Garden Tips for Winter

• Remove all fallen leaves and other debris from your lawn to allow adequate sunlight and oxygen to reach the turf.
• Now is a good time to mulch your landscape plants and trees. During an average Alabama winter, fluctuating temperatures will alternately freeze and thaw the soil. Winter mulch may prevent the soil water from freezing and becoming unavailable to the plants and trees.
• Consider scalping your turf in late winter or early spring to prevent thatch accumulation. Thatch is the layer of living and dead grass parts located between the green section of the grass and the soil. While a thin layer of thatch provides a healthy insulation for the soil, excessive thatch harbors insects and fungal pathogens and prevents water and fertilizer from reaching the soil.
• Now is the time to apply pre-emergent and post-emergent to your turf to control PoaAnnua, Crabgrass and broadleaf weeds.
• Winter is a good time to prune back your Liriope (monkey grass) to make room for new growth.