In The Green: Tips To Keep Your Lawn Healthy In The Heat – DiscoverMooseJaw.com

The hot weather that we are getting can take a toll on us, and it can also take a toll on our lawns.

According to City of Moose Jaw Parks Gardener Sarah Regent, most of the lawns in the area are cool-season grasses that thrive in lower temperatures. Once the mercury hits the 30s, the grass can go into a summer dormancy.

Regent said the best thing we can do to help our lawn in the heat is to be gentle with it.

So that means doing things that arent as stressful to it. A really easy one to do is mow when it is cooler out, ideally in the evening, and make sure you are mowing only when your grass is dry, she said.

Other tips she gave include only mowing about a third of the grasss height off. She said taking off more can be stressful to the grass and removing a lot of its photosynthetic areas.

Tearing of grass isnt good for the lawn either. Regina said keeping a shape mower blade is important because a cleaner cut is easier for the grass to heal.

When it comes to watering, Regent said it depends on the goals and landscaping.

Generally you want to water deeply less often, so you are looking at once or twice a week. You want to make sure those run to roughly the equivalent of an inch per week. Thats a pretty good rule of thumb if we arent really getting any rain, she said.

She added holding to that rule will help keep the roots growing down as watering every day and every other day can encourage the roots to stay shallow.

Some of the warning signs that your lawn needs water are brown spots, especially in higher spots. Even before that, Regent said that the green colour of the grass will start to fade and turn blueish. A thirsty lawn will also not spring back up if it is stepped on.

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In The Green: Tips To Keep Your Lawn Healthy In The Heat - DiscoverMooseJaw.com