Lawn Care

Earlier this month I opened my issue of Turf & Rec (August/September, 2024) and learned about a study which found that dull mower blades cost the operator 22% more in fuel over sharp blades. That’s crazy. And it got me thinking about my side-hustle operation. My used Honda mower definitely had dull blades on and my spare set wasn’t sharpened yet. So I panicked and drove to my Coquitlam dealer where I bought a brand new set. Now my fuel use should plummet!

Sharp blades also give my old Honda a break; dull blades stress the engine and shorten the life of my already second-hand machine. Use sharp blades!

Beyond fuel

Now, fuel savings from sharp blades was news to me but it’s not just about fuel usage. Sharp blades allow you to cut the grass nicely, making a straight cut across the grass blades. See the picture below.

Using dull blades uses more fuel and it shreds the grass tissues. The shredding increases the cut area so the blades can lose more water and dry out faster. And if your lawn looks brownish after mowing, it could be from the shredding. You’re seeing the brown shredded tissues on top.

Sharp blades also give you a neater, uniform cut that looks good. If your lawn looks uneven, it might be from using dull blades.

Sharpening

I have yet to sharpen my own dull blades. I usually get them done by a mechanic I know or I buy new sets. Which is why I usually drool when I cut the grass at one of my client’s places in Coquitlam. He has a bench grinder at the back of his house. I really want to get one so I’m writing to Santa this year.

Whatever you do, make sure you use sharp blades. Your machine and grass blades will thank you for it; and your lawn will look awesome.

Winter mow?

I did it! Today I mowed a lawn just three days away from the new year. In my twenty-five seasons in landscaping I had never mowed a lawn past early December.

Here’s how it happened. My client called me to see if I could clean up her garden beds. Of course I could; I’m off on holidays recovering from a long season and she lives ten minutes away. But why the rush, right after Christmas? Mother-in-law is coming! Aha. I wonder how excited she gets when she looks out at the backyard and it’s not exactly looking mint.

Always a pro

Now, when the topic of lawn care came up, I did smile and tell my client that I had never mowed a lawn between Christmas and New Year’s. However, I didn’t tell her that it would make for a good blog. Why not try something new and see what happens?

Of course, I’m a professional. I don’t ruin lawns for profit, in any season. So, I checked the lawn. It did look shaggy because it was never put to bed. My client’s mower died in the fall, allegedly. I know people are busy; I’m not judging.

Frosty?

The test is always frost. Frosty grass blades have very little water and oxygen and can, therefore, break easily. That’s why you shouldn’t even walk on frosty lawns, if you can help it.

This shaggy winter lawn passed the test because we’re having a mild start to the winter. And I hope it stays this way until spring because it helps me financially. Cold weather affects my side-gigs, except tree work.

So I brought my mower, fuelled it up and went at it. I think it turned out well. The lawn needed a final mow and it also sucked up any remaining leaves. We should be good until spring.

Rules

Most lawns stop actively growing by late November, depending on the weather. You should aim to have your last cut done by November. But if your mother-in-law comes to visit and you haven’t done your last cut, give it a shot. Just make sure the conditions are decent: do not mow in freezing temperatures when the grass blades don’t have water and oxygen in their tissues. Frosty grass blades can break when you step on them. Definitely don’t mow over frosty grass.

Lawn care mastery online course

When I first put together my course outline, I had five of the biggest lawn care mistakes covered. The course was done and published on Teachable: greenfirstacademy.com. I thought I was done and I started working on course number two. But then I started noticing lawn creep at work and in online posts.

What’s lawn creep?

Lawn creep happens when the edge between say a sidewalk and lawn gets bigger and bigger. Eventually a large gap develops, giving the impression that the lawn is retreating from the sidewalk.

How does it happen? It’s caused by landscapers vertical edging with line trimmers from the lawn side. Since the line doesn’t hit the edge at precisely ninety degrees the way a blade edger can, the lawn edge gets shaved off on weekly or bi-weekly basis. Here’s an example.

What’s wrong with lawn creep?

Lawn creep looks ugly and, once the gap is wide enough, weed seeds will take hold in the gap. Now you’ve created extra weeding work for yourself. See below how beautiful the blade edger is. The difference is huge.

How to prevent lawn creep

The best way to prevent lawn creep is by using a blade edger with a skinny blade. Since the blade follows the hard sidewalk edge at ninety degrees, there is no creep. All we get is a sharp line that keeps the lawn from spilling over the sidewalk. Here’s an example:

I can hear the complaint: what if I don’t own a blade edger? No problem. When you vertical edge, stand on the sidewalk. That way if you don’t achieve the desired ninety degree angle, you will just chew up your line, not the lawn.

