What we do in the winter months affects the health of the lawn and landscape. Here are four ways we can avoid damage. 

Don’t drive on the lawn -- The temperature outside is 11 degrees. The ground is frozen solid. Can you park the Jeep on the lawn? It may look safe because the tires won’t leave impressions, but in fact the weight of the machinery compacts soil. 

Recall when, just last spring or fall you aerated the soil to allow better air exchange and penetration by water and nutrients?


Driving on frozen lawn undoes that good work.This is true even if ground is covered by snow or ice. 

Lawn grasses, if properly selected for an area, are likely to be very resilient to the “normal” extremes of weather—but vehicle traffic is not included in that definition.

Avoid walking on bare, frozen lawn. A stable layer of snow that lasts all winter is probably the best thing that can happen to a northern lawn, particularly one where there's lot of family activity. Snow moderates temperature fluctuations, protects grass crowns from foot traffic, and even delivers some nitrogen when it melts in spring. On the other hand, frozen grass without snow cover is fragile. Repetitive foot traffic will likely create an area that needs spring repairs.

Monitor the build-up of ice on lawns. While a blanket of snow on the lawn can be beneficial, or at least not harmful, ice is trickier. The longer ice lasts, and the deeper it gets, the greater the potential damage. And the more it partially thaws and then freezes again, the greater yet the risks.

See this article: Dealing with ice on the lawn.

Take care with ice melters. It’s long been known that ice melters can be unfriendly to lawns, but there are many types of products and they don’t all behave the same. Furthermore, chemicals can travel across the lawn when rain creates a river on top of an ice sheet or bare, frozen soil. When you place piles of previously salted ice and snow on a lawn to get it out of the way, you may be placing melt products in the lawn as well.

Rainfall and watering help dilute the effects of these chemicals in the spring. But why not get educated now on how to avoid the problems altogether? Here are some references that may help:

1. For an overview of ice melt products, see this article: melting driveway and sidewalk ice.

2. Visit this article for some thoughts on plant-friendly ice removal practices. 

3. See Consumer Reports’ 2014 article comparing various ice melt products’ environmental friendliness and pet safety.

4. Learn more about products the US Environmental Protection Agency recognizes as deicers with safer chemistry. These have earned the EPA's Design for the Environment seal. 

A few other companies make a detailed case for the environmental friendliness of their products, including Icenator, Ecotraction, and SafePaw. (This is not an endorsement. None of the products referenced above was purchased, used or tested by this writer.)

If you’re concerned about the cost of environmentally friendly products, remember to compare apples to apples by comparing the application rates as well. And if a safer product avoids expensive lawn and plant damage, the cost avoidance should be considered as well.

Finally, it’s hard to place a price on avoiding injury to pets and children.

After all this talk of ice and snow removal, are you dreaming of pathways that clear themselves? Then please see this article on retrofitting a heated driveway.