Summer Lawn Care Tips | Groundhog Landscaping

As spring rolls into summer, the needs of your lawn change. Summer brings a shift in environmental conditions such as heat, humidity and evaporation. With these conditions come a host of summer turf problems not typically seen in spring or fall.

We asked our turf care specialist, Nick Makris, to weigh in on some of the challenges of caring for a summer lawn. We feel these summer lawn care tips will make all the difference in helping you maintain a healthy, green lawn throughout this hot season.

Beat the heat stress on your summer lawn.

When days are longer and temperatures exceed 80°, your lawn can experience heat stress. Cool season grasses in the New Hampshire typically go dormant, or semi-dormant in these conditions. However, weeds grow vigorously, which can compete with establishing a new lawn and even maintaining an existing one.

TIPS TO REDUCE HEAT STRESS

Raise the blades when you mow your lawn.

Longer blades of grass shade the root system, protecting it from the heat of the sun and inhibiting weed growth. 3 ½ to 4 inches is the ideal blade height for a summer lawn.

Mow your lawn more frequently.

Cutting off too much foliage at one time shocks the grass and makes it difficult for the photosynthesis process to feed it. You should never remove more than one third of the grass blade height at any one time.

Mulch-in your clippings.

There’s no need to bag clippings when cutting your summer lawn. The clippings will form a layer of protection from the sun and provide slow-release nitrogen as they break down. Mulching blades on your mower chop the clippings into finer pieces.

Watering your summer lawn: How much and how often?

On the average, it requires one to two inches of water each week to maintain a healthy lawn. This usually isn’t a problem in spring and fall with cooler temperatures and adequate rainfall. Most irrigation systems will run 15 minutes per zone per day to accomplish this.

However, summertime conditions will cause evaporation – suddenly the spring watering schedule is inadequate, as the moisture will sit on the surface. Your goal in watering a summer lawn is to develop a deep root system.

SUMMER LAWN WATERING TIPS

Water deeply every other day.

If your irrigation zone is set to 15 minutes per day, change it to 30 minutes per zone every other day. Most irrigation controllers allow you to do this.

Keep your mower blades sharp.

Dull mower blades cause the grass tips to be torn, increasing the chances of evaporation.

Why is my lawn turning brown during the summer?

This is a very common question that we get, and unfortunately the answer isn’t always simple. The answer could be not enough water, or it could be too much water causing fungus growth. A simple adjustment of the irrigation schedule could fix the former issue; but fungus growth requires a multi-pronged strategy of cultural practices and possibly chemical controls.

CULTURAL PRACTICES TO PREVENT LAWN FUNGUS

Watering.

Follow summer water scheduling as described above

Mower Blades.

Keep your mower blade sharp and never cut when the grass is wet

Clippings.

Bag your clippings and dispose of them

Sanitize.

Wash your blades and mower deck after each cut to prevent spore spreading

Convection Heating Causing Root Stress

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Many Types of Lawn Fungus Resemble Drought Stress

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If your lawn is turning brown and you aren’t sure why, your best solution is to call our turf care division at (603) 505-8587 and schedule a free consultation with one of our highly qualified lawn care techs.

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