How to Maintain That Green Lawn

Look out over a lush, green lawn every day of the summer with these top tips.

Long, hot summers are great for humans, but less great for lawns, which can dry out and turn brown in the heat. Here’s how to keep your lawn in tip-top condition even on the hottest days. Try MyLawnCare Adelaide for more tips and tricks.

Mow high, mow often.

You can help keep your grass healthy in hot weather by mowing it ‘high’ – essentially, leaving it a little longer than you usually would. This helps for several reasons. It keeps the grass shaded and stops moisture loss from the ground surface, and it lets the roots grow longer and reach down for water. You should also make sure to mow your lawn regularly as this keeps a fine chopped grass on the surface, which helps retain moisture.

Keep it hydrated.

This one is probably obvious, but in hot weather, lawns will dry out quickly if they’re not given sufficient water. Unfortunately, summers in hot climes often come with hose bans or water usage limitations, so you need to be smart about your watering schedule. It’s better to give your lawn a good, long drink and water it less often. This helps the grass to grow strong roots, which can stop it from drying out. Watering early in the morning when it’s cooler is also a great idea, as the water has more chance of penetrating the soil deeply. At hotter parts of the day, more water will be lost due to evaporation from the hot surface.

If you can, add a water conserver treatment to help your lawn use water more effectively and help each watering last longer.

Aerate the situation.

Lawns that get really hot and dry can actually start to repel water, which only makes the situation worse. As the soil gets baked by the sun, any water you add simply runs off the surface. You can solve this problem by ‘spiking’ your lawn (basically, punching holes down into the soil for water to run into). This stops the soil from becoming too hard to absorb water.

Stay in the shade.

Grass that’s shaded in hot weather stays green for much longer. You’ll notice that areas of your lawn that are under trees or covered by furniture remain nice and green even if other parts struggle. You can’t shade your entire lawn from the sun (you’d have to bring it indoors, which is impossible), but if you have areas that tend to dry out faster than others, you might want to cover them with an awning or umbrella to help out.

Put it on a diet.

You need to be really careful when feeding a lawn in summer. You do need to feed it, as well-fed grass shades and cools the soil, helping it to stay hydrated and beautiful, but you can’t feed just as you would in winter. Switch to feeds that are lower in nitrogen, as nitrogen can lead dry grass to burn, and up the potassium content. Liquid feed is also better for dry grass than granules.