Although summer is our favourite time of year in the garden, it can be the toughest time for your beloved lawn. Hot dry weather will stress grass, especially mowed lawn grass and the increased use of the garden will cause even more wear and tear.
So what should you do to help maintain and improve your lawn through this the busiest time in the garden?
Give your lawn a drink
Water during the cooler times of day (i.e early morning or eveneings) when the water is more likely to soak into the soil rather than evaporating in the heat of the day. It is better to give your lawn a good soaking a couple of times a week than a light sprinkling daily. Light, regular watering will not encourage roots to grow down into the moist soil.
A healthy, well fed lawn will have a deep and strong root system which will enable the grass to reach moisture from deeper down in the soil and withstand drought better.
Feed your Lawn... its hungry!
Feed your lawn with liquid lawn feed whilst watering or pelleted fertilsers before watering, this will ensure the fertiliser is washed into the roots where it is required. The warmer the weather the faster your grass will grow and the more nutrients it will take from the soil so the more you will have to replace... rember a growing well fed lawn is a healthy lawn and heathly lawns look better!
Give it a light trim
Try to mow your lawn regularly, light regular mowing is far better for your lawn than cutting grass very short every other week. Short croping will slow grass growth, weaken the grass and encourage moss and weeds to take hold leading to a patchy lawn. Try to cut your lawn weekly to about 1 to 1.5 inches.
Repairing Patches
Hot dry weather is not the best time to repair with seed as the grass seed will simply dry out and blow away. Spring and Aughtumn is a better time for seeding repairs. A faster and more successfull result will be achived by patching with turf at this time of year.