Lawn creep happens more than you think.

Stop lawn creep

Stop unsightly lawn creep by using a blade edger or vertical line edging from the sidewalk, not the lawn side. The gaps created by lawn creep look awful and invite weeds to move in.

A tough spot

Imagine grass growing on a fire lane made with bricks and very little soil on top; and towering above are mature Katsura trees (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) which limit the amount of sunlight the grass gets. These conditions, limited light and soil volume, make it difficult for the grass to thrive. Now, add lack of irrigation and foot traffic and no wonder the entire fire lane has a patchy look.

If you want a great lawn, you need regular watering, fertilizers and proper cutting heights.

Some years ago, we top dressed the fire lane with quality, weed-free, lawn and garden mix soil. Then we put down quality – and expensive- shade seed mix; and for a while everything looked great. Then the same poor conditions took over. Shade from the trees above, lack of regular watering and relentless foot traffic from adults, kids, and pets.

2023

In 2023 the strata council became more active in their landscape. They organized weekend work parties and planted their own plants like English laurels. This allowed them to build a community and save money. Incidentally, this strata complex is where my favorite fern lady lives. She’s the one who bought a native sword fern (Polystichum munitum) at a native plant nursery with after-tax dollars. If she had taken a shovel and traveled maybe ten metres into her forest buffer zone, she could have dug up massive specimens for free.

So, this same strata group decided to plant clover in their fire lane. Clover mixes nicely with grass, when it matures and flowers, it attracts insects, it grows fast, and it’s not as demanding as grass. It’s also disliked by European chafer beetles. Of course, since this lawn has limited soil volume, it’s unlikely the female chafers would lay their eggs in it. Clover is also cheap to buy and available.

Months after planting the clover is noticeable and there are fewer bare patches in the fire lane lawn.

One look and I would call the whole clover project a success; and it didn’t break the budget. It also fits nicely in a forest setting.

Fall recovery

Last fall was extremely dry and it was the first time I saw turfgrasses not recover completely. Normally, our lawns go dormant in summer and then they green up when rains return in the fall. Except last year the rains were delayed. We’ll see what 2023 brings. But this also gives us a chance to consider mowing tips from the Guelph Turfgrass Institute.

The golden rule

One-third rule: never remove more than one third the height of the plant.

Mowing heights depend on grass species and lawn uses. If you cut your lawn higher, you won’t have to cut as often. I know a dude who cuts his grass very short and twice a week. He loves his lawns and has the time. Others don’t care as much. I visit their homes every two weeks and the grass is fine.

Best tips

• Water deeply and infrequently as this encourages deep root formation and thus better drought tolerance
• Overseed with drought tolerant species. Check your home region for the best seed mixes.
• Don’t remove grass clippings. The clippings are natural fertilizer. I love this as a landscape professional because it speeds up my lawn care work: no stopping to empty my mower bag and now green waste to remove. I always do this in summer.
• Encourage dense grass stands to out-compete weeds: overseed in spring and fall. This issue comes up a lot. Homeowners are always asking about weeds in their lawns. While their lawns will never be weed-free, dense grass stands will make it hard for weeds to establish and thrive.
• Speaking of weeds, hand pick them and overseed the bare patches you create with seed.
• In the fall, mulch your fallen leaves into your turf.

Learn from Red Seal Vas

I find that landscapers and homeowners make the same basic mistakes over and over. It doesn’t have to be this way. I’ve taken the worst five mistakes people make and developed them into a stunning online course called “Lawn Care Mastery 101: the top 5 mistakes“. Now you too can mow like a professional. Click the link above or button below and change your life! Your lawns will thank you for it. If you’re reading this blog post to the end and inflation is making your life difficult, contact me for a discount code.

Take good care of your lawns!

PlantLife did it!

The PlantLife conservation group from the United Kingdom started #NoMowMay in 2019; and it’s a great idea because it makes us think about pollinators and how to help them thrive. We need pollinators for their free services and getting people to talk about them. The key idea is to stop mowing in May so dandelions can feed pollinators early in the season.

I first heard about #NoMowMay from a buddy who was totally frustrated about his strata council telling him to stop mowing in May. His work days start with lawn care all year so now he had to adjust his service. He was basically down to finesse and pruning work for all of May and it threw him off. I would be lying if I told you that my buddy was deeply concerned about dandelions and pollinators.

