So here are a few simple tips to keep your lawn healthy this summer.
1. Don't continue to mow your lawn once the dry months arrive. Once the dry months of summer arrive, your grass will stop growing, and regular mowing is unnecessary.
2. Toward the end of the Spring rainy season cut you grass to a height no lower than 3 inches. Cutting shorter than 3 inches will promote dryness, when the drought season is in full effect.
3. To help your lawn survive dry conditions and stay healthy all season, raise your lawn mower to its highest setting and leaving the cuttings on the lawn. The clippings also help shade the soil so it doesn’t dry out and compact this will also provide 50 percent of the nutrients your grass needs.
4. Also, keep mower blades sharp. Dull blades leave ragged cuts; moisture leaks out, disease enters, and grass turns brown.
5. You can allow your grass to go dormant which is a natural way to manage your lawn, this will create some browning of your grass. Or, you can choose to water the lawn to maintain the green.
6. If choosing to water your lawn, water it deeply at least 1 inch deep or run your sprinklers for at least 1 hour in the early morning or late evening when the sun is not high in the sky. Watering in the middle of the day can cause your grass to burn and die.
Follow these tips and your grass will thank you for it. Not sure you want to spend the time maintaining a lawn year round consider new landscaping. A new trend in the landscape industry is sustainable landscaping, a lawn free alternative, requiring little to no maintenance using drought resistant plants and stone accents.
Enjoy your summer! And, call us anytime for a FREE lawn care consultation (517)945-1204!
