It’s August 7th, I just turned 44 and it appears summer has finally arrived on Vancouver Island. 2020 is continuing its trend of not following a trend or any plan whatsoever. This lack of norm has become the norm and depending on your perspective, it’s either devastating or long overdue. One thing we can all agree on, playoff hockey in August is AWESOME and the balanced weather has created exponential growth for your lawn and garden! With summer now in full swing, we should expect another month of hot days, dormancy and little rain (despite the random inch we got the other night).
So, what’s this mean for your yard this Fall? And is Fall a good time to do stuff in your yard? The answer is, not much and absolutely! Let’s start with a quick lawn reminder.
All grass on Vancouver Island is cool season grass. You don’t have to be a horticulturist to know this probably means your lawn prefers cooler temperatures. It really does. Once the thermometer surges above 25 your grass will let you know how it feels. The lushtre (wink) fades and depending on how committed you are to watering, your lawn will turn brown or in some cases, it may even appear white. Contrary to popular belief/what your partner says, your lawn is not dead. It’s not even dying. It’s dormant. All this mean is its energy has gone into the roots and it doesn’t give a damn how it looks. Insert life metaphor. This is not to suggest we should intentionally deprive this plant (yes grass is a plant, folks) of water for the summer but we can relax knowing that the lack of water is unlikely to be deadly.
Fall brings cooler temperatures, rain and an unprecedented opportunity to re-imagine our space. It gives us several months of cool days and consistent water allowing the roots of our new plantings to grow deep. There is simply no better time of year to replace your lawn, renew your garden or transform your space. It’s not even close, folks. Fall is by far the BEST time of year to…
- Rip out your existing lawn
- Plant a new lawn
- Renew your existing lawn
- Rip out your existing plantings
- Plant some new plantings
- Renew/ transplant your existing plantings
- Rip out that overgrown space (I’m looking at you blackberries and ivy)
- Plant a new hedge
- Trim your existing hedge
- Rip out all those damn woke weeds
- Plant some new weeds er wait…
- Renew your existing weeds? ok stop John
You get the picture. Fall is cool and well watered and we must take advantage of these bonus freebies from Mother Nature.
As convincing of a case as I believe I’ve just made…I can hear some resistance…
- But but John, I always aerate my lawn in the spring…
- But but John, I always plant my flowers in the spring…
- But but John, I always have my hedge trimmed in the spring…
- But but John, I always get a spring cleanup in the spring…
- But but John, I always budget for landscaping in the spring….
- But but John, my partner says you’re full of sh…
I hear ya. And I respect you for pushing back. It means you’re engaged.. thinking. But, after eleven years of award winning lawn and garden care and thousands of satisfied customers, I’m going to push back and say… trust me. And trust the horticulturists I employ. Hell, trust your plants. They tend to speak up if you’re listening.
We got this!