As weather heats up and summer settles in, your lawn enters a fragile state of growth. Intense heat, drought, foot traffic, weed growth, and more all impact your lawn’s health and general appearance.
In this blog we will cover some of the common mistakes homeowners make that hinder healthy growth, and some tips to help you mend summer damage.
Watering Too Frequently
Watering your lawn too frequently, either through an irrigation system or watering manually can hinder healthy grass growth. When your lawn is watering too often, it can create shallow root growth and make grass vulnerable to stress from drought. By increasing retained and unabsorbed moisture, fungus can impact your lawn.
Best practices for watering your lawn vary based on your location and soil absorption. Allow water to reach the root base by watering heavily but not frequently. Instead of focusing on watering daily, aim to apply about one inch of water per week.
Cutting Grass Too Short
When you cut your lawn too low, you are often over-exposing it to nutrients. Sometimes too many nutrients can be bad for grass. By cutting your lawn too low, you are exposing the soil to too much sunlight that would typically be filtered by longer blades of grass. This can dry out the soil and cause heat stress to affect your lawn more easily.
During summer months, grass growth slows and can be vulnerable to heat when it is cut too short. Remember, a good rule of thumb is to never remove more than one-third the length of a blade of grass. Raise the mower blades during summer and allow for a longer cut to help your lawn retain moisture and protect the soil.
Ignoring Compacted Soil
Compacted soil is common in areas of your lawn with heavy foot traffic. It can cause poor root development and restrict the flow of nutrients to your grass roots. Often, compacted soil will cause water to pool above the surface or cause thin and patchy grass.
The best way to reduce or prevent soil compaction is to reduce foot traffic through stressed areas of your lawn and use tools like spike or plug aerators. Using an aerator will puncture or pull plugs from the soil and allow nutrients to reach grass roots. This often will revive dead spots in the lawn and allow water penetration into the soil.
Neglecting Weed Control
It can be hard to maintain weeding your lawn and garden during summer, but it is crucial to maintaining a healthy, lush lawn. Weeds create roots that will compete with grass roots for nutrients. Some weeds will thrive during the summer months, growing quickly under hot conditions and becoming drought tolerant.
It’s important to stay on top of weeding your lawn and garden during the summer to allow your grass to grow and stay healthy without competing for resources. The best way to reduce weeds during the summer is to spot-treat early when you first notice weeds. Pull weeds before their roots are able to grow too deep and follow up with treatment of a herbicide. Liquid herbicides can be spread with a large capacity lawn sprayer to reduce labor time. Keeping weeds away can be crucial for your summer lawn.
Maintaining your lawn this summer can be tricky. As the weather heats up, weeds thrive and grass can be dehydrated. It is important to remember longer grass will help retain moisture and prevent bare spots. Watch for signs of stress in your lawn and act early to avoid a dead lawn.
Brinly products like aerators, lawn sprayers, and spreaders can help make the job easy. Learn more about our products now at Brinly.com.
Contact our customer service team if you have any questions. Call customer service at 877-728-8224 or fill out our contact form.
Sources:
LSUAgCenter.com, Three Common Lawncare Mistakes to Avoid this Summer