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Summer is here and your lawn is at risk from dehydration. Maintenance for your lawn is different for every season and it’s always good to know a few summer care tips.

First thing to remember is too keep it short. Letting your lawn grow taller than it should be only increases the plant’s f demand for water. Soon enough, they’ll be absorbing all the water from surrounding trees and shrubs. But be warned, mowing too low will invite a rapid loss of valuable water due to evaporation. Sunlight is essential to almost every grass type that you use in turf lawns. However, when coupled with the high temperatures you can quickly end up with dried out hard pan if the lawn bed is exposed to direct sunlight.

Watering is, of course, a basic part of lawn care. Horticultural experts recommend watering your lawn heavily but not too frequently. One expert says this method is better than watering the grass lightly but frequently. Getting a good soak down to the soil is important. If the blades of grass are the only things getting wet and that water is evaporating very soon after then you will have given your lawn very little benefit from the watering process.

Don’t water your lawn before mowing. Horticultural magazines will say that that you should water your lawn a day before mowing to avoid the ugly crowning at the tip of your grass. Watering your lawn a day before they get mowed will give them time to recover and make them look nicer as they start growing again. Mowing should also depend on the type of grass’ optimal height. Recommended mowing heights are 3 inches for tall fescue, 2 1/2 inches for perennial ryegrass, and 1 inch for bentgrass.

The use of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides requires good knowledge on environmental safety and other horticultural considerations. According to a lawn care expert from Hillsborough, pesticide use should be avoided as much as possible because of the environmental and possible health risks. So long as your lawn is in a general state of good health application of insecticides should be well tolerated.

Fertilizers during the summer could be risky for your lawn, trees, and shrubs if you don’t know the right amount to apply. The summer heat and increase the chances of nitrogen burn which is deafly to you plants and the environment. If you feel compelled to fertilize, reduce the rate at which you are applying.

Do remove excess thatch. A thatch is the partially decomposed grass stems, roots, and leaves found between the green part of a lawn and the surface of the soil. Thatch problems are caused by excessive fertilizing and watering, infrequent mowing, and frequent pesticide use. Surrounding trees and shrubs could also cause thatches, especially if they do not receive enough water. Provide more water to grass that have trees and shrubs nearby.

Southern Lawn Care specializes in residential and commercial lawn care. They service the areas of Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco.