Bring back your lawn after record breaking heat!
The weather we experienced this past summer in Toronto was a tough one for all our lawns. In June and July, we went through a major drought. During those months, if we weren’t watering our lawns two to three times a week for a minimum of one hour each day there’s a good chance we lost some of our grass to a combination of heat and drought stress. Once under major stress, our lawns are much more vulnerable for pests such as weeds and insects which further damage the health of our turf. A good analogy to use is if we don’t supply our bodies with adequate nutrients and water, we weaken our immune systems which in turn makes us much more prone to getting sick. The point here is that for many of us, our lawns are in the ICU and we need to perform some emergency surgery! Here are some steps to follow this fall to nourish your lawn back to life.
- Thoroughly rake out your entire lawn. A simple leaf rake will do, as you are trying to expose as much of the existing soil surface as possible. This will promote good seed to soil contact when we over-seed and increase the germination rate!
- Apply a thin layer of triple mix to the bare areas. This is better than a cheaper soil as it contains far less contaminants such as weed seeds and undesirable grass seeds.
- Apply an even layer of grass seed to the bare areas; around 1-2 seeds per centimeter squared. Applying too many seeds will result in little to no germination. We recommend a blend of Kentucky Bluegrass, Fine Fescue and Perennial Rye grass. This combination provides a variety of species that thrive in various growing environments specific to this region.
- Lightly rake the seed into your layer of triple mix as this will allow the seed to nestle into both the triple mix and existing soil to protect it from the sun and feeding birds.
- Keep the seeded areas moist until the seed has germinated fully and the new grass has filled in the bare areas, we recommend watering daily for at least two weeks but may take up to a month.
- For any areas that are taken over by weeds, we recommend calling your local lawn provider and ordering a weed control to gain control before the cold comes.
Following these steps will fill in any damaged areas and help prevent pest infestations down the road. To help prevent our lawns from getting to this point in the future, it is very important that we are proactive with our lawn maintenance. Your maintenance program should consist of proper irrigation, mowing, and fertilizing from spring to fall. Like our bodies, proper nutrition and maintenance will keep our lawns healthy and out of the ICU in the future!