Help Your Lawn Survive the Summer

Summer is finally here, and we can hopefully look forward to some hot days ahead. However, while sunny weather is perfect for going to the beach or having a barbecue, it’s not always such good news for your lawn. Lack of rain and scorching sun can both lead to a lawn that can start to look brown and patchy.  

But there are steps that you can take to help keep your lawn looking lush and green all year round.

Watering

The most obvious way to care for your lawn in hot weather is to water it. Assuming there isn’t a hosepipe ban you might even consider investing in a sprinkler system. However there are a few things to consider.

Firstly your lawn may not need as much water as you think. Most lawns are quite resilient and can handle quite prolonged periods of dry weather without suffering long-term damage. We all need to think about our water consumption and so you should consider whether your lawn really needs watering.

Secondly, you may find that the water you do use is wasted. Some soils become hydrophobic, meaning that they actually repel water and so consequently water doesn’t travel to the roots of your grass. If your lawn is patchy in colour, or you see water ‘puddling’ on top of the soil, this could mean that the water is not being efficiently absorbed by your lawn.

Use a wetting agent

Treating your lawn with a wetting agent helps to improve water distribution through the soil and to the roots of your grass. A wetting agent will help counter the effects of hydrophobic soil by making it easier for the soil to let water soak in. All lawns that are treated with a wetting agent will require watering less frequently as water will be held in the soil longer and distributed more evenly across the lawn.

Use of a wetting agent should help your lawn look greener, for longer.

All Green Lawn Treatments combines a wetting agent with a seaweed fertiliser that adds micronutrients to the ground, helping your lawn stay even healthier.

Get a water butt

If you want to beat any hosepipe ban, or if you have a water meter, a water butt will let you store rainwater to use for watering.

You generally connect your water butt directly to the downpipe running from your gutter to collect rainwater which ca n then be used around your garden. As well as being free, rainwater is better for your garden than the water from your taps as it has a neutral pH and none of the chemicals that you may find in tap water.

If you have the space, you can fit additional butts and connect them together to increase the amount of water that you can collect. Don’t forget to put them on a stand though – taps are at the bottom of the butt and if there’s no space below the tap you won’t be able to fill a watering can.

Mowing

The first time you mow your lawn after the winter you will have the mower’s blades set relatively high, and then slowly lower them as the weather gets warmer. However, if the weather gets very hot and dry you should raise the blades again. Keeping your grass longer helps to shade the soil and reduce water loss.

While normally the advice is to remove any grass cuttings from your lawn, in dry weather it’s suggested that you leave them on the grass. The cuttings will act as a mulch, keeping moisture in the soil for longer.

Check for pests

If you see dead patches developing in dry weather, particularly if you also notice birds pecking at the ground, this could be a sign that there are pests in your lawn. Chafer grubs will eat away at the roots of your grass, and birds and small mammals may also cause additional damage as they feed on them.

All Green Lawn Treatments use biological control methods to treat chafer grubs, and this can be done in late summer.

Keep your lawn healthy, all year round

If you really want your lawn to survive a long period of hot dry weather, the best way is to ensure that you keep it in the best of health all the time. A lawn that is looked after regularly will always cope with extremes of weather, whether that’s drought or snow, better than one that only has attention paid to it once there’s a problem.

That’s why we at All Green Lawn Treatments recommend considering signing up to our year-round lawn treatment plan. These give you the best of both worlds as, although we recommend a long-term plan for you, we don’t make you commit to everything in advance. Our pay as you go system lets you stay in control.

If you want to find out anything else about how we can help keep your lawn looking good even in the driest weather, contact us today.

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