How to Deal With Summer Heat Damage

Boy; is it ever hot out there in the Ottawa region! This heat wave is already taking its toll on lawns across the city and we’ve still got two or so more months to go. Are you facing the grim reality of a brown lawn this summer? If so, please don’t panic. The best defense is a good offense, right? Here are some tips to help get your lawn prepared to withstand the summer extremes in Ottawa.

Please don’t wait until your lawn is in its death throes before calling in our Nutri-Lawn Ottawa lawn care experts. 

Choose Your Seed Wisely

Grass is a plant, and like any other plant, it has growing conditions it prefers and will thrive in. There are a lot of varieties of grass, and here in Ontario we’re mostly looking at cool season grasses. 

Ryegrass, Bluegrass, and Fescues are the most popular grass varieties in Canada and are often available in mixes to compensate for each other’s weaknesses. As a mixture, these varieties will repel insects and disease, and are drought tolerant. Native varieties of grass seed will be better adapted to Ottawa growing conditions and require less maintenance.

Adjust Watering Schedule

Your lawn requires about 1 inch of water at a time. If you apply more than that, or less, the grass will stress. Ideally, you want to avoid stressing the plant as much as possible. Even in drought conditions, you can water the lawn more frequently but never more than an inch at a time.

Water is best applied in the early morning hours before the day heats up. This prevents mold and mildew growth, evaporation, and prevents heat stress. 

Your lawn will not thrive if kept mown too short. A short lawn will wither and go dormant a lot faster in a heat wave than grass left longer. Ideally, raising the mower deck to 2.5-3 inches will help the grass shelter the soil keeping it cooler and moist longer. Mowing grass puts stress on the plant, so mowing during a heat wave is stress upon stress.

Proper Lawn Maintenance

Plants are picky things, that's for sure. They like things just so before they’ll thrive. Grass is no different, though is fairly tolerant of neglect to a point. If you want your lawn to stay green all summer instead of turning into a crunchy brown mess, there are certain techniques you’ll need to employ, like core aeration.

The lawn care experts at Nutri-Lawn Ottawa would love to answer these and any other questions you might have. Contact the grass pros at Nutri-Lawn Ottawa to give your lawn the edge over weeds and extreme weather this summer 2018.