Get the lowdown on lawn care

Take care of your turf with tips on mowing, watering and nurturing

By Lorraine Flanigan

This summer, Adrien Ireland and Jean-Marc Riel will move into their first home in the Westboro neighbourhood of Ottawa. Adrien is looking forward to converting their yard from pine needle mulch to a green, lush lawn. Like many new homeowners, Ireland and Riel will be learning about mowing, watering and fertilizing for the first time.

Because watering restrictions and pesticide bylaws are becoming common, building a lawn that’s healthy enough to withstand summer droughts and infestations of insects and weeds is more challenging than ever. Learn the basics and draw up a plan to grow a healthy lawn all year round.

Develop healthy lawn care habits

There are three steps homeowners can take to grow a healthy lawn, says Rob Witherspoon, director of the University of Guelph affiliate the Turfgrass Institute, an organization that provides research and information to the turfgrass industry, and editor of the GTI Lawn & Garden Letter, an electronic newsletter for home gardeners.

1. Mowing maintenance
   Never remove more than one third of the grass blade in a single mowing. Cutting more, he says, upsets the “natural balance of roots and blade” that enables grass to capture the sunlight it needs to make and store energy.Mow high — about three inches. This encourages the growth of roots deep enough to find moisture in the soil and helps the grass sustain itself through drought.Keep the mower blades sharp. “Ragged blades will rip the blades of the grass, which can increase the amount of moisture the plant is losing,” warns Witherspoon. Check out: For more on mowing habits, visit the lawn care section of the Green Pages at the Montreal Botanical Garden.
2. Water wisely
   Many municipalities have passed bylaws restricting lawn watering times and frequency. Consult your community web site. During periods of drought when supplemental watering is not possible, turfgrass browns and goes dormant to protect itself against insufficient moisture. A few weeks of dormancy will not damage the grass, especially if the roots are well developed.To encourage the growth of deep roots, Witherspoon advises homeowners to “water enough to reach the entire root system.” Generally, an accumulation of about one inch of water will reach the root zone. Remove a small wedge of turf to check how deeply the water has penetrated. Check out: For more tips on watering wisely, visit The Gardener’s Network and The City of Toronto’s Water Services.
3. Don’t forget to fertilize
   Fall is the ideal time to fertilize, according to Witherspoon, followed by another application in late spring or early summer. Fall fertilizing allows grass to recover from summer stresses such as heat and drought, while late-spring fertilizing gives grass time to develop strong roots before growing green blades. Check out: Master Gardener Robert Bishop explains the benefits of fall fertilizing at The Master Gardeners web site.

Schedule tasks

Taking care of your lawn by following good mowing, watering and fertilizing practices throughout the year ensures you will grow grass with a deep root system. This helps the lawn tough it out during summer droughts and combat insects and pests. Regular maintenance also promotes a lawn thick enough to crowd out weeds.

To help you keep track of lawn care tasks, create a maintenance calendar in Excel. Along the left-hand side of the chart, list tasks such as seeding, sodding, fertilizing, mowing, watering, aerating, de-thatching and weed and insect control. At the top of each column, type the months of the year. Use your worksheet’s Comment function to add notes to remind you of favourite fertilizers and grass seed. And for handy reference, add links to web sites that provide detailed information about each job. Print a copy to keep in your garden journal or on the fridge as a monthly reminder.

Check out: For the appropriate times of each activity, consult lawn care maintenance calendars such as Cornell University’s Homeowners Lawn Care Water Quality Almanac, the University of Illinois Extension’s Green Line and Lawnseed.com.