When you’re looking at home listings during the winter months, you may notice many lawns that are yellow or even dead looking, but I wouldn’t immediately dismiss that house for lack of maintenance. You’re looking for curb appeal and your instincts when seeing a yellow lawn may throw a red flag. But not so fast! What you may be seeing is simply someone that didn’t plant a winter lawn. This home buying tip may help keep you from overlooking your dream home because of a misunderstood lawn.
In more mild climates, the temperature might not vary much during the entire year so the type of grass that you have planted may be an afterthought. Keeping it trimmed and watered may be the extent of the care required for a lush, green lawn year round. What you might not expect is that our winter is relatively cold (compared to our summer) and the more heat tolerant varieties of grass that are used tend to go dormant during the cooler seasons causing the yellow lawns that you see.
Some homeowners avoid the dead lawn look by overseeding with grass that is tolerant of cooler weather, like perennial ryegrass. It’s not a huge undertaking and doesn’t involve tearing up your current lawn, but the process can take several weeks to prepare,plant, and water to get it right. An adjustment to your watering schedule will be required as well as changing your mower deck height. Having a good gardener definitely helps as some will do all of this as part of your regular lawn maintenance or for a small additional fee.
So, don’t worry about those yellow lawns, it might just be the season causing that front yard’s appearance. Feel free to explore those homes with your Realtor®! Warmth and water is all that it may need to look its best once again.