There are some tips and tricks we suggest to help maintain a healthy, intact lawn during the extreme heat of the summer:
1. REFRAIN FROM CUTTING TOO SHORT
Remember the “one-third” rule!
Set your mowers at 3 – 3 ½ inch height. This will allow for a clean look, but won’t stress the grass. When you mow too short you can cause the lawn to burn out. When deciding on the correct height to cut your grass, it is important to also remember the “one-third” rule: never remove more than one-third of the grass height at one time.
2. LIMIT WATER INTAKE
Check those irrigation systems to make sure they are running ONLY when there has not been at least an inch of rainfall for the week.
A common issue after rainfall is that people still irrigate their lawn. A general rule to keep in mind is that turf grasses do better managed on the dry side rather than wet. When soil is constantly wet, it creates too many physiological problems for plants and soil organisms alike. The grass roots will be deprived of oxygen and may become more susceptible to disease because diseases thrive in wet conditions. In general, the drier the grass and soil, the less disease there will be. We recommend to water on consecutive days for a longer period of time each day for a deep soaking and then let it dry out the remainder of the week. (ie: Sun-Mon-Tues for 30 min, instead of 15 min each day.) This practice encourages the root system to grow deeper and become more tolerant to drought.
3. AVOID MOWING WHEN IN DROUGHT
Lawns are stressed during drought—and such stresses limit a lawn’s ability to recover from mowing, which can cause further damage. Instead, mow the grass after a rainfall or after irrigation day. Also, resist mowing wet grass to avoid clumping.
4. KEEP YOUR MOWER BLADES SHARP
When grass is cut with a sharp mower blade, the plant will heal faster than when cut with a dull blade. Dull blades will actually tear the plant tissue, not cut it. This torn grass tissue will develop a brown appearance at the surface and may become more susceptible to stress and disease. Sharper blades will prevent a brown appearance and help to prevent further harm to the plant.
Call us to discuss mowing plans if you’d like!
614.873.7333