Tips To Keeping Your Lawn Green All Summer

Here are some helpful tips to keeping your lawn green all summer, without having to do a lot of work to get it there.

When your grass turns brown, it can really ruin the look of your home and feel like areal burden to upkeep. When it comes to enjoying what you see when you pull into your driveway, a cultivated green lawn is a key factor.

Regular lawn care is the key to keeping the grass on your property flourishing and always looking healthy.

Set Your Mower Blade One Level Higher

Summertime heat makes it harder for fresh- cut grass to recover when the cut is too low on the plant. Every time you mow your lawn, you are essentially damaging the grass. When you cut too low, you are removing tall glass blades that shade the grass root system.

It’s a good idea to check the height of your lawnmower blades. For the hot summer months, it should be set to about three inches. This setting makes a clean-cut but lets the grass easily recover after it’s mowed.

Water Your Grass Regularly

Your lawn may look great for the first few weeks of summer, but it may go downhill from there. The problem is that many homeowners start strong with their lawn-watering commitments, and slow down grass-watering as the summer gets busier. Without consistent watering, the lawn’s root system will likely end up burnt by the sun. To make things easier for you and your lawn, you should commit to weekly watering.

Try Deep Watering

Make sure to cover your entire lawn with about one inch to one and a half inches of water. This is considered a deep watering. It will take time to water but will provide a better environment for your grass to grow.

Watering each day usually results in shallow watering that doesn’t properly promote consistent growth. If you cannot spend the time giving your grass a deep watering by hand, you can invest in a programmable home irrigation system or a quality sprinkler. 

Water Your Grass In The Morning

The time of day that you water your grass will have a big impact on the health of your lawn. Like most plants, your grass is susceptible to fungal infections. Fungal infections can make make it harder for your grass to flourish. To avoid fungal infections, water your lawn in the morning hours.

This allows the grass the whole day to soak up the water, and dry out before the darkness set in. Again, if you have a home irrigation system, this can be easily pre-programmed.

Promptly Remove Pet Waste

Your pet’s waste can actually harm your lawn and can result in over-fertilization of the grass. Spots on your grass may look very green after a while, but it won’t stay that way.

Also, the nitrogen found in your pet’s urine will actually burn the grass over time. It’s important that you remove any solid pet waste and fix any spots that are starting to deteriorate due to the nitrogen burn effect of pet urine. 

One way to avoid nitrogen burn is by regularly watering your lawn.

Maintain Your Mower

Your lawn mower is essential to keeping your grass green. When it’s working effectively, it results in clean cut grass that can easily regrow.

When the mower blade becomes dull, it can tear your grass. A dull blade will create uneven cuts and harm future growth. Aim for sharpening your blade once a year to ensure that your mower is cutting all of the grass with ease.

Treat Brown & Yellow Spots

Save your lawn with early pest and lawn disease treatments. Take notice of these spots early by evaluating your lawn closely each week as you mow. If you notice brown spots, then take a closer look at the area. There are various insects and diseases that can be causing the brown and yellow spots in that area of your lawn.

Try your best to identify the cause of the browning effect and treat it accordingly. If you take a picture of the grass and bring it into your local grass and lawn store, they’ll be able to identify the problem.

The sooner you treat the problem area, the sooner the browning effect will go away.

Adjust Your Watering To Dry Spells

Some dry spells are completely natural during the summer months. They can go on for weeks without any rainfall. Your grass will go dormant during dry spells. The grass goes dormant to conserve energy, and stay alive. At this time, your grass can appear dry and even brown but do not worry.

During dry spells, it is good to regularly do deep-waterings apart from your normal weekly schedule. Ensure that you soak the entire lawn. This will encourage deep root growth and help your grass endure droughts more easily than grass with shorter roots.

Take note that newly laid sod is much more susceptible to the effects of dry spells and droughts. For best results, keep an eye on it until the sod has taken root into the ground.

Use Grass Fertilizer

If you find your lawn is not responding well to deep watering or the heat, try using a light fertilizer to give it a boost. Remember that when it comes to fertilizer, less is more. Too much fertilizer can burn your lawn and eventually kill it. If you have over-fertilized your lawn, click here for the steps to fix it. 

If you think your lawn needs fertilizer, take a picture of it, and bring it to your local lawn and garden centre. They will be able to help you find the right fertilizer and direct you as to how much you should use. 

The Take Home

Keeping your lawn green and in great condition requires a little work. The more you pay attention to it, the easier it gets to keep it flourishing. Like all vegetation, the environment has to be just right for proper and healthy lawn growth.