How Cinnamon From Your Kitchen Can Help Minnesota Lawns

You might have a secret weapon for your fall lawn care sitting right in your kitchen cabinet. It’s a simple ingredient that smells like autumn—and could be the unexpected key to keeping your grass healthy before winter hits here in Minnesota!

If your lawn is anything like ours, keeping it green the past few seasons here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes has been a challenge. First, we were subjected to several very dry summer seasons. Then, last winter featured several thaw and freeze cycles that not only made potholes worse last spring but also covered many lawns with a thick coating of ice.

Why Minnesota Homeowners Are Turning to This Simple Fall Lawn Trick

But the secret to helping your lawn this fall here in the Bold North could be in your kitchen. That's because this story from HouseDigest said you might want to consider adding some cinnamon to your lawn.

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The Unexpected Benefits of Sprinkling Cinnamon on Your Lawn

Yes, cinnamon. That same thing you might find in a cup of apple cider on a crisp fall night here in Minnesota. What's with adding cinnamon to your lawn? Well, HouseDigest says cinnamon contains several properties that can be helpful to your lawn:

Cinnamon can kill fungus before your soil becomes inundated with disease or your plants suffer from root rot. Since cinnamon can kill mold and mildew, it can prevent a host of fungi from ruining your lawn.

The story goes on to say that applying cinnamon to your lawn could help it stay greener, as well, noting that cinnamon can also add nutrients like iron. Iron is crucial for a healthy lawn, HouseDigest said, as it helps any new grass to take root.

How to Use Cinnamon for a Healthier, Pest-Free Lawn

So, how does one go about adding cinnamon to your lawn? Do you merely sprinkle some dried cinnamon behind you as you mow the lawn? Uh, no. ThisIsMyGarden says that to apply cinnamon on your lawn, you can simply mix one tablespoon of cinnamon powder with half a quart of water to create a totally organic anti-fungal solution, which you can then spray on your lawn.

Not only can this help strengthen your lawn, but ThisIsMyGarden also notes that critters like rabbits and squirrels don't like the smell of cinnamon, so adding some dry cinnamon powder or cinnamon sticks in your garden can help those pests stay away too.

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How To Get Your Lawn Ready For Fall

You keep up with it all summer long; the watering, the seeding, fertilizing, mowing, raking - it seems like a never ending chore that's thankless at its core. Maybe that's why at the first sign of colored leaves on the trees and falling temperatures, many quickly give up the task of lawn care.

And who could blame those who abandon lawn care right after Labor Day and the start of school; cutting the grass isn't really fun to begin with and those extra steps needed to ensure a green and lush lawn (fertilizer, thatching) are just more work than many care to put in.

But totally ignoring your lawn during the fall isn't the best choice of action - especially if you want a nice looking one come spring.

Thankfully, fall lawn care isn't all that much different from what you've been doing all summer long. Here are some good tips to get your lawn ready for to hibernate during winter and press back into shape once springtime rolls around.

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