Tips and Links
Tips – Your lawn:
There is many simple things that you can do to your lawn to make it thicker, greener and healthier. Below are the tasks that you can do.
- When the snow, ice and frost is gone off the grass, as well as most of the moisture, you want to rake away all the debris from the grass. Rake away all the leaves, sticks and dead grass. This will allow more sun down into the roots. Perform next task in about 1 week.
- Get some Peat Moss and spread it all over your lawn and rake it so that the peat most does NOT cover the grass, but gets in well all over the grass and into the ground. Peat Moss contains much more vitamins and minerals than triple mix soil. If your lawn does not look healthy, this is a must. Perform next task in about 1 week.
- Get some “weed and feed” grass fertilizer. Weed and Feed simply means that it kills most common weeds and it also feeds the grass. Unless you have done this before and you know what you are doing, get the water mix that you spray into the grass. It is very easy to burn the grass with the spreader and it is much less likely to do it with the water mix sprayer. Give your lawn 2 weeks for the fertilizer to take effect.
When mowing your lawn, you want to cut it about 1/3 of the total length. This is the most healthy way to mow your lawn. Usually cutting it once per week does the trick, unless it is the very beginning or the very end of the landscaping season where the grass does not grow as much.
Frequency of watering your lawn also does make the difference. You want to water your lawn before the sun rise, so that when the sun hits it, the grass has everything it needs to grow. Also water your lawn only when it becomes dry and when you see that it needs water. Giving it too much water will make it weaker and obviously not enough water will kill your lawn.
Tips – Winterizing your garden:
- Evergreens – Especially if you just had your evergreens planted, it is wise to winterize them for the winter or they might die. To do that, you need to get Burlap and wrap the entire plant. Do not make a fence for a bunch of evergreens as it will not be enough. Evergreens must be protected from the sun, the wind and also if they have large enough branches from the snow sitting on them, as it may deform them.
- Perennials – Most perennials need to be cut out before the winter, because the cold temperature will kill them. But don’t worry, they will come back the next year.
Tips – Salt or ice melter:
In the winter, if for example you have a nice interlock walkway which in some part connects with your lawn and maybe there is some flowerbed nearby with plants, if there is snow/ice, you may want to consider using an ice melter instead of salt on that walkway. Salt damages concrete, asphalt and natural stone as well as it kills any living plants.
Tips – Raccoons turning your new sod over at night:
Yes, this is a huge problem and many people try many different crazy things and fail. There is all kinds of stuff you can try, I don’t even remember what they were to stop the raccoons. Some of these things might work for you, if the raccoons are not aggressive enough, but most likely you will need to use my method, which will definitely work.
So what you need is the following:
- about 4 to 5 foot wide green fence made of hard plastic with sharply finished edges
- about 7 to 10 inch long metal pins for holding the fence down
You want to roll this fence out on your problem area nice and flat, it would have to cover that whole area, you want to overlap the fence by about 1 inch or so and you want to pin it down with these metal pins. It has to be pinned down dense enough so that raccoons would not be able to go under it (about every 1 to 2 feet around the edges). Also the sharp edges of the fence should bother them enough to back off.
Now that you have it down, raccoons can not touch your new lawn, you can still easily mow your lawn and you will not even see the green fence because it is nice and green. Later on as the new grass roots well into the ground, you might try taking it out if you like, but you don’t have to.
Info – More gardening info:
- Healthy Lawns (Health Canada)
- Landscape Ontario – Tips & Trivia
- Urban Forest Health Care (City of Toronto)
Info – Plant related sites:
- Perennials – Nice information about perennials.
- Perennial Resource – Another information site on perennials.
- Mori Nurseries – Information on many trees and plants.
- Terra Nova Nurseries – Another site with information on many trees and plants.
- Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System (Government of Canada) – Might want to have a look.
- Natural Recourses Canada – Plant hardiness zones. Nine zones indicate the areas where various trees, shrubs and flowers are most likely to survive. These zones are calculated based on average climatic conditions and altitude of each area. The harshest zone is 0 and the mildest is 8. Each major zone is divided into subzones a and b (for example 3a and 3b) where zone a is slightly harsher than zone b.
- Calculate – Calculate your aggregates!
Info – Where to get your plants:
- The Home Depot – Great place to purchase quality plants for a good price.
- Costco – Another great place to purchase your plants.
- Terra Greenhouses – Another one.
Info – Driveways and Curbs:
If you are interested in:
- Constructing a new driveway entrance into a Town roadway.
- Altering an existing driveway.
- Constructing driveway curbs on the road allowance; or
- Constructing a second driveway to permit a circular driveway in your front yard.
Contact the Town of Oakville Department of Engineering and Construction first at: (905) 845-6601 EXT. 3337
Or go to: http://www.oakville.ca/roadpermits.htm
For a permit application click here
Info – Building Permits:
A permit is not required for landscaping. However, if you plan to enclose a porch or a deck, or construct a gazebo, you will require a permit.
For more information please go to: http://www.oakville.ca/whybuildingpermit.htm
Info – On-Street Parking Permits:
To learn more about obtaining parking permits in your area, select your area from the list below.
