A new contest in Niverville this summer is primed to recognize residents for their lawns—and especially this year, with the intense heat and dry conditions, maintaining a well-manicured lawn has required an unusual amount of tender love and care.
Local lawn enthusiast Rhett Schramm started up the contest, called Lawn of the Week, and has partnered with D&M Ground Services to make it a reality.
“I wanted to highlight people’s hard work,” says Schramm. “During these crazy times, people have had time to focus on their lawns and I thought the contest would help form a sense of community. I’ve been hoping that the weekly winners would go knock on the door of the next week’s winner and meet another lawn geek and maybe meet someone new in town.”
Producing and recognizing really beautiful lawns is a special passion for Schramm, one that goes back many years.
“My dad always has had nice grass, so maybe it’s genetic,” he says. “I just think a nice lawn is important for curb appeal. It shows pride in homeownership. In Manitoba, we only have five months to have nice grass, so I give it my all.”
When he bought his first home in 2009, Schramm decided that he wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary. Instead of a standard lawn, he decided to plant fairway turf. This allowed him to get the low cut he wanted, reminiscent of a golf green, without any of the maintenance headaches.
“When I planted my new lawn in the fall of 2014, I used the same seed and fertilizer program I was following previously and applied the knowledge I had gained on the smaller yard, but applying it on a larger scale,” he says. “I mow 6,500 square feet of grass—and until two weeks ago, I was using a 14-inch-wide manual push mower, cutting at three-quarters of an inch. It was exhausting, to say the least. I recently upgraded to a 22-inch electric reel mower that has definitely been a gamechanger.”
Not everyone, of course, is willing to put this much effort into their yard, but taking a look at Schramm’s property demonstrates how much the work can pay off.
He says he spends a lot of free time maintaining the yard, as well as researching lawn care on the internet.
“I mow a minimum of four times a week, which takes about an hour each time,” he says. “Mowing is only part of it. Trimming and edging occur every second mow or so. Between fertilizer applications, water, and other supplements, I can easily spend most weekends working on the lawn. I also have a fairly active Instagram page for my lawn that has me interacting with followers who want to pick my brain or just want to chat.”
Although it’s a lot of work, he is hardly alone in his devotion to lawn care.
“I went for a drive the other day and I was very surprised to see as many green lush lawns as I did,” Schramm remarks. “It hasn’t been an easy year for lawn care this year, with the drought and the water restrictions imposed by the town. We have been lucky, though. I know some lawn guys in other RMs and they can’t water at all… The goal is to develop a healthy lawn, and a healthy lawn will bounce back from drought and stress with minimal effort. Thick, healthy lawns help keep soil cool, which minimizes moisture evaporation, which minimizes water use.”
He points out that taking good care of your lawn during such a dry summer can be tricky, but there are plenty of solutions out there. For one thing, there are supplemental products which can be highly effective, aside from the typical nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers.
He is partnering up with D&M Ground Services to provide customers with more specifically tailored fertilizers, as well as better mowing and lawn care than is otherwise available right now in the area.
“The goal with our programs will be proper nutrients and moisture management. And as always, with any fertilizer program, the focus is on feeding the soil, not the plant. The more you do for the soil, the better success you will have with your grass.”
In the meantime, Niverville residents who are proud of their lawns should take note of the Lawn of the Week contest. Schramm says that it’s easy to get the contest’s attention if you want to be in the running for some well-deserved recognition.
“In order to bring attention to their lawns, residents can tag photos they post [on social media] with #lawnoftheweekniverville or simply send photos to @lawnsofniverville or @dmrentals,” he says. “We would love to highlight lawns in Niverville, so please send us your photos. The hope is that each Lawn of the Week winner will be selected by the previous week’s winner. We are out and about scouting on a regular basis for nice lawns, so we are aware of where they are!”
Weekly winners of the contest will get a sign to place in their front yard. They’ll also be given a gift certificate to a local business.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Check out Rhett Schramm’s Instagram account: @myreelkickgrasslawn, which was established to document his personal lawn care activity.