Looking after winter lawns

Keep things ticking over until spring arrives

- Ruth Hayes

YOU may be wondering why the main photograph of an article about winter lawn care shows me pruning a tree.

Don’t worry, I’m not having a senior moment – the two matters are actually very closely related.

The tree is a weeping ornamental pear tree, Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’, which looks amazing in summer with striking grey-green foliage and pretty white flowers. But it is very vigorous and by the end of the growing season its lower branches are almost touching the lawn around it.

While this looks attractive, it means that the grass becomes covered with leaves in autumn and the branches block light and air from the lawn, increasing the risk of soil compaction, damp and fungal problems.