Spring reveals that it’s time to clean up our lawns and get them ready for the season ahead – yet lawn maintenance can feel like a hassle. However, if you got any landscaping in Calgary done, you don’t want to tarnish its aesthetic appeal by allowing your lawn to transform into a messy jungle.

Avoid doing so by seeing how you can prepare your lawn for spring!

Creating the Perfect Lawn for Landscaping

A pristine, green lawn doesn’t appear overnight. Just like how Calgary landscaping designers put work into their projects, you also need to put work into your lawn to achieve the clean, cut look you desire.

Check out what to do down below:

Add Compost

The most important thing you can do for your lawn is add compost to it. Adding compost is the first thing you should do when spring arrives.

Compost helps your lawn by adding nutrients and organic matter to the soil, nourishing your grass and plants. You can buy a composting product made for your specific type of soil, or you can use an organic fertilizer formed from compost.

Apply Mulch

Mulching your lawn is a great way to keep the soil in your lawn moist and prevent weeds from growing. You can use several types of mulches, such as decomposed leaves, shredded wood, or even paper bags. The key is to pick a mulch that is low in nitrogen and high in carbon.

Watering Consistently

Water your lawn thoroughly once every 10-14 days during the spring. It will help to free up residual soil that may be clinging to the grass, reduce the number of fertilizers you’ll need to apply and keep the weeds at bay.

You can give your lawn one final watering just before you mow it. This watering should be a light mist that lasts only a few seconds.

Use Fertilizer

When it comes to fertilizing your lawn, the best thing to do is test your soil first. You can do this by inserting a soil test strip into the ground where you want to grow your lawn. Once you receive the results, you’ll know exactly what fertilizer to use. If you’re unsure about what to do next, we recommend starting with a low-nitrogen lawn. It will help prevent your grass from becoming too lush, which can cause it to die back and need more frequent mowing.

Weeding Out Weeds

Weeding is another chore, but shouldn’t be put off since it grows vigorously during this time, so you’ll have to weed your lawn more frequently. There are a couple of ways to go about weeding: pulling each weed out by hand or using a special weeding tool designed to remove weeds without damaging the grass.

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So you just finished your final walk-through with your Calgary landscape contractors and (hopefully) are happy with everything they accomplished. You handed them their final cheque, shook hands, they hopped in their truck and are on their way to the next job.

On the other end, you turn around and see your yard, remembered what it was and saw what it became. You couldn’t be happier!

Now, the hard part: maintaining your new yard. From hardscape care to everyday lawn maintenance, every dollar you spent should be worthwhile.

Here are some tips on how to ensure your landscape maintenance is up to par for years to come:

Hardscaping Landscape Maintenance

The hardscaping portion of your landscape was probably your most costly, so it’s imperative you don’t let it get damaged.

Paving Stones:

Sweep your patio regularly, especially after a party or gathering.
Power-wash once a month – you can rent one from Home Depot
Ensure regular polymeric sand between joints to keep weeds from growing.
Remove any stains that stick with a store-bought solution from any garden center.
Remove and relay any paving stones that shift – this is normal especially with Calgary chinook weather.

Concrete:

Reseal concrete every second year or so depending on the degree of wear and tear.
Power wash regularly to remove debris.
Remove any oil, grease or other stains right away before they settle in.
Pay attention to expansion joints as water seeps through, and call for a professional to fix it immediately.

Stone Retaining Walls:

Pay attention to any settling within the first year.
Make sure caps stay glued or re-apply PL to secure caps on the wall.
Ensure that the wall isn’t being “pushed out” from water pressure over time and continues to drain properly.
Avoid salt or deicers around the retaining walls.

Softscaping

Softscaping is what is going to give your yard a vibrant glow. Green grass, blooming trees and shrubs are where all your colors and textures are going to come from. It’s important that you take care of these crucial elements on a regular basis to ensure optimal landscaping.

Sod:

Water, water, water. The first two-three weeks you should water your lawn twice a day- early morning and late evening.
Don’t cut new grass for at least three weeks – let it grow into the soil.
Some yellow/brownish patches are normal – it’s just the heat, keep watering!
If the patch remains, either replace the sod or power rake it and throw a high-quality seed mix in, then wait.

Plant Materials:

Give it time to grow.
Again, water, water, water – but don’t drown the plant.
Prune regularly, remove dead branches.

Groundcover:

Spray round-up anytime you see weeds growing.
Top up mulch as it starts to decompose.
Cut out straggly, loose fabric underneath, and replace it with newer fabric stapled to the existing one.
Blow or pick the fruits and cones falling from your trees.

Calgary landscapers should always let their clients know about maintenance protocols for the work that they do. This is the only way to ensure that the yard stays beautiful for more than a season, and all the hard-earned money that was invested can be shown off for years to come!

There’s something about a crisp, green Calgary lawn that is just so satisfying.

After all, nothing is worse than seeing your neighbourhood sprinkled with pale brown, unhealthy lawns littered with dry patches.

Quality residential landscaping in Calgary can be challenging to maintain. With that said, there are ways to help you keep up that lusciously healthy lawn and avoid costly mistakes.

The Grass Can Be Greener On Every Side

Lawn care in Calgary is so diverse. Have you ever wondered how two homes, side by side, can have such contrasting grass colour? They get the same sun, same water- so what’s the difference?

We always make sure our clients understand the importance of a well-cared-for, healthy lawn.

First, it makes a huge difference in the long run, especially when it comes to resale value.

It’s curb appeal – the first thing someone will notice as they approach your home for the first time. I’m sure we don’t have to tell you of the power of first impressions!

Second, through proper Calgary lawn care, everything in your yard will start to have a healthier look over time. It even improves the overall air quality of the landscape surrounding your home.

Take a look at some of our Calgary lawn care tips that will ensure a top quality lawn for your property.

Mistake #1: Not Mowing Your Lawn Often Enough

Mowing your lawn can be a nuisance, but if you create a weekly mowing schedule for yourself, it’s a great routine to get into.

We recommend that our clients mow to a height of approximately 2” to 3”. By doing so, you maintain a manicured, natural look to your Calgary lawn.

Make sure you sharpen your blades every spring, especially before your first cut.

Unsharpened blades won’t give your grass a proper cut. You’ll find yourself having to go over the same spots several times to get all the missed patches. Otherwise, your lawn can look uneven and poorly maintained.

Who wants that?

Get Creative

Don’t be afraid to get creative in regards to your mowing pattern. Every time you mow, start from a different direction than the previous cut.

This way, you are cutting more leaf surface on weeds that may tend to lean in different directions. Another bonus to doing this is a reduction in soil compaction and turf wear-and-tear from the mower wheels.

Buy a Trimmer

They’re inexpensive, efficient and help you catch the spots the mower couldn’t reach.

There are many areas – such as against retaining walls, garden beds and walkways to name a few – that the lawn mower can’t get to. Trying to force the mower onto those areas can ruin its blades and even damage or scratch the surfaces you’re trying to cut against.

A trimmer is all you need to do the trick!

Mistake #2: Leaving Your Lawn to Dry Out

If you’ve just had a Calgary landscaper do your sod installation, you’ll need to be watering it twice per day. Do this for the first two to three weeks minimum depending on how hot the weather gets.

Water once early in the morning, preferably around sunrise. Water again later in the evening or at sunset time.

This schedule is ideal for allowing the water to soak into the soil. Heat and humidity will be lower at these times than at other points of the day. This prevents the water from evaporating right away and ensures complete absorption.

Once the roots are established, you should infrequently water it, depending on the weather and the health of your lawn.

Generally, once your grass has been established, you want to apply about one inch of water to soak into the grass daily.

A great habit to get into is watering your lawn early in the morning before going to work. Think of it like feeding the dog before starting your day.

You want to make sure the grass is well fed for the day, so if it gets hot, it doesn’t burn patches. Give it another go once again after supper time as the sun starts to make its way down.

Mistake #3: Not Fertilizing Your Lawn

Fertilizing your lawn is always worth considering for optimal lawn care in Calgary. When nutrient levels drop below what’s needed to maintain healthy conditions, fertilizing will give your lawn a good boost.

There are several organic fertilizers on the market that can supply all the nutrients you need for a healthy lawn. Just walk into your local Calgary garden centre and ask an expert!

There are three major nutrients you should be looking out for: nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

Read the product’s label to make sure that it has these three elements. Providing your lawn with all three nutrients will ensure you have proper leaf growth, root growth, and future stress resistance.

The fertilizing process is simple: just read the directions on the bag and apply it accordingly.

Mistake #4: Missing the Issues with Your Calgary Lawn

Many times, when you see patches of grass that seem like they’re dead, or just worse off than the rest of the lawn, you should give it some time.

Add a little extra water to the problem area and see what’s happening. If it’s not repairing itself, try adding some grass seeds to it and keep an eye on it.

The City of Calgary’s website provides a great way to repair damaged grass:

“You can repair larger dead patches by reseeding. Mix grass seed into compost or soil in a container such as a bucket. Then spread the mixture over the dead spot. Lightly pack it by stepping on it but make sure it’s dry before you do so (you’ll pack it too much if it’s wet). Then keep the area watered until the seedlings become established.”

Of course, if none of the above works, you can always cut out that piece and replace it with a couple of rolls of sod from any Calgary landscape supply store or garden centre.

When it comes to lawn care, shaded areas are often a challenge for many home-owners in Calgary.

Residential landscapers should keep an extra lookout for areas that sit up against your house or under large canopy trees as they face an added challenge when trying to grow appropriately.

For our sod installation services, we never recommend lawn installations on the 4’-8’ side yards between homes because they almost never make it due to lack of sun. This applies to some of the new neighbourhoods being built – mainly in the Northwest and South East of Calgary – in particular.

Your lawn needs a minimum of 4-6 hours of direct sunlight so it can prosper.

Having grass in the areas against your house or fence is also a bad idea because the heat that comes off those materials tend to burn the grass underneath them.

The best solution is to have decorative rock or mulch along the side yards and garden beds against your fence or house – this will also be lower maintenance over time. Let the grass be in the middle, and your planting beds are your borders.

If you follow these critical Calgary lawn care tips, you’ll be on your way to a healthier, long-lasting lawn.

Tag: lawn care