know about walking on frozen grass.
What Happens if You Walk on Frozen Grass?
“For the most part, turf is pretty resilient once dormant. It’s not growing, but the roots are well-based under the subsurface and a good holder of grade,” Culwell says. “At the end of the day, it’s one plant that you can beat up. You can literally be bad to it.”
However, repeatedly walking on frozen or frosted grass can cause damage to a lawn.
Why? The water inside grass cells freezes, causing each blade to be rigid and more fragile. Walking on the grass can cause the cell walls to break open, damaging the tips of the grass.
“You’re kind of breaking off the heads of the different blades,” Culwell explains.
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Depending on where you live, your grass may still be green in areas, but it doesn’t repair itself in colder months. Grass is shut down, but it’s still working in the offseason to prepare for the next growth cycle, Culwell says.
This is one reason your last mow of the year should come before the first frost—and mowers should be set higher leading up to that so the longer grass blades can help insulate the roots.
If you beat a path across your frosted or frozen lawn, you can end up with patches of flattened, yellow grass that begin to restrict air and moisture that the grass needs. Do it often enough, and you can compact the soil. Likewise, cutting a path through snow can compact the soil below and disrupt the grass roots' access to oxygen and water. That damage can show up as brown spots come spring.
Related: Should You Water Your Lawn in Winter? Most Homeowners Get This Wrong
How Can You Protect Frozen Grass From Pets or Foot Traffic?
During the winter, it’s best to use sidewalks or paths to avoid walking on frozen grass. Staying off turf gives it the best chance to emerge as a thicker, healthier lawn come spring.
If you’re facing an unseasonably snowy winter, you may find that routines like walking to a mailbox or letting a dog out in the yard end up compacting snow on your lawn. That’s no reason to panic, but try to limit foot (or paw) traffic and take different paths so you don’t wear down one area too much, Culwell suggests.
Related: What Is Dormant Grass Seeding?
Can You Save Grass That’s Been Walked on While Frozen?
If you’re reading this after you've walked on your frozen lawn and already see signs of damage, rest assured, your lawn can recover. It just may happen later than you’d like. This should be less of a concern if you aerate your lawn in the fall.
Culwell says any bare or damaged zones of the lawn, like yellow spots, are caution signs. If grass doesn't start regenerating in those spots in the spring, those are the areas you’ll want to diagnose and treat. “That’s when you have to decide whether it is overly compacted and going to rebound or not,” he says.
Culwell admits to having trouble spots in his own lawn. “Typically, what I do is start removing the old turf, loosen up the soil, put in amendments, and start tilling that in to about six inches. From there, you start the process over with seed or rolls of turf, depending on how much time you have.”
Wait Until Spring To Make Repairs
With the right lawn care, those spots can be lush and green by summer. The usual course of action to repair brown spots includes removing any dead areas, loosening the compacted soil, and overseeding.
It may help to apply a layer of topsoil or compost to damaged areas to help the seeding process. Those sensitive areas will need extra watering for two to three weeks.