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Lawns will survive winter weather with 1 important task done in December - not mowing
Reach Daily Express | December 1, 2025 10:39 PM CST

December has officially arrived and that means it's time to keep an eye on our garden maintenance as many plants and flowers go dormant for the wintertime. Although you won't be expecting your lawn to overgrow during this time, it's still important to keep it in good condition to make sure it survives through the chilly weather and frost.

Gardening expert and TikTok creator Ish recently shared some of his key gardening tasks we should all be carrying out in December. One centres around lawn care, explaining that now is the perfect time to do it. You won't need to go anywhere near your lawn mower.

A problem which you could find yourself facing during the winter is your lawn becoming flooded or waterlogged. Ish suggested aerated lawns with a garden fork to help subside any water issues.

Ish said: "It's not officially too cold to worry about mowing your lawn, it will stay dormant and in shape until next spring. But if you're starting to notice wet patches then don't be afraid to use a garden fork to add a little bit of drainage.

"By poking a few holes in, and then just chuck in a little bit of lawn sand in there, you'll help that drainage, so it doesn't become all boggy and gross over the winter months."

Lawn aeration involves perforating the soil to create holes that allow air, water, and nutrients to reach the grass roots, relieving compaction and improving root health. To aerate, use a core, spike aerator, or a garden fork to ensure the soil is moist beforehand.

Aerating your lawn will help stimulate. deeper root growth, reduces thatch, and helps the lawn withstand drought and disease. B&Q advised giving your lawn a good amount of water to help the soil absorb moisture. It also explains that the best time to aerate the lawn is one or two days after a rain shower, while the soil is moist.

If you're looking to get rid of any leftover thatch on your lawn, consider scarification.

Scarifying is a lawn care process of using mechanical blades or tines to cut into and remove a dense layer of thatch - dead grass, roots, and organic matter - from a lawn. By thinning this out and removing it, it improves the lawn's health by allowing better airflow, water, and nutrient penetration to the soil by removing any competition for the soil.

However, it's best to avoid aerating lawns after "extremely" heavy rainfall, as the ground could become waterlogged.


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