Keep Your Lawn Healthy at a Fraction of the Time and Cost!

Despite a growing interest in alternative landscaping, conventional lawns are still the most popular ground covering for the majority of homes in the Kingsway,High Park and Swansea. But between mowing, watering, fertilizing and other maintenance, perfectly manicured lawns can take a great deal of work.

On the flip side, low-maintenance lawns let you enjoy an attractive yard that meets your needs, but with considerably less time, money, water and pesticides than with a conventional lawn. To help you plant and maintain a low-maintenance lawn, we have a number of tips to get you off to a great start, including:

• Before planting your lawn, do a thorough analysis of your property conditions and needs to determine the best location for a lawn, or where alternatives might be more suitable. For example, a narrow, shady side yard might be better suited to shade-tolerant groundcover plants or low shrubs. Your site analysis will also help determine suitable species and what soil amendments are needed, if any.
• Select a diverse mix of hardy species that are suited to your property's soil, moisture and sunlight, such as drought-tolerant, low-height and slow-growing turfgrasses as well as broadleaf species, like clovers. Fescues tend to have good drought tolerance and clovers stay green during drought and fix nitrogen, which improves the nutrients in your soil. A general guideline is about 40percent fescues, 40percent other turfgrasses and 20percent broadleaf species.
• To plant a new lawn, loosen the top 10 - 15cm of soil, after removing the roots of plants that were in it before, and work in compost or other amendments, as determined by your soil analysis and the needs of the species you have selected. Smooth the surface with a rake and spread seeds evenly right away and work them no deeper than 1 cm into the soil. Seed in the spring and even better, in the fall.
• In the first spring or fall after you plant your new lawn, overseed bare patches and areas where the lawn did not germinate well. Loosen the soil surface with a rake and, if needed, topdress by adding compost or other amendments. Smooth the surface and spread the seeds.
• For newly seeded lawns or wherever you overseed, water right away and, unless it rains, every day for 3-6 weeks until the lawn becomes established. If you have selected species that are suited to your property's moisture conditions, your lawn should need little if any additional watering for the rest of the summer.
• Mow to no lower than 6 - 8cm to strengthen the roots, retain water and nutrients, and make the lawn less susceptible to pests. Low-height and slow-growing species require less mowing, and a push mower can further reduce energy use, pollution and noise. Whatever mower you use, keep the blades sharp to avoid tearing the grass, and leave clippings on the lawn to add nutrients and help retain moisture.
• Apply up to 2.5cm of water not more than once per week and skip a week if rainfall has provided this amount or more. The correct amount can be estimated by placing an empty tuna can on your lawn as you apply water evenly across the surface. When the water level reaches the top of the can, you've applied about 2.5cm of water. You can time how long it takes to reach this level, then set the timer on your sprinkler.

Source: CMHC