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Early snowfall, freezing conditions could hurt your lawn, fall leaves and pumpkins

Your lawn, fall leaves and pumpkins are all at risk during this week’s early taste of winter.

MOLINE, Illinois -- The second snowfall of the season is making its way into the Quad Cities are Wednesday night, October 30, 2019. The early taste of winter has some people worrying about their plants and lawns.

Craig Hignight with Wallace's Garden Center says that the fall leaves that have just fallen this month could hurt your lawn, as the leaves pack down under the snow and smother the grass until next spring.

"If we get a break in the snow, and we all hope we get another warm up before Thanksgiving, go ahead and get as many leaves off the lawn as possible," Hignight says.

The leaves still on the trees are also at risk. The early frost puts an end to colorful fall foliage.

"All the chemical changes stop, so we don't get the bright colors as fall goes on," Hignight says. 

As for the pumpkins out on your porch, those winter squash will last through the early snowfall. But, if you're planning to cook them after Halloween, Hignight suggests bringing them inside before temperatures dip below 30 degrees.

"(Pumpkins are) a winter squash that last several weeks or months, in a cool dry storage area," Hignight says. "That presupposes they haven't been frozen." 

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