How Meijer Gardens "keeps it green" in the heat | News

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - Keep your lawn healthy during a dry spell takes planning and extra work. Some are successful at it while others become victims of scorching hot sun.

If you think it's hard trying to maintain your personal lawn or garden, imagine doing it at Frederik Meijer Gardens, where they have more than 130-acres to keep immaculate.

"Start ramping up your irrigation," says Ian Warnock, a lead horticulturist at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. "It's better to do it in the early morning hours."

With temperatures approaching 100 degrees later this week, it's time for the hoses and sprinklers to work some overtime.

"Whether you have to come out at night time in your slippers and your dressing gown, try to get the water down in the early mornings," says Warnock. "Do this over the next couple days, even after [the hottest days pass]."

Warnock's responsibility is to make sure a 132-acre garden doesn't become a victim in the blistering heat.

"There's a lot to irrigate but because it's computerized now, you can almost tell to the teaspoon full of water how much is to be put down," added Warnock. "During the day, at certain points throughout the Gardens, I'll go through with hoses and just add water.

Warnock says he spends about an hour in each individual garden irrigating.

He also says it's not too late for anybody to beat the upcoming heat, if they follow a proper protocol.

"Water first, then put down about an inch or so of mulch around your perennials and annuals," says Warnock. "That's going to keep the moisture in there."

As for lawns, "if people can irrigate everyday, brown lawns will bounce back by the end of the summer."