Lawn Care and Maintenance Tips

Keep your yard looking its best with our lawn care tips! You can improve the look and health of your lawn by correctly mowing, using the right fertilizers, and taking care of thin or dry patches before they get out of hand. Follow these simple steps and you'll have green, healthy grass in no time!

From spreaders to lawn mowers, we have everything you need to create a healthy and picture-perfect lawn. Discover our selection of top brands in lawn care products like lawn sprinklers, fertilizer, and more. Find everything you need in-store or online today.

Improve the appearance and health of your lawn. Whether you use a lawn mower or lawn tractor for larger yards, you’ll need to know techniques for proper trimming.

• Mow Your Lawn Tall (6 cm): Longer grass blades are more drought tolerant, encourage deeper roots, and grow thicker to crowd out weeds. Shorter cut lawns need more work to stay healthy, weed-free, and attractive.

• Don't Cut More Than a Third: Cutting off only one-third of the grass blade length reduces stress and helps to conserve moisture in the plant.

• Keep Your Mower's Blade Sharp: A dull blade frays grass blade ends, which allow moisture to escape and causes tips to turn brown.

Tip: Leave the clippings on the lawn to conserve moisture and add organic matter back into the soil. And don’t forget to use a string trimmer or lawn edger for a crisp, clean finish.

One of the most important things you can do for your lawn is provide it with proper nutrition. It's easy to grow your best lawn ever when you understand the feeding basics.
Feeding, or fertilizing, your lawn enriches the soil, creating a good environment for beneficial microorganisms, insects, and worms. When it’s well-fed, it has a deeper root system so it’s better able to prepare for droughts. Your lawn also becomes more resilient to withstand weeds, pests, and winter stresses.
Start by estimating your lawn size. Multiply your property's length by its width and subtract the area of your house and any hard surfaces like driveways, patios, or decks. Average Canadian lawns are about 250 m2, approximately the size of a tennis court. Using a lawn spreader, apply fertilizer where desired.

Tip: Frequent fertilizing in the fall as well as early feedings in the spring will also help to keep your grass greener than ever.To find the best Lawn Spreader check out our Lawn Spreader Buying Guide.

With the right watering tools, you’ll get a better-looking, healthier, and more resilient lawn, while conserving water use. Lawns need at least 2.5 cm of water per week. Use a rain gauge to measure the rainfall during the week and make up the difference with a lawn sprinkler.

Water only once or twice a week, but do it deeply to reach the roots. Frequent watering only wets the lawn's surface and forces the roots to remain shallow. Deeper root systems help lawns survive stressful periods of heat and drought.

You also don’t have to stand around with a water hose. Consider installing drip irrigation to save water and time.

Tip: Early in the morning and in the evening are the ideal times to water for most lawns. There’s less wind, less hot sun, and your lawn has a full day to dry.

What do dandelions, crab grass and Canada thistle have in common? They can take over your lawn if you’re not being proactive!

Some weeds are easy to remove by hand using a trowel, while others that are more stubborn may require raking to loosen the roots before mowing. You can also use weed control products to help remove stubborn weeds.

It’s best to treat weeds early in their life cycle. For example, crabgrass should be treating with a weed control product in the early spring, and dandelions in the fall.

Tip: The best time to apply weed control products is when there is a heavy morning dew. The moisture helps the product stick to weed leaves.

The healthier a lawn is, the less likely you are to find pests like lawn grubs or chinch bugs. These pests tend to show up when lawns are hot and dry with short grass – yet another reason to keep your yard as lush as possible!

Examine your lawn regularly for signs of pests. Not all damage to your lawn is caused by pests; there may be environmental factors like road salt or dog urine that are to blame. If a pest problem is identified, you should use a pesticide to clear up the issue and consider changing your lawn care routine to prevent future problems.

To find the best pesticide, check out our Pesticide Buying Guide.

Tip: Not all insects are pests! Insects that are beneficial to your lawn’s health include ladybugs, bees, butterflies, moths and earthworms.

It's easy to tell if your lawn needs rejuvenation. If your lawn is thin, you can see bare soil between grass blades, and the ground feels hard to walk on, that means your lawn needs a little TLC. Thicken your lawn by overseeding it with quality grass seed. It's an easy and effective way to strengthen your lawn and protect against weed problems.

After you’ve found the right seed, you have the option of aerating. Aerators penetrate the ground to allow air and water into the soil creating a better root environment for germinating seeds.

Next, use a rake to expose the soil and improve seed contact with the soil. It also helps to prep the area to remove dead grass and loosen hard soil.

At this point, you can also choose to enrich the soil (although it’s not required) before adding a thin layer of grass seeds. Organic matter such as lawn soil added on top of the ground creates a more nutrient-rich environment for growth.

After seeding, feed your lawn with fertilizer. Finish by watering until your soil is dark brown. When your mixture turns light brown, add more water.

Tip: The best time to overseed is in the spring and fall.

If your lawn has ever been waterlogged for hours or even days after a heavy storm, you may need to fix your lawn’s water drainage. Poor drainage is usually either caused by the soil or the layout of your lawn or garden.

A lawn with thick areas of thatch or compacted soil can prevent water from being absorbed. In this case, it is best to aerate the lawn to improve the flow of water.

The layout of your lawn and garden should naturally slope away from your house, however any dips can allow water to pool and cause damage to your grass and roots. In this case, you should consider adding gutters and drains to divert rainfall away from your lawn to prevent water-logging.