Snow Mold is Taking Over Lawns In Central Minnesota

(KNSI) – With Minnesota finally free from its frozen fortress, snow mold has laid siege to St. Cloud area yards.

Woods Farm Seed & Nursery co-owner Tom Woods told KNSI News that this winter was a perfect storm for the fungus leading to one of the worst years for snow mold. “[With] the amount of snow we had it just kind of layered itself into and the length of [time] that snow stayed on top of the lawn grasses, that packs that grass down. It right now appears more whitish itself and more of a hard crust.”

He says this weekend’s rain will help soften the compacted soil, warm up the ground and wash some of it away.

Woods explained that people should wait until next week to start raking the mold out of their yards. “It’s so exciting to have spring here itself and everybody wants to start doing some type of work outside. You know you can definitely pick up twigs or something like that, but because the soil is still compacted, you really don’t want to walk too much on top of the grass yet.”

If your green thumb is itching now, it’s not too late to start growing seedlings inside because they should have a good month to grow. Woods says the ground will be ready for most plants in mid-May.

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