Snow is great fun for the kids (and the big kids) but be slightly wary if you want to have a beautiful lawn later on in the year.

Having snow on your lawn isn't really an issue, but a fungal disease called snow mould can develop once the snow thaws.

The snow mould most commonly develops where dense areas of snow have been piled up, such as in the spot where a snow man has been built (remember your snowman is usually staring in at you through the window long after the ground covering has gone!), or if you've cleared your paths or driveways and built up piles of snow on the lawn.

Try and avoid this because the snow mould can kill areas of the grass.

There isn't a great deal for you to do in January, but there are a couple of important points to note to ensure your lawn is able to get back into tip top shape later on in the year.

As my Mum always used to tell me - Keep off the grass if it is frozen or heavily water logged. Believe it or not, walking on frozen grass actuallly "injures" it!

Any damage to grass that was frosty probablly won't be seen immediately, but you will notice it within 12 to 48 hours after you have done the damage.  Sometimes the grass will go a purple or black colour, before it turns brown as it dies. Dead grass will leave areas for weeds to develop, and damaged grass that does not die will be more prone to diseases. 

The actual nature of the injury isn't completely clear, but some people say that the cells of the grass are damaged because the water in the leaf tissue is frozen, it is brittle - literally snapping the blade of grass.  Some believe that the crystallised water punctures through the blades of grass in thousands of places creating "wounds" that cannot heal.

Also (if not frozen or waterlogged) ensure you clear any leaves that you may not have cleared at the end of the autumn - this will stop them rotting on the lawn, and also allow air and light to get to the grass.

Now that it looks like spring might finally be starting to, well "spring", your grass will start to grow.

Now is an ideal time for you to perform some routine lawn maintenance - in fact why not get out in the garden this weekend?

Spring is an excellent time to carry out aeration on your lawn where you have areas that have become severely compacted over the wetter autumn and winter.

Feeding your lawn in late March to April will improve the grass vitality for the coming season, which will help guard against weeds and moss that will otherwise attack weaker grass.

Use a proprietary spring / summer lawn fertiliser - if it does not rain within three days of applying, water in well.