August 2019
The warm weather means it’s the perfect time to enjoy your garden, but remember that a long hot summer can have a big impact on your lawn.
Follow the top tips below from our partner, lawn treatment service GreenThumb, to ensure your lawn remains in the best possible condition throughout the summer.
Water your lawn early in the morning or in the evening, after the sun has set. This allows your lawn to absorb the water, go through photosynthesis and grow. Watering during a hot day usually means that most of the water will evaporate before it can be absorbed.
If you are able to water the whole lawn in one attempt then do