Keys To A Healthy Lawn

Keep it long

Keeping your grass blades longer reduces water loss to transpiration. Your grass blades, like all plants, transpire by losing water to the atmosphere. To help decrease water loss we encourage Calgary homeowners to keep their grass at three inches or higher; however, we will accommodate most height requests. Three inches can appear tall but by keeping grass blades longer the transpiration process is slowed. The transportation process is partially slowed because longer grass blades create shadows that keep the air cooler around the plant matter.

When the transpiration process is slowed your grass can keep more water as a food source, which keeps your lawn greener longer. Lawn mowing still takes place once per week but now the grass is left longer, healthier and happier. If your the lawn is mowed too short there is no shadow to prevent transpiration, water is then lost, the grass dries out and then turns yellow and feels crunchy under your feet.

Keep Your Blade Sharp

In Calgary it can be quite wet in May, June and July and having sharp lawn mower blades will help to produce a cleaner healthier blade of grass. When mowing lawns sharp blades give a precise clean cut. A sharp incision into a grass blade will allow your freshly mowed lawn to recover quickly and start growing again. Lawns mowed with a dull blade compromises the growth of your lawn and possibly will invite disease to manifest. The Calgary growing conditions are tough enough and mowing a lawn improperly will not allow a lawn to recover during times of drought.

Be Water Smart

We receive a great deal of rainwater in May, June and the beginning of July. Try decreasing the amount of watering to once a week in the months where we receive rain. When mowing lawns during periods of high precipitation your lawn will grow vigorously and need less supplemental water.

Because it is particularly dry in August and September your lawn care will require more water because it is particularly dry. When watering your lawn watch for soil saturation. Our clay soil conditions can only handle a maximum of 15-20 minutes of water time in one location. After this time the soil has reached it’s saturation maximum and water will begin to run off. If your yard is on a slope employ your water do the work for you. Position your sprinkler at the top of the slope and let the water run down this way you do not need to move your sprinkler frequently.

Mulch When Appropriate

Mulching grass clippings or Grass-cycling is another effective way of reducing water loss to transpiration. Lawn mowing clippings contain water and when that water is left behind it helps to feed the lawn. It also helps to create shadows further reducing water loss through transpiration. Finally, the mulched clippings are a free high-nitrogen fertilizer and when chopped up into fine pieces some of the plants will decompose and release nutrients back into the soil.

Cool Season Grass

Most new lawns in Calgary are comprised of cool season grasses. Kentucky Bluegrass is one such grass. Kentucky Blue grass reaches it’s peak 18-24 degrees celcius. With this being the case your lawn has the potential to look its best into September and October.