And then comes June

#NoMowMay sounds great but not if homeowners and condo landscapers struggle to get their lawns back up to shape in June. One problem with long, meadow-like lawns is that some weed species get easily established and may be difficult to eradicate later. Another problem is suddenly cutting your lawn low in June; back to its normal height. This stresses the lawn as it removes storage.

My buddy clearly struggled with his first regular mow in June. The grass was long and the cut required more effort, time and extra tarps. Don’t even get me started on the long faces his workers had.

Two alternatives

The Guelph Turfgrass Institute proposes two different ideas. One involves moving beyond turfgrass monocultures by adding mowing tolerant flowers such as crocus, creeping buttercup, English daisy or snowdrop.

Another idea is creating naturalized zones close or next to your lawn areas. You can let the naturalized area go wild and grow into a meadow that will support pollinators. As for your lawns, mowing every two weeks is the best way to support pollinators.

The future

We’ll see how the #NoMowMay idea evolves in the future. I love that it gets people talking and thinking about pollinators. We need their services and yet their numbers are declining. But we also have to consider the health of our lawns and their function. When homeowners struggle with their lawns in June, something is wrong. My buddy grumbled about dandelions but he survived the season. And I hope his long lawns helped pollinators get through the early part of the season.

Are you planning to mow your lawn next May?

What’s this?

As a landscape manager I often visit sites after being away for months so I notice when things change. One example is from last week. I did my routine line trimming session and then I noticed the sidewalk lawn creep. This was new and fairly recent. Take a look.

Edging is done to keep grass from overwhelming the sidewalk. If you allow it, it will slowly creep over the edge and annoy people using the sidewalk. Now, I personally prefer to use a blade edger because the metal blade is sharp and skinny. You run it along the sidewalk edge at ninety degrees and use it to separate grass from the sidewalk. It’s very narrow and hardly noticeable. Edging shouldn’t be noticeable; we aren’t building ditches. All we are after is sharp, clean edges. Blade edgers are designed for this kind of work.

Vertical sinners

Not every landscaper is willing to walk back to his truck to grab a blade edger. What if the blade needs changing? Horror! Let’s just use the line trimmer to vertical edge the sidewalk instead. Right, creeps.

Note how wide the edge is getting in the picture above. That’s because the landscaper is edging from the lawn side and it’s not done at ninety degrees. It looks like forty-five degrees or worse. Now, when you do this weekly, the lawn edge starts to creep away from the sidewalk. Very soon pets lodge their paws in the gap and weeds drift in. Now you’ve just created more work and your edges looked horrific. And Red Seal Vas gets to rant about it.

Solution

If you insist on vertical edging with your line trimmer, you must do it from the sidewalk edge. That way, if you miss you hit the sidewalk which is solid and unlikely to start creeping away. The other adjustment you must make is to aim for ninety degree angles. Make sure your string hits the edge at ninety degrees so we avoid lawn creep. This is easily accomplished with a blade edger.

Do not get sloppy and allow your edges to creep from the sidewalk into your lawn. This creates an unsightly gap that eventually harbors weeds. Edge like a pro.

Now what, Vas?

As soon as the owner of this new house asked me what to do about his dry, sad-looking lawn, I knew I would have to pick my words carefully. Since new watering restrictions came into effect on August 4, we can’t water this lawn. And water is obviously missing from this picture.

Now, the owner hasn’t lived in the house very long and he’s been busy with the back lane area of his house. Once the grass faded, weeds moved in. That’s usually when people call me with desperation in their voice. They want nice green grass and they definitely don’t want long stares from their neighbours. When the man tells me he’s embarrassed, I believe him. The yellow-flowered weeds were visible from across the street.

Baby your lawn

Having a nice green lawn takes a lot of work. You must have regular watering, seasonal fertilizer applications and proper mowing heights. And definitely expect to see some lawn weeds. Even golf courses have weeds.

Obviously, our West Coast lawns go dormant in summer and come back with fall rains. So there’s no need to stress about your yellow lawn. Except, last year the drought dragged deep into fall and, I think, the forecast is the same for this year.

So, the owner has to wait for watering restrictions to ease up before fixing his lawn. In the fall we can top-dress his lawn with soil and over seed but this too requires water. Fertilizers also require water to activate.

My advice

For now we wait until we get water in the form of rain or irrigation. Since the weeds are tough, they will poke out again and I will run them over to keep them from producing seeds. At least this gives the lawn a decent look, otherwise the neighbours think it’s been abandoned.

Yes, you can have a great looking lawn but you’ll have to earn it.