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CTV News
5 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Expert shares how to protect your grass during the extreme heatwave
This week will see temperatures reach above 30C degrees across the region and while it might seem like the perfect sunny day to get outside and cut your grass, mowing your lawn in the extreme heat could cause serious damage. According to experts, cutting the grass in hot temperatures can destroy or even kill the blades, leaving ugly brown patches in the yard. Here is a tip. Allowing the lawn to grow during the heat actually protects the blade and the soil from the strong sun rays. While the nice weather might seem like a great opportunity to make your garden look glorious, gardening in the heat can be a bad idea. 'High temperatures and strong sun exposure can damage plants and that includes grass blades. If you cut your grass, the blades will be more exposed to the sun, and the soil will also suffer. This issue will lead to bare patches on your lawn which will take time and effort to repair,' said Colleen McGrory from If you really want to shape up the lawn during this scorching strike, here are a few things experts say to consider: Reduce foot traffic While you'll want to enjoy your yard in the nice weather, be mindful of heavy foot traffic on your grass. Walking along the lawn will stress it, which can cause further damage during heatwave. Let it grow Letting your grass grow a little longer allows it to cope with heat stress. Longer grass in hot weather acts as a 'micro jungle,' with taller stems helping to sustain a microclimate at soil level. Experts recommend Keeping your lawn length up to five centimeters. Raise your mower The cutting height of your mower should be increased during dry conditions. The majority of lawn mowers have different height settings. A higher setting will allow valuable moisture to be trapped, limiting evaporation and encouraging stronger, deeper roots to grow. Lots of water If you need to cut the grass when it's hot, be prepared to regularly water it with about one inch of water per week, using a sprinkler, watering can, irrigation system or garden hose. Give it shade Shade helps to lower water loss through evaporation, which in turn creates a cooler climate, reducing the need for frequent watering while maintaining grass health and providing much-needed relief for your lawn.
The Guardian
31-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Country diary: A paradise inside four walls
Any garden is a special thing, but a walled garden? That's something truly special: an outside that is an inside. When Tara Fraser and Nigel Jones first came to view this semi-derelict Regency house in 2016, they had no idea Ashley Court included a walled garden. 'We saw this wooden door and pushed it open – and there it was. Just like The Secret Garden. Total jungle.' Nine summers and countless hours of labour later, and it is transformed. Nigel opens the door; I follow him and have to stop at the threshold as I catch sight of it. The garden is Tardis-like, bigger on the inside somehow, and bounded by high walls – stone on the outside and lined with brick – in a loose squareish shape that undulates with the lift and dip of the land. The veg beds and paths give it the feel of a patchwork coverlet laid over a sleeping giant. 'No self-respecting Victorian kitchen garden would be so ridiculously slopey,' saya Tara. It's one of the reasons why they believe the garden predates the house to before the 1800s. Not only do the high walls act as a physical barrier against deer and rabbits, they retain the heat and shelter the plants from the wind, such that the garden sits in its own microclimate. In winter, the cold air can escape through a rectangular frost window at the lower end (it pours out, apparently, like a white ghost, into the surrounding woodland). Hard to imagine on a day like this, with bees and demoiselles zipping about, buttercups shining, bathed in warm spring sunshine. Beans have begun spiralling their way up bamboo wigwams, gooseberries are as hard as marbles but growing plumper, more translucent every day. Ancient espaliered pear trees reach out to each other with gnarled fingers. Clumps of chives have gone to flower, their purple tufted hairdos like something out of Dr Seuss. Filled with all of these photosynthesisers feasting on the sun, this garden really is paradise. The word itself comes from the Avestan word pairidaēza, meaning walled enclosure. How fitting that the walled garden is both how we imagine heaven, and the very place on earth where that image took root. Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian's Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at and get a 15% discount
