Wednesday, 1 June 2022
How should I prepare my lawn for summer?
As summer draws ever closer, you are going to want to start spending more time in the garden. Whether you are hosting summer garden parties, playing in the garden with your family, or simply sunbathing in the sun, everyone wants a green and healthy lawn.
Summer lawn care is essential to maintain a healthy lawn. Whilst most people mow their lawn religiously during the summer, that is often where lawn care stops for most. However, if you want a beautiful lawn, you need to do a bit more than just mow your lawn. Keep reading to discover the most effective lawn care tips to ensure you have a stunning lawn for summer.
3 steps to prepare your lawn for summer
There are different things that you can do to ensure that your grass stays healthy during the summer months. Whilst regular maintenance is essential for every type of grass, how you carry out that maintenance will differ depending on the grass you have on your lawn.
1. Mowing
Mowing your lawn is the most basic lawn care requirement. Most people who take pride in their garden usually already have an established routine when it comes to lawn mowing. You only really need to get your lawnmower out when the grass is getting too long for your liking. This is a great place to start and establish your lawn care routine.
2. Water
Watering your lawn is essential, especially during the summer when the natural weather conditions don’t provide the grass with any level of moisture. You are more likely to experience dead grass in the summer as the heat dries out the blades and they struggle to obtain any nutrients.
However, by watering your grass once a week, you can stimulate the soil and ensure the blades are adequately fed during these drier months. If you don’t water your grass, you will end up with yellowing patches in your garden.
3. Move your garden furniture
Most people never even think to move their garden furniture. However, leaving your garden furniture in one place for too long can kill the grass beneath it and you will struggle to get it to grow back. If you move your garden furniture every once in a while, you can make sure that the grass below the furniture will get the nutrients and water it needs. Otherwise, you will end up with yellow grass in the shape of your furniture, which is not a pleasant sight.
Summer lawn preparation tips for cool-season grasses
If you are slightly more experienced in lawn care and want a specialized treatment for the exact type of grass you have, below are some tips for cool-season grasses. Examples of cool-season grasses include Kentucky bluegrass, bentgrass and annual ryegrass.
1. Do not fertilize
When it comes to lawn care, it can be tempting to just fertilize your lawn because that is what it feels like you should do. However, cool-season grasses do not benefit from being fertilized in the summer. In fact, it might even severely damage your grass. The reason for this is that cool-season grasses struggle to cope with the heat of the summer. You should therefore apply fertilizer in the spring months when it is slightly cooler.
2. Overseed your lawn
For some reason, cool-season grass plants tend to get patchy over the summer as areas of the grass struggle to deal with the heat. One of the best ways to avoid this from happening in the summer is to prepare your grass in the fall, which is the growing season, by overseeding your lawn. Spreading additional seeds on your lawn in the fall will provide it with the perfect conditions to grow without the excess rain from the winter and the pesky weeds in the summer.
3. Apply grub control
Cool-season grasses are susceptible to fungi and pests which causes the grass plants to die at a quicker rate. To stay on top of this issue, we recommend applying grub control, especially during the summer when the pests are out in full force. Summer is by far the best time to apply grub control because in the winter months, the bugs are buried deeper into the areas of compacted soil below the ground. The type of grub control you use does not necessarily matter, but make sure you thoroughly read the application instructions as each product is applied differently.
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Summer lawn preparation tips for warm-season grasses
1. Aerate your lawn
If you want your lawn to retrieve the maximum amount of nutrients into its soil, you will need to aerate it, and for warm-season grasses, summer is the best time to do it, because it is the growing season. You want to nurture your grass as much as possible during the growing season, so summer is the perfect time for aeration.
Lawn aeration opens up the pores in your soil which provides more access for water and nutrients to reach the roots of the grass. The process consists in making small holes in the lawn.
2. Dethatching
Thatch is an inconvenient layer of dead and living organisms and matter that resides between the soil and your grass blades which weighs down your grass blades and hinders their growth. If thatch goes unattended for a long period of time, it will accumulate and become a problem.
To avoid it becoming a cause for concern, you should dethatch your lawn at least once during the summer as this is the best time to do it. The only way to accurately and effectively dethatch your lawn is to use a mechanical dethatcher which lawn care experts have on hand. You can also rent one at your local gardening center.
3. Weed control
Weeds thrive in the summer, and warm-season grasses hate weeds. It is therefore your responsibility to routinely get rid of any weeds that pop up in your garden. Whilst simply pulling the weeds out might get rid of them for a short amount of time, it is often difficult to rip them out from the roots, which is what you need to do if you want to stop them from growing again. The ultimate solution to get rid of weeds is to hire lawn care professionals.
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Lawn maintenance services
If you want a healthy, lush lawn, lawn maintenance is essential year-round. It is a time-consuming commitment, which not everyone has the time to devote to. If you are someone who takes pride in the appearance of your lawn and garden but cannot give it the level of attention that it needs, hiring lawn maintenance services is the perfect solution. Vertdure offers a variety of lawn care packages (weed control, pest control, calcium treatments, biostimulant treatment, annual ventilation, etc.) to meet your needs.