Category Archives: Winter

How is Road Salt Made?

Written by | on December 27, 2018 | Posted under Winter

How is road salt made? And what is road salt made of? You may be wondering if you’re purchasing this year’s salt bag, especially if you have some prized landscaping to protect. What is Road Salt Made Of? All road salt is, at its core, the same mineral — sodium chloride. You may be surprised to learn that this is identical to what you sprinkle on your scrambled eggs in the morning. With salt, the size and coarseness of the grain is everything. Fine, powdery white salts are reserved for kitchen use, while the chunkier, rougher pebbles of off-colour salt … Continue reading How is Road Salt Made? →

How to Protect Your Landscaping Surfaces from Road Salt

Written by | on December 5, 2018 | Posted under Landscape Supplies

Driveway and sidewalk salt are must-have items in order to safely get through winter in Canada. And while bulk salt is a necessity in winter, it becomes frustrating in spring when homeowners are dealing with salt damage to things like: Interlock pavers Shrubs, bushes and trees Patio furniture Wood surfaces Slippery ice is a huge winter hazard, and it’s dangerous not to spread bulk salt, but you don’t want it to ruin your outdoor landscaping either. You can find the solution in How to Protect Your Landscaping Surfaces from Road Salt from Lane’s Landscaping Supplies. What you’ll learn Inside your … Continue reading How to Protect Your Landscaping Surfaces from Road Salt →

Winter Lawn Care. Preparing Your Lawn for Winter.

Written by | on November 6, 2018 | Posted under Do It Yourself

The first day of winter is quickly approaching, and according to all forecast reports, it’s expected to be a doozy. In order for your grass to come back strong in the spring, you need some proactive winter lawn care in the fall. With that in mind, here are some easy-to-follow tips on preparing your lawn for winter from Lane’s Landscaping Supplies. Winter lawn care tip 1: The last grass cut before winter Chances are November will be last month in the year you cut your grass (even if a very light snow has fallen). Right up until you can’t fire … Continue reading Winter Lawn Care. Preparing Your Lawn for Winter. →

How to Protect Topsoil from Old Man Winter

Written by | on February 1, 2018 | Posted under Winter

There’s no doubt about it: It’s cold out there. That’s why – before winter truly hit – you learned how to protect topsoil and took steps to prepare your landscaping for the season, such as: Pruning and removing dead plants or branches Removing weeds Getting up on a ladder and cleaning your gutters Raking leaves like a pro You may have also spread one last layer of topsoil from Lane’s Landscaping Supplies wherever it was needed. Unfortunately, that topsoil has been exposed to the worst of Old Man Winter all season long. Snow. Ice. Wind. Cold temperatures. You name it. … Continue reading How to Protect Topsoil from Old Man Winter →

Happy Holidays from Lane’s Landscaping Supplies

Written by | on December 4, 2017 | Posted under Winter

Christmas is just around the corner and the entire staff here at Lane’s Landscaping Supplies wishes you the best of the season. As 2017 is coming to an end (can you believe it?), it seems like a good time to recap the best of the past year and provide some helpful winter landscaping tips too.   The smart way to set a landscaping budget Without a doubt, the most popular blog we posted in 2017 was about the smart way to set a landscaping budget. In case you missed it the first time, here are some highlights: A good budget … Continue reading Happy Holidays from Lane’s Landscaping Supplies →

Ice Melt or Rock Salt? What’s the Difference?

Written by | on November 28, 2017 | Posted under Winter

Ice melt or rock salt? Many homeowners use these terms interchangeably when describing bulk salt or driveway/sidewalk salt. After all, ice melt or rock salt both accomplishes the same thing: Melting away tough ice and thick snow from your interlocking pavers. So it doesn’t matter what you choose, right? Actually, it does. It all depends on what you need it for and where you plan on using it. All about ice melt The name of this product is pretty self-explanatory: Ice melt melts ice. That’s because ice melt is usually comprised of one of the following: Calcium chloride (widely accepted … Continue reading Ice Melt or Rock Salt? What’s the Difference? →

10 Ways to Get Your Yard Ready For Winter

Written by | on November 7, 2016 | Posted under Winter

In case you’re wondering, the first day of winter is Wednesday, December 21. Of course, there’s a good chance winter will arrive in full force before its “official” start date. In any event, if your homeowner backyard isn’t prepared for it now, it’ll pay for it once spring arrives. But if you follow these 10 preventative tips from Lane’s Landscaping Supplies, your yard will come back strong once winter finally ends (which happens to be Monday, March 20, 2017). 1. Remove any dead annual plants you have They aren’t coming back to life and you’ll be replacing them in spring … Continue reading 10 Ways to Get Your Yard Ready For Winter →

What The Mild Winter Meant For Your Landscaping

Written by | on March 8, 2016 | Posted under Winter

At Lane’s Landscaping Supplies, winter 2015/2016 will go down as one of the warmest, mildest, snow-free winters in recent memory. (Of course, we could get one big blast of snow. You just never know) We know what a cold and snowy winter means for your landscaping: The grass on your lawn is dormant Interlocking patio stones may crack during freeze-thaw cycles Bulk salt can erode your interlocking pavers Topsoil can freeze But here’s what happened with your landscaping during this relatively warm and dry winter. Your lawn Normally, your lawn should be dormant (alive, but not growing) in the winter. … Continue reading What The Mild Winter Meant For Your Landscaping →

How Road Salt Impacts Your Landscape (And What To Do About It)

Written by | on January 26, 2016 | Posted under Winter

At Lane’s Landscaping Supplies, we hear about it every winter: People always want to know how to keep their walkways and driveways free of snow and ice without harming their landscaping from bulk salt. This is a particular issue for people who have grass, shrubs or pushes right up against their interlocking pavers. However even the stones themselves are not immune to the effects of road salt. Fortunately, there are ways to safely and properly use road salt without impacting your landscaping. Know how road salt works and what it does Sodium chloride (commonly known as rock salt) is the … Continue reading How Road Salt Impacts Your Landscape (And What To Do About It) →

It May Be Mild Out, But You Should Order Your Bulk Salt Now

Written by | on December 8, 2015 | Posted under Winter

Nobody thinks about ordering bulk salt when it’s mild and warm out – like it is right now. Of course, that all changes once a big blizzard hits. Or when it gets cold overnight and your driveway or business parking lot freezes over with slippery ice. We’ve heard the horror stories from contractors (and some homeowners too) all over Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, Burlington and the GTA. It’s 2am in the middle of a snowstorm or ice storm. And they have no access to bulk salt because: They didn’t place their bulk salt order early enough in the season Their supplier isn’t open … Continue reading It May Be Mild Out, But You Should Order Your Bulk Salt Now →