Post-Winter Lawn

With spring fast approaching it is incumbent on the lawn conscience individuals to pay heed to common damages a typical Ottawa winter brings.  Early and simple solution can pay dividends once the lawn growing season is well underway.

Salt Damage A common problem in Ottawa is salt damage.  The city applies generous amounts of road salt to our roadways which is subsequently plowed or splashed onto lawns, or even tracked onto driveways and walkways which makes its way to your lawn.

It is very difficult to reverse salt damage on your lawns, however, you can take measures to limit the damage and speed up recovery.

The easiest way, once weather permitting, is to soak the affected areas to help wash away excess salt.  You can then prep the area for reseeding to regain that lush growth.

Soil Compaction When we talk about soil compaction many people immediately think about foot traffic on their lawns.  However, many people do not realize how heavy snow and ice can be, and how much it can compact your soil year over year.

A simple solution to soil compaction is lawn aeration.  The process of remove small plugs from the lawn allows the soil to loosen up and ease the regrowth or new growth of grass roots, also allowing oxygen, and nutrients important for that early growth deeper into the ground. I will talk about the issues and remedies of soil compaction more at length in a separate post.  The best defense against weeds is a healthy lawn.