During the summer your lawn will play host to heightened levels of footfall. Children fresh out of school playing sports late into the evening, a series of social gatherings and a lack of rain can you leave your lawn looking patchy and parched. However, with a touch of forward planning, you can rouse the best in your lawn by following these three summer lawn care tips.
1) Water Your Lawn
Even the during the hottest times of year your lawn will survive without being watered, as the grass transitions into a dormant state. However, this will result in the color changing from a rich healthy green to a somewhat unattractive brown. Left unchecked, your lawns condition will gradually deteriorate.
If you decide to water your lawn during the dry summer months then it’s important you do so consistently. The best time to water the grass is early in the morning, as you’ll take advantage of natural dew and the lower temperatures reduce the loss of moisture later in the day. If you have the resources, a timed sprinkler system is probably the best solution.
A lot of people tend to water their plants and grass at dusk, but this isn’t ideal. The unintended consequence of this practise is to stimulate the growth of diseases and fungus in the ground. These maladies are not dependent on sunlight for their ideal growing conditions. So, if you plan to water your grass, make sure it is early in the morning.
2) Mowing Time And Height
During midsummer you should reduce the frequency of mowing as this will give the grass a lot more time to recover. Either early morning or late in the evening before sundown is the best time for both the grass and even the average gardener by avoiding the high stresses of the daytime heat.
It is also very important to increase the cutting height of your mower. Leave it at about 3.5 inches and your lawn will thank you for it. This ensures that the soil and roots are protected by more shade resulting in lower moisture loss and healthier looking grass that will thrive.
3) Reduce Foot Traffic
The last factor we’ll discuss in this summer lawn care article, is to reduce the amount of foot traffic. This isn’t always easy as you and your family strive to enjoy the great outdoors. But if you insist on enjoying the garden during the hottest times of day, try to use shaded areas or do your best to rotate where you rest in the sun. That’s easier said than done, but a vital step, non-the-less.
These three fundamentals will make a dramatic impact to the overall health and appearance of your lawn. Hosting a vibrant lawn by the summer’s end will help as you prepare for fall and winter. We hope you’ve found this article useful. Follow the team at Banbury and Oxford Turf as we strive to give you a lawn to be proud of, for all seasons. We'll add more lawn care posts on the Landscape Juice Network soon.
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