As we’ve said before, the appearance of the outside of the home says a lot about how the home has been maintained. We can help improve the appearance of your home with a fresh coat of parging, but if that parge coat is up against a brown lawn it’s just not the same. We get it. Edmonton’s harsh winters are hard on the lawn. But it’s July now! There’s no time like the present to turn things around with a little lawn care, and to get a nice lush, sprawling lawn in the making for next year.
Keep it Simple
Cut yourself a little slack when it comes to lawn maintenance. If you never get around to weekly mowing of your lawn, don’t set yourself up for failure. Get yourself to the garden centre and get one of the many new varieties of “easy care” lawn seeds. These seeds are lazier than their faster-growing counterparts. They grow slower and therefore require less frequent care and mowing. An easy care lawn is the busy home owner’s very best friend.
Go Easy on the Water
More good news for the busy lawn maintainer! Over-watering is actually a bigger problem for lawns than under-watering. Your lawn only needs about 25 mm of rain a week to stay healthy, so lay off the hose unless it has been really dry. Lawns that get a lot of water only when needed grow deeper roots that make them hardier in dry spells, but lawns that are watered too much get soggy, rotten roots.
Air Out the Lawn
Seeding it, mowing it and watering it. That’s all there is to caring for the lawn, right? Not quite. Over time the soil under your lawn can get really compacted which makes it hard for the grass to draw nutrients from the soil. For the best results, you should try aerating your lawn at least once but preferable twice a year – once in the spring and once in the fall. Aerating is basically pulling little plugs of soil out of the lawn and depositing them on top to allow the grass to grow deeper roots and more water to get down to those roots.
Get Ready for Next Year
Before the snow starts to come down, take some time in the fall to get your lawn ready for next year. For your last mow of the year, leave your grass about 15 cm long and then apply a nice layer of fertilizer to help protect it from the cold. If your grass wasn’t up to snuff this year, take this opportunity to re-seed so you can hit the ground running with a lusher lawn next year.
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