Everybody enjoys the sight of a crisp white morning, with your lawn glistening on a chilly winters day. However, walking on a frozen lawn may seem harmless at the time, but the damage will soon become evident once the frost has cleared.

Walking over a lawn with a hard frost can cause the grass leaves to fracture, rupturing leaf cells and in-turn leaving behind unsightly discoloured patches of turf. It is probable these ugly footprints will remain visible in your lawn for quite some time, until they grow out in spring. As the grass plants would have been significantly weakened, they become more susceptible to disease.

In some severe cases root shearing can occur. This is where the soil and roots are frozen solid but the grass plant on the surface begins to thaw. Some movement will occur as a result of the footfall, causing the roots to shear away and putting the grass plants at risk of dying off completely.

Occasionally a sharp frost can be a good thing. Every so often unexpected freezing temperatures can help control the population of lawn nasties such as chafer grubs and leatherjackets.