Green Collar Landscaping

Lawn Care in Hamilton: Maintaining the Green, Green Grass of Home

Summer is the hardest time for homeowners to keep an eye on the health of their lawns. With the high temperature threatening to dehydrate the grass and turn the verdant turf to a sickly brown, constant watering and fertilization are important. It’s particularly crucial for lawns to thrive during this season because they are the preferred venue for outdoor barbecues, afternoon parties, yard games and other summer activities.

With this in mind, homeowners in Hamilton, ON should be aware of the following important things to ensure your lawn remains healthy and vibrant throughout the warm months.

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Know Your Turf

First of all, you should know whether your lawn’s grasses are more accustomed to the heat or the cold. Today’s Homeowner offers a few pointers on this:

    • Cool-season grasses (such as fescue, bluegrass, and rye) grow best when temperatures are in the 60s F.
    • Warm-season grasses (including Zoysia, St. Augustine, Centipede, and Bermuda) like temperatures in the 70s.

Once temperatures get into the 80s and above, lawns will begin to struggle a little, with cool-season grasses having the hardest time. Growth will slow, color may fade, and lawns will show signs of wear and tear as they are less able to recover from stress and traffic. Some cool-season lawns will even go dormant in the summer, looking brown and brittle until early fall. 

Is the Water Enough?

According to professionals at lawn maintenance in Hamilton, such as Green Collar Landscaping, grasses should be watered deeply, but not too frequently. In moderately warm weather, lawns should have a water depth of at least 1-inch every week. You can place a rain gauge or an open flat can in the middle of the lawn to measure the amount of water it gets from sprinklers, irrigation systems or rainfall. If the temperature rises further, more water is needed.

Keep Grass Tall

Lawn and gardening experts recommend that grasses be allowed to grow a bit taller to help roots deepen and to prevent weeds from taking seed. When having your lawn mowed, keep cold-season grasses at a height of 3-4 inches or warm-season types at 2-3 inches. In fact, even in winter, grasses not shorter than 2 inches are ideal.

Do Not Over-fertilize

Fertilizers are best applied in the fall, when weeds are present, especially if the fertilizers also contain herbicides. Applying extra fertilizer in summer might scorch the lawn or produce young grass that would suffer in the heat.

Lawn maintenance is imperative year-round, particularly in summer when front-yard activities are common. If you’re in doubt or are totally clueless about lawn upkeep, entrust your yard to seasoned Hamilton lawn care companies that know exactly how to keep your grass green.

(Source: “Summer Lawn Care Guide”, Today’s Homeowner)

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