How to Care For Your Lawn Thru The Hot Summer Months

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By Todd Wessel
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You can have green grass thru the entire season.

There is a saying that anyone can grow grass in spring. The cool temperatures with the increased rainfall, you could almost grow grass on concrete.

What about July though? Conditions have now changed to the opposite extreme, hot and dry. Keeping your lawn healthy and full has now become a challenge.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Water
Impact sprinkler-ch ch ch ch
Sharpening file

Step 1

When tulips are flowering, your turf will be beautiful

It's mid April in the Mid-Atlantic, your grass is green, growing like crazy and needs to be mowed. Three days later, you arrive home from work and your lawn needs to be cut again. What's up?

The reason is, most grass in this area is known as cool season turf grass. When the weather is cool, Spring and Fall, this is the growing season for this type of grass. It's dark green, thick and makes your property look great.

Now jump ahead to July where conditions go to the opposite extreme, hot and dry. Mother nature is holding on to every drop of rain and the sun has your soil turning harder than a concrete freeway. This is not the growing season for cool season grasses and how do you retain your lawns springtime beauty thru the summertime blues?
Step 2

When Crape Myrtles are flowering, your grass will probably need water.

1. Water 1" a week, in the early morning if there has been little rain. I understand this is unrealistic on larger lawns but without some weekly water, your cool season grass with begin to brown and go dormant.

2. Raise cutting height to 4 inches. Longer grass blades grow deeper roots, find more moisture and help prevent drought by shading the soil keeping the roots cooler.

3. Mow in the morning. Temps are cooler and grass is less brittle. If dew is still present allow to dry before mowing to cut down on the spread of possible disease.

4. Change mow direction every 2-3 weeks. Hot tires and compaction in the soil from going the same direction will brown grass.

5. Control weeds. Weeds grow faster in hot weather making you mow more often. They will also steal moisture and fertilizer from your turf.
Step 3

6. Cut less often. Instead of 7 days, increase to 10-14.

7. Sharpen mower blades(once a month). Keeps lawn green instead of brown from dull blade shreading grass tips. Helps reduce disease

8. Any weed eated areas, around poles, fences, mailboxes, cut at the same 4" height. Weed eating grass shorter in the heat turns it brown.

You now have some of the secrets to keeping your grass green all year long. Get out, do it and enjoy your soft lush lawn all thru the summer.

All the best-Todd

Contact tpwessel@comcast.net for any questions