For many people, summer brings about a lawn care dilemma:
- Use more water than usual in order to maintain a nice, green lawn, or…
- Put the sprinkler away and watch the grass dry out and turn brown
It doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition,
though.
By following some helpful water-conserving lawn care tips (and some municipal regulations – more on those later), you can keep your water bills low while still having a good-looking lawn.
Before you pull out the hose or sprinkler, you should…
Step on your grass
Prior to watering your lawn, take a nice, leisurely walk on it.
Look back at the footprints you’ve just made:
- If they instantly disappear, and
- The grass springs right back up
Then your lawn is in good shape and doesn’t need to be watered at that time.
Put the lawnmower away…
How often do you cut your grass?
Whatever your regular grass cutting schedule is, you should reduce it. By as much as 50% if possible.
Grass that’s longer in length tends to be more tolerant of hot, dry conditions (as well as being more weed resistant) than shorter grass.
…But keep its blades sharp
Meanwhile, when you do cut your grass, make sure your mower’s blades are nice & sharp.
Dull blades tear grass, which means they need extra water to heal and grow back properly.
Don’t pick up grass clippings
After you’ve mowed your lawn, leave any grass clippings there.
They’ll break down and provide healthy nutrients your grass can use to grow and stay strong.
Adjust your irrigation system sprinkler heads
If more water from your sprinkler system is landing on things in your backyard such as:
Or other hardscaping materials than your actual grass, make sure to reposition the heads accordingly.
Follow local watering by-laws
In case you aren’t aware, here are the watering by-laws for each Grand River Natural Stone location:
Kitchener
Designated watering times are 5:30 am – 10:00 am and 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm.
Ending house numbers & watering days are as follows:
- 0 or 1: Mondays
- 2 or 3: Tuesdays
- 4 or 5: Wednesdays
- 6 or 7: Thursdays
- 8 or 9: Fridays
Stoney Creek & London
- Home addresses ending in 0 or even numbers (2, 4, 6, 8) are permitted to water lawns on even calendar dates
- Home addresses ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 are permitted to water lawns on odd calendar dates.
Fergus
Designated watering times are 5:30 am – 7:00 am and 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
- Home addresses ending in 0 or even numbers (2, 4, 6, 8) are permitted to water lawns on even calendar dates.
- Home addresses ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 are permitted to water lawns on odd calendar dates.
Enjoy the best of both worlds
This summer, keep the green lawn you’ve worked so hard to maintain.
At the same time, help the environment (and your wallet too) by using less water than necessary.
And if you need any help with your lawn (such as getting fresh topsoil for those very bare spots), all you have to do is contact us.
We’ll get back to you – fast – with all the information you need.
