Summer Lawn Care
Warm temperatures, drought and summer rain storms take their toll on our landscapes. Keep your lawn healthy and looking its best despite the summer weather.
Continue to mow high throughout the summer and fall. Taller grass is the last to go dormant during hot dry spells and is better able to fend off insects, disease and weeds.
If you water your lawn, water thoroughly and less frequently to encourage deep rooting. Get out the sprinkler and water whenever your footprints remain in the grass. Deeply rooted lawns are less susceptible to summer stress and pest attacks.
Do not apply herbicides to the lawn in summer. These chemicals can damage your lawn during hot weather. Plus, when they do kill the weeds, new weeds, not the slow growing or dormant lawn grass, are the first to fill the voids.
Avoid fertilizing the lawn. Dormant lawns do not need to be fertilized and all lawns can be damaged by high nitrogen fast released fertilizer applied during the heat of summer.
If you allow your lawn to go dormant during hot dry spells, leave it dormant until cooler temperatures and rains return so nature can get it growing again. Those lawns taken in and out of dormancy with irregular watering are the most stressed.
A bit more information: Give your summer stressed lawn a bit more help this fall. Continue to mow high as long as the grass continues to grow. Use a low nitrogen slow release fertilizer to help your lawn recover and prepare for next year. Labor Day and Halloween are good times to feed the lawn. Adjust your timing based on weather and never fertilize frozen soil. It’s a waste of fertilizer and bad for the environment.
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