Summer Lawn Care Tips

Summer Lawn Care Tips

Maintaining a Happy, Healthy and Beautiful Lawn

Watering

When rainfall is in short supply, supplemental watering is key to maintaining a healthy lawn. Keep in mind though, that overwatering can be wasteful and even harmful to your lawn’s longevity and too little water can lead to turf that’s more susceptible to insect and weed infestations as well as disease. A well-maintained lawn needs at least an inch of water per week to stay green and growing. Instead of setting your automatic sprinklers to water every day for 15 minutes, set your system to run a couple of days a week and for a longer time to give the ground a good deep soaking. This will help prevent your lawns roots from growing closer to the surface which can contribute to a buildup of thatch.

Early morning watering is considered the best, as watering later in the day can increase the likelihood of disease and is uneconomical as the water will evaporate more rapidly in the heat of the day and deprive the deep roots. Many varieties of grasses can survive for about a month without any irrigation. In the case of a  severe drought, some lawn repair and renovation may be necessary once it starts to rain or you are able to water again.

Weed Control

Fighting against weeds can be a tedious and time consuming task. Different types of weeds germinate at different times of the year, so the battle to rid them from your lawn is an ongoing and frustrating one. Weeds that propagate in the summer are usually of the summer annual variety, they grow rapidly, produce a flower, go to seed and then die with the onset of fall. Many of these summer annuals can easily be controlled by pulling because they usually cannot re-grow from the remaining roots.

Weeds can also be spot treated with a commercial weed control product that is approved for use on residential lawns. The best way to control weeds is by maintaining a thick healthy lawn, making it harder for windblown seeds to germinate in the middle of a lush lawn. By mowing regularly and properly, watering as needed and fertilizing to keep your lawn growing, you can discourage many weeds from ever gaining root.

Mowing 

Mowing is a simple process but it has a greater impact on your lawn than any other type of regular maintenance. Determining what type of grass you have is the first step. Bermuda Grass and Zoysia Grass, usually only found in the south, can handle shorter cutting heights between 1 ½ and 2 inches. Other turfs like St. Augustine Grass along with all northern turf grasses like Bluegrass and Tall Fescue should be cut higher at 2 ½ to 3 ½ inches.

Understanding that turf grasses grow slower during the summer months and sparse rainfall can also play a factor in slow growth. Running a mower across drought-stressed turf can actually hurt your lawn instead of help. Since grass is around 80 - 90 percent water, clippings can be recycled back into the lawn, providing valuable organic material to help with future growth.