Protecting your lawn in a heat wave

This record-breaking summer season is far from over, and with more heat waves on the horizon, it’s high time to learn some simple lawn care tips to help your garden to have green grass throughout the summer months.

Regular lawn maintenance can make a big difference to the health and visual appeal of your lawn, so we’ve pulled together some hints and tips to help you get started.

1. Know your lawn

Before you make a lawn maintenance plan, take a minute to think about your lawn, what you want from it and the stresses you place on it.

The key to healthy green grass is to put it under the least stress possible – areas of your lawn where you tread least often will normally be thicker and greener.

If you have kids, pets, or you like having friends and family round to visit, you might not be able to avoid foot traffic on your grass, but at least you can be aware of which areas will need the most intensive lawn care.

2. Keep it fed

Green grass needs nutrients to grow, but every time you mow or weed your lawn, any clippings you remove take those nutrients with them.

Because of this, you should fertilise your lawn regularly, to give new grass everything it needs to grow in healthily.

The early summer months are an ideal time to do this, as the extra growth will help your lawn to withstand the heat of the summer season, and should also help it in times of drought.

3. Mow better

Make sure you stick to best practice for mowing the lawn, especially in times of heat stress. Grass is a living plant and by mowing it too short, you are removing its ability to protect itself from heat and drought.

Grass copes best with the summer season when it is no shorter than three inches. The longer blades store water and provide some shade for the soil, to prevent it from becoming parched.

A sharp lawnmower blade is a must, so you cut your grass rather than tearing it. Again, it’s all about protecting the xylem – the cells that carry water around the plant and will help it survive a summer heat wave.

4. When to water

If your lawn needs some help to stay watered, then try to do so either early in the morning, or late at night, when the sun is not at its strongest.

Watering the lawn at dawn or after dusk gives the roots time to absorb the water before it evaporates. It’s also just more comfortable to be out with a hose pipe when the sun isn’t beating down on you.

A water sprinkler is a good option, as it frees up your time for other things. If certain parts of your lawn see more foot traffic, it’s a good idea to focus your sprinkler on those areas first and foremost.

5. More reasons to sprinkle

Water sprinklers have lots of benefits compared with hose pipes – even a hose with a spray nozzle attached.

By installing a water sprinkler, you can give your lawn even coverage, without missing any parts when watering with a hose by hand.

The rain-like water will penetrate the soil better, which means you actually waste less water with a sprinkler.

You can also get sprinkler timers, allowing you to schedule your lawn care and adopt a ‘little and often’ approach to refresh your grass with a gentle soaking every early morning and/or late night.

Better get started!

With all of these tips combined, you can give your lawn the best chance to make it through the summer season with healthy green grass still in place, before you make the most of the cooler autumn days to catch up on any other areas of lawn maintenance ahead of winter.

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