5 Essential Lawn Care Tips for London, Ontario Homeowners

Maintaining a lush, healthy lawn in London, Ontario requires an understanding of our local climate, soil conditions, and seasonal patterns. From our clay-heavy soil to our hot summers and cold winters, London presents unique challenges for homeowners. Here are five essential tips to keep your lawn looking its best all year long.

1. Mow at the Right Height

For the cool-season grass types common across London and Southwestern Ontario, keeping your mower blade set to about 3 inches is ideal. Taller grass develops deeper root systems, which helps it survive our hot, dry summer stretches without requiring excessive watering.

Cutting too short, often called "scalping," stresses the grass and exposes the soil to sunlight, giving weeds an open invitation to move in. A consistent 3-inch height also provides natural shade to the soil, helping it retain moisture throughout the growing season.

2. Water Deeply but Infrequently

Your London lawn needs roughly 1 inch of water per week, including rainfall. Rather than watering a little bit every day, it is far more effective to water deeply once or twice a week. This encourages grass roots to grow deeper into the soil in search of moisture, building a much more drought-resistant lawn.

Early morning watering, between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., is best because it reduces evaporation and gives the grass blades time to dry before nightfall. Wet grass overnight can lead to fungal diseases, which are common in the humid summers London often experiences.

3. Aerate in Fall for London's Clay-Heavy Soil

Much of London, Ontario sits on clay-heavy soil that compacts easily over time. Compacted soil prevents water, air, and nutrients from reaching grass roots, leading to thin, patchy turf. Core aeration in the fall, typically in September or October, breaks up that compaction and gives your lawn room to breathe.

Fall is the perfect time because the cooler temperatures reduce stress on the grass, and the open cores allow fresh seed and fertilizer to make direct contact with the soil. If your lawn gets heavy foot traffic or sits on particularly dense clay, aerating every year will make a noticeable difference.

4. Overseed in September When Temperatures Cool

September is the best month to overseed your lawn in London. Daytime temperatures start dropping into the mid-teens to low-twenties Celsius, and the soil is still warm enough to support fast germination. Combined with the increased rainfall that autumn typically brings, new grass seed gets everything it needs to establish before winter.

Overseeding fills in bare or thin patches and introduces newer, more disease-resistant grass varieties to your lawn. For the best results, pair overseeding with aeration so the seed falls directly into the soil rather than sitting on top of a compacted surface.

5. Leave Grass Clippings as Natural Fertilizer

Instead of bagging your grass clippings, let them fall back onto the lawn. This practice, known as grasscycling, returns valuable nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil as the clippings decompose. Over the course of a growing season, grasscycling can provide up to 25% of your lawn's fertilizer needs at no extra cost.

Contrary to popular belief, grass clippings do not cause thatch buildup. As long as you are mowing regularly and not removing more than one-third of the blade height at a time, the clippings will break down quickly and feed your lawn naturally.