Saturday, July 13, 2019

Your lawn: the red-headed step child

With the heat of the summer in full swing, the cold rainy spring is a distant blur in the rear-view mirror. And yet, many forget, all the rain did your grass a world of good.

In all honesty, for most, their home lawn is not a priority---and it shows. It doesn't take more than a few days of relentless heat and no rain for a lawn to start showing signs of heat stress---a vision sadly seen too often over the past few weeks.

Your grass is a living, breathing ecosystem. It acts as a filtration for your air, aesthetically pleasing, it adds to your curb appeal, and when treated properly, provides a soft cushion for your various outdoor activities.

All it needs in return is a little TLC. Proper cutting---which at this time of the year means three inches or about the height of your ankle after it has been mowed and don't remove any more than a third of the blade when cutting. Adequate watering---an inch and a half per week minimum...and that is all.

I get it. Life is busy and a endless rapid stream of multitasking. Who has time to tend to these menial tasks properly?

But your lawn will give you so much in return.

It will take the pounding of your feet and patio furniture, the rambunctious pet behavior, the incessant digging of animals great and small, the canine urine and fecal matter and still smile up at you with a pleasant green warmth.

So try to remember these things when the high heat turns brutal, and stop doing things like this to save a few precious moments.


Because somewhere down the line it will cost you.