Summer Lawn Care Guide
You’ve spent the spring nurturing your yard. Unfortunately, summer heat always threatens to undermine your efforts and leave your grass drab, dry, and brittle. Here are some tips that will help ensure that your lawn continues to thrive as temperatures rise.
Choose a Grass That Likes Your Climate
The main quality that homeowners look for in grass is visual attractiveness, coupled with the healthy state that makes that appearance possible. The differences between the many types of grass are not very relevant for most people. However, certain varieties have adapted to specific climates. If your lawn isn’t compatible with local conditions, it will not thrive no matter how much work you put into it. The two major categories are warm-season and cool-season. At Southern Lawns, we care for Bermuda, St. Augustine, and Zoysia lawns, warm-season species that thrive in our area.
Food and Drink
The optimal way to water your lawn doesn’t change with the seasons, but under the unforgiving sun of our Southern summers, it’s critically important that your grass gets enough to drink and that you keep a close eye on it to monitor its condition.
Unless it’s dormant, grass needs one inch of water per week. You can tell if rain has done the work for you by putting out a rain gauge, or the equivalent in the form of an empty tuna or cat food can. Any shortfall must be made up with a hose. It’s obviously impossible to do this with any level of precision, but bear in mind that overwatering can be just as harmful as watering too little. If too much water seeps into the space around a root, that root can’t draw sustenance from the soil around it, and if the oversaturation persists, the root will stop growing deeper into the ground. Meanwhile, that excess water can wash those crucial nutrients away.
As you know, quantity isn’t the whole story. You can give your grass the right amount of water, but if you do it in the heat of the afternoon, most of it will evaporate before it can do any good. The best approach is a couple of slow, deep watering sessions each week in the morning or evening.
Speaking of nutrients, applications of fertilizer every six to eight weeks will supplement the vitamins and minerals that your soil provides and ensure that all of the nutritional needs of your grass are met. A lawn care professional can help you assess your specific situation.
(Try to) Keep Off the Grass
One of the reasons that people have lawns is the enjoyment of using them. Summer requires us to balance the pleasure we get from looking at healthy, well-tended grass with the happiness that kids and dogs derive from running around on it. You can try to manage the level and duration of activity, but that’s easier said than done. Instead, consider dedicating a section of lawn for games and free play so the rest is spared. And if you need to, don’t hesitate to put up a sign or two to make sure everyone gets the message.
If summer weather is draining the life from your lawn, Southern Lawns can help. Our treatments provide plenty of nutrients while combating weeds, diseases, and pests. Our experienced techs are happy to answer your questions and provide options to address the problems that tend to occur in our region. Give us a call at 334.466.0600 or e-mail us at sales@southernlawns.net to learn more or make an appointment.
