Follow these handy tips to help maintain a beautiful lawn all season.
Fertilizing
Lawn Fertilizing is adding nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus and potash to your lawn. Fertilizing your lawn enriches it with nutrients, encouraging new growth.
Fertilizing your lawn is important as it will lead to a thicker and healthier lush lawn. Home Owners that fertilize their lawn will be less likely to suffer from weed, insect and disease problems when it’s fertilized on a regular basis. Your lawn will need less water when it gets the nutrients it needs throughout the year.
The best time to fertilize the lawn is Mid-May. It is recommended that lawns be fertilized three times during the growing season, with applications being made about six weeks apart. To help prepare for the winter months and help increase root strength and hardiness, apply your last application of fertilizer between mid-September and mid-October.
The three numbers shown on a bag of fertilizer (from left to right) are the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N-P-K) in the fertilizer; the higher the number the more of each nutrient. Nitrogen encourages the lush green leafy growth. Phosphorus will help root development and keep your lawn growing strong. Potassium stabilizes soil for darkness of colour.
Purchasing a slow release fertilizer offers a reduced chance of burning your lawn and provides controlled growth and is better for the environment as there is no leaching.
We recommend the following types of fertilizer for our region through the lawn care seasons:
SPRING – 28-4-8
This fertilizer gives your lawn a boost in colour to help it recover from the long winter.
SUMMER – 18-18-18
This is a good fertilizer to maintain your growth and colour throughout the hot summer days.
FALL – 7-27-27
This fertilizer can be applied in fall for good root development to sustain the grass through our long winter season.
Lawn fertilizers should be applied about 2.0-2.5 kg per 100 square meters of lawn. To get a more even fertilization and to avoid ugly dark green streaks, its best to apply half of the fertilizer in an east-to-west direction and then apply the other half in a north-to-south direction with a fertilizer spreader.
Make sure that your lawn is dry when fertilizer is applied so that the nutrients fall through the grass to the top of the soils surface. This is important because if a wet lawn is fertilized, the nitrogen will stick to wet leaf surfaces, which results in a burning of the lawn.
For best results the lawn should be watered after applying fertilizer or right before a heavy rain. If you follow this tip it will dissolve the fertilizer and begin to carry the nutrients to the roots.
Mowing
Mowing height is key to keeping your lawn vigorous and lush. Too much removal can lead to problems, while too little can result in poor quality grass.
For the first cut of the year, lower your mower blades one notch shorter than your normal cutting height. This will cut off the brown (dead) tips from the winter. For your next cutting, raise the blades back up. The new growth will hide your brown grass, giving the appearance of a healthier lawn.
Mowing Tips:
- Mow often, generally removing no more than 1/3 of the grass leaf in a single mowing.
- The optimum cutting height is 2 1/2″” to 3″. Repeated scalping of the turf weakens the root system.
- Change your mowing pattern frequently. For example vertical, horizontal, diagonal one-way, box pattern etc.
- Avoid bagging and leave your clippings on the lawn, unless they are excessively heavy. They provide natural nitrogen to the lawn.
- Mow when your lawn is dry, and be sure that your mower blades are sharp.
Watering
Normal rainfall in southern Ontario doesn’t provide enough moisture during the growing season. Without watering, grass will go dormant and turn brown. To keep your lawn green, watering your lawn is essential.
Depending on the time of year and weather conditions, water your lawn evenly every day (if need be) for at least 30 minutes to ensure the soil is well saturated giving the deep roots the moisture it needs to survive.
Watch for indicators that your lawn needs water; such as foot prints that still appear after a half-hour or more; while on a well-watered lawn foot-prints will completely disappear within minutes.
Grass in need of water will have a grey-blue cast to it, rather than a blue-green or green colour.
Overseeding
The practice of overseeding lawns is really nothing more than spreading grass seed over an existing lawn. Overseeding is a method of thickening up a lawn that has become thin or damaged by insects, diseases, weeds, drought, excessive traffic or other types of damage.
To ensure success, overseed at double the seeding rate for establishing a thicker lawn.
The best time to overseed is in the Spring or Fall. Keep the overseeded area moist by watering depending on weather.
Weed Control
The best weed control is a good, healthy lawn. A thick vigorous lawn which results from top quality grass, good watering and a fertilizer program is the best prevention against weed invasion.
Be sure to properly identify weeds prior to attempting to control.
Control weeds by hand pulling, raking, and mowing to prevent seed formation and / or application of selective organic herbicides.
Thatch Control
Thatch is a layer of partially decomposed organic matter that builds up in between the lawn and soil surface. A thatch lawn feels very spongy when walked on.
To minimize thatch development:
- Frequent mowing, avoiding over-watering and over-fertilizing.
- Mechanical removal with a dethatching machine should be done gradually.
- Remove excess thatch by vertical mowing or core aerating.
Aerification
Aerification is the mechanical removal of soil cores.
Some indications that you need to aerate are:
- Ground is hard and compacted.
- Weeds such as prostrate knotweed and clover are present.
- Water does not penetrate when you water.
Aerating or coring can:
- Help with heavy traffic areas such as pathways or sport fields.
- Reduce thatch.
- Be most beneficial when penetration is 2 to 3” deep and when 20 to 40 holes are punched per square foot.
Aerification should be done in the fall, or in the spring when the grass is actively growing.
Controlling Insects
A healthy, well-maintained lawn is the best defense against insect invasion. Insect damage is usually less severe on well-watered lawns. Insect damage can often be mistaken for drought damage and are generally difficult to notice as their presence goes undetected until significant damage has been done.
Regular inspection of the lawn including leaves, stems, roots, thatch and soil will help to determine if the problem is insect-related.A common insect that you should watch for is the white grub. Grubs live in the soil under the grass. If you suspect their presence in your lawn, remove a block of grass and count the grubs. If you have as many as five per 1/10 sq. meter, treat your lawn with a Natural Grub control; sold at your local nursery centre.
