After a long winter, spring can’t come quick enough for most homeowners in Canada. If a lawn could talk, it would likely say the same! After months of snow and ice cover, along with being subjected to the harsh elements of winter, most lawns have had all they can take. Enter spring!
Greetings, lawn lovers! It is I, The Grass Expert, here to talk to you about a dastardly winter lawn care issue that affects many a Canadian around this time of year: winter desiccation.
Winter desiccation takes place when the turfgrass plant is in its dormant or semi-dormant stages, and can cause varying degrees of damage severity to a lawn. All turfgrass species are prone to winter desiccation if the right conditions persist.
Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, it's off to shovel we go!
For those who live in areas with routine and heavy snowfall in winter, this phrase has probably passed through your minds a few times this year as you slog outside with a shovel in hand and a scowl on your face. Winter and snow/ice storms go hand in hand, making shovelling as Canadian a pastime as, say, ice hockey or curling. What a world we live in!
With winter in full swing, many parts of Canada are getting cold enough and have enough precipitation to hold impromptu outdoor skating rinks. Sure, a patch of ice for hockey-related purposes is great. But on your lawn? Well, not so much...
The effects of Ice coverage can cause varying degrees of lawn damage depending on the severity of the ice coverage, the length of exposure, and the hardiness of the turfgrass species effected. Where snow coverage is generally considered desirable with the exception of the increased risk for snow mold disease, ice coverage on the other hand is more of a concern and is undesirable, often causing more severe damage that requires renovation practices to speed up recovery.
Oh yes, wait a minute Mr. Snow Plow! Winter is officially here and in many parts of Canada, white snow is starting to blanket the front and back yards of many a property.
Mother Nature aside, some of the most severe damage that can happen to a lawn over the winter months is often the most preventable. Snow removal equipment that is used to plow, blow, and remove snow can easily - and unintentionally - damage the turf when the boundaries aren’t properly identified, much to the chagrin of homeowners. The edges from the road, driveway, sidewalk and along walkways are most vulnerable to harm, and can result in extensive damage if not properly monitored during the winter months.
Should old lawn issues be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old winter damage be forgot, and old lang syne?
Happy New Year to all of our great customers here at Nutri-Lawn! It's great to see you all in 2019, and we can't wait to see what the new year has in store for you and your beautiful lawns. Now, on to the business at hand...
With the holidays over and parts of Canada beginning to feel the effects of a more traditional winter, many Canadians are turning to road salts to help stabilize their walkways and driveways. Bonus: Well done for using your walkways, folks! Not walking over your frost or snow covered lawn is an important step in protecting your lawn over the winter, and one that is oh so easy to do. Proud of you!
Happy Thursday, snowmen and snow-women! Can you believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away already? In honour of this giving season, we at Nutri-Lawn have decided to supply our readers with the gift of winter lawn care knowledge; namely, the know-how to deal with Direct Low Temperature Kill on your lawn.
No, low temperature kill is not a Christmas-themed action movie starring Bruce Willis as the title character. Instead, low temperature kill is damage that occurs when the mercury dips below freezing and the turfgrass plant is exposed to many extremes that can cause harm. In parts of Canada that do experience extreme cold temperature conditions during winter, it can be quite the experience.
A certain festive holiday is around the corner, and we at Nutri-Lawn couldn't be more excited about it. This year, give your winter lawn the gift of peace and quiet for Christmas by not walking over it when it's covered in frost!
Depending on where you live in Canada, you've probably started to notice some silver frost blanketing your grass and gardens in the early morning and late evening. While it may be pleasing to the eye if caught in the right light, frost can actually be a real problem for your lawn if not properly monitored. Foot traffic, parked cars and snow plows, pets and kids running amok... these are all common but avoidable actions that can damage grass in winter.
There are several common destructive turfgrass insects that can damage a lawn in fall. As it is with many other conditions that cause lawn stress, the best defense against insect damage is a well maintained, healthy lawn. A healthy lawn can often endure insect feeding if infestations are low without showing any signs of damage.
