Nothing says summer like long, warm days spent lying on lush green grass. However, hot weather and drought can take their toll, and without regular lawn care, your grass will turn brown and go dormant until the hot weather cools down.
This isn’t necessarily a problem. Grass is an incredibly hardy plant, often able to go weeks without watering – springing back to life when temperatures drop. However, increasingly hot summers and prolonged dry spells can leave a struggling lawn with no chance of recovery.
Summer lawn care is especially important for newly planted grass, as it needs regular watering to thrive. If neglected, the grass can die during a heat wave.
Water is a precious resource, so don’t overcompensate by overwatering. A lush green lawn is an unrealistic goal during a heatwave – so don’t try to keep it that way. However, to ensure its survival, it’s important to treat your lawn a little more gently and avoid putting it under extra stress. Follow our top tips to keep your lawn healthy.
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1. Water deeply but not often
Watering your lawn little and often is wasteful and doesn’t allow your grass to develop the deep, healthy root system that will help it survive a heat wave. Watering every day will result in shallow roots and a weaker plant.
Grass will grow better when the soil is allowed to dry out a bit between waterings, but complete lack of water will put too much stress on the plants and will likely cause the lawn to die.
Aim to water your lawn deeply twice a week in hot weather – three times if your grass really needs it. Before watering, however, feel the soil first to see if it is dry. Only water when the top 2-3 inches of soil are dry. Water until you start to see small puddles forming on the surface.
How often you water your lawn in the summer will depend on your soil type. Clay soils retain more moisture than other soil types and require less watering, while sandy soils drain quickly and require more attention to moisture.
Grass type also plays an important role, with cool-season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass and foxtail requiring more water than warm-season grasses like Bermuda and zoysia.
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2. Drink water early in the morning
The best time to water your lawn in hot weather is early in the morning – before 10am. As temperatures rise, moisture evaporates quickly, so watering early in the day will allow the roots to absorb more moisture before the soil dries out.
If you don’t have time to water your heat-tolerant lawn in the morning, it may seem like a good idea to water in the evening, when the sun’s rays have diminished. However, this will keep the grass wet overnight and increase the risk of lawn fungus.
It can also create an ideal environment to attract pests like mosquitoes, which love to nest and breed in overly wet lawns.
3. Keep mowing to a minimum
Mowing too often in hot weather is bad for your grass – and hard on you. If the temperature is above 90°F, skip it altogether. Below that, every two weeks is enough in hot weather.
When you mow, trim lightly. A general rule of thumb is to never cut more than one-third of the grass’s height in one cut.
Cutting grass short puts more stress on the plants as they recover, while longer blades of grass can retain more moisture, reducing the need for watering.
Consider when you last sharpened your lawn mower blades. Dull blades damage the grass, putting extra stress on your lawn and prolonging its recovery time.
The best time of day to mow your lawn in hot weather is in the evening, when temperatures are cooler, or early in the morning.
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4. Mulch your lawn
Mulching your lawn will help retain moisture, protect grass roots from the sun, suppress weeds, and add nutrients to the soil.
The easiest way to mulch your lawn in the summer is to simply mulch your lawn with moisture-rich grass clippings after mowing. It will not add much to the mulch of your lawn and will provide many benefits.
To mulch your lawn, remove the box or collect and spread the clippings across the lawn.
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5. Delay fertilization
Avoid fertilizing your lawn during the height of summer. Fertilizing your lawn will divert energy into developing new growth instead of maintaining it, putting too much stress on your lawn.
Wait until fall to fertilize, and fertilize again in spring. You can also fertilize in early summer before the weather gets hot, so your lawn has enough strength and resilience to recover before the weather gets hot.
Before fertilizing your lawn, it is important that it has recovered from heat stress. Water thoroughly a few days beforehand but fertilize when the grass is dry, to avoid burning fertilizer.
