Edmonton winters
Edmonton snow removal
Edmonton winter maintenance
How to Protect Your Edmonton Lawn During a Summer Heatwave
Neighbourhood Heroes
How to Protect Your Edmonton Lawn During a Summer Heatwave
4:17
It is mid-July in Edmonton, the temperatures are soaring, and the air is getting dry. While this is perfect patio weather, it is a highly stressful time for your lawn.
When the scorching heat hits Alberta, many homeowners panic as their once-lush green grass starts looking a little crispy. The natural instinct is to water it every single day and cut it short to "tidy it up." Unfortunately, those are the two fastest ways to cause long-term damage during a heatwave.
Here are four essential lawn care tips for mid-summer heat to help your yard survive the dry spells—and bounce back stronger when the rain returns.
1. Raise the Mower Blade (Mow High!)
This is the single most important adjustment you can make right now. During the cooler spring months, a shorter cut is fine. But when the heat arrives, you need to raise your mower blade to at least 3 to 3.5 inches.
- Shade the Soil: Taller grass blades act like a sun umbrella for the soil underneath. This keeps the ground cooler and significantly reduces the rate of water evaporation.
- Deeper Roots: The height of the grass directly correlates to the depth of the roots. Taller grasses grow deeper roots, allowing the plants to reach moisture trapped deeper in Edmonton's clay-heavy soil.
2. Water Deeply, Not Daily
Watering your lawn for 10 minutes every evening might feel like you are giving it a refreshing drink, but it is actually doing more harm than good. Shallow watering trains the roots to stay near the surface, where the soil dries out the fastest.
Instead, you need to water deeply and infrequently.
- The Goal: Aim for about 1 inch of water per week (including any rainfall). You can measure this by placing an empty tuna can on your lawn; when it's full, you've watered enough.
- The Timing: Always water early in the morning (between 4:00 AM and 8:00 AM). Watering in the middle of the day means most of the moisture will evaporate before it reaches the soil, while watering at night creates a damp environment that encourages fungal diseases.
3. Don't Bag the Clippings (Leave the Mulch)
If you usually bag your grass clippings, now is the time to stop. Leaving the clippings on your lawn (grasscycling) acts as a natural, protective layer of mulch.
As the clippings break down, they return essential moisture and nutrients (such as nitrogen) to the soil. Because grass is roughly 80% water, leaving the clippings is essentially giving your lawn a free, mid-week drink while protecting the roots from the baking sun.
4. Skip the Mid-Summer Fertilizer
When the lawn starts turning yellow or brown from the heat, homeowners often reach for fertilizer, hoping it will trigger a green-up. Stop right there.
Applying nitrogen-heavy fertilizer during a heatwave forces the grass to expend energy growing new blades at a time when it is desperately trying to conserve energy just to stay alive. Furthermore, fertilizer salts can easily "burn" the lawn if it is already heat-stressed. Save the heavy feeding for the cooler days of fall.
Is it dead, or just dormant? If your lawn has turned golden brown despite your best efforts, don't panic. Most lawns in Edmonton are composed of cool-season grasses like Kentucky Bluegrass. When temperatures consistently top 25°C and water is scarce, the grass enters a state called summer dormancy. It shuts down the green blades to protect the vital crown and root system. It isn't dead—it's just sleeping to survive the heat. Once the temperatures drop and the rain returns, it will green back up.
Need a Hand This Summer?
Managing yard work in a blistering heatwave is exhausting. If you'd rather spend your summer weekends relaxing instead of sweating behind a mower, we’ve got you covered.
At Neighbourhood Heroes, our crews are fully equipped to handle proper summer maintenance. Plus, because our entire fleet runs on state-of-the-art electric equipment, you get a perfectly maintained, eco-friendly lawn without the loud noise or the smell of gasoline on a hot summer afternoon.
Check out our Healthy Greens or Beautiful Greens packages and let us take the heat off your shoulders.
