Water-Wise Gardens

Introduction | Planning and Design | Planting a New Garden
Soil Conditioning | Watering Requirements
Limiting Grassy Areas | Fertilizers
Pesticides and Herbicides | Plant Selection
Gardening with Native Plants

Limiting Grassy Areas

Limit the amount of grass in the landscape. A lawn uses four times as much water as other plants. Besides water, grass needs a lot of fertilizer and maintenance. Try using mulches, wildflowers or groundcovers instead. There are many excellent and hardy groundcovers that can give that "green" look. Many offer the benefit of flowering each year.

Most Ontario turf grasses are a mix of Kentucky bluegrass, fescues and perennial ryegrass. These grasses fare better in a wetter climate. Consider letting grass go dormant (yellow) in a summer drought. It will revive during the cooler, damper days of fall, and will green up again. Newer varieties of grass seed mix, such as fescues and perennial rye grass, may be more drought tolerate and suited to our climate.

Lawn Tips

• Aerate and dethatch (remove dead, matted grass) in the spring to encourage penetration of water deep into the soil. This also prevents water loss through runoff.
• Cut the lawn high at 5 - 7.5 cm (2 - 3 inches). The shorter the grass, the shallower the root system.
• Leave grass clippings on the lawn to prevent excessive moisture loss and return water and nutrients to the soil.
• If you have a lot of grass clippings, add them to your composter (in layers), or use them as a mulch around plants.
• Keep your mower blade sharp.
• Mow late in the day when the grass is dry.
• Don't mow during a drought.
• Apply compost and overseed to keep your lawn lush and healthy, and to choke out weeds.
• Don't overwater! Too much water is not good for your lawn. Deep-rooted grass can survive a drought.
• Wait patiently for rain.

Lawn Care Calendar (PDF 27 KB, 2 pages)