Meet Mark Cullen

Canada's best known gardening personality, Mark Cullen believes that Canadians of all ages need to play more - preferably in the dirt. A best-selling author with over 400,000 books in print, Mark reaches over one million Canadians every week through various media outlets. He is Home Hardware's horticultural spokesperson and regularly contributes to various magazines, gardening shows and newsletters. With a familiar style that people can relate to, he delivers a message that is compelling, fun, informative and inspirational - all based on his organic approach to gardening. In his spare time Mark enjoys driving his Ford Model A - and of course he loves to garden.




Summer Lawn Care Tips

~ June 20, 2012

As the heat of summer hits home it is time to review Summer Lawn Care Tips:

- Water the lawn early in the morning. Watering in the heat of the day will result in moisture loss through evaporation.

- It is best to water your lawn infrequently and deeply. Rather than watering a little each day it is more beneficial to the root structure of your lawn to water deeply (1") once a week.

- Practice 'grass-cycling' and leave grass clippings on the lawn. Clippings will return nutrients to the soil and help retain moisture in the lawn. Better yet - use a mulching attachment on your lawn mower.

- Reduce the amount of foot traffic on the lawn during periods of drought.

- Raise the cutting height of your lawn mower to 2 1/2 or 3 inches to avoid stressing the grass. Longer grass will provide shade to the roots and reduce water loss from the soil.

- Sharpen lawn mower blades so the grass will be cut cleanly, not torn.


Decide whether you will allow your lawn to go dormant during periods of drought. Unless you experience a prolonged drought, your lawn will come back and green-up once the weather cools off.


Invest in a Mark's Choice rain barrel [I have 4 working for me right now!], available at Home Hardware, to collect valuable rain water. I use it to water all of my container plants and newly planted plants in the garden. Water collected in a rain barrel will not be as cold as tap water and will not shock plants when applied during hot conditions. Heat seeking plants like impatiens and tomatoes love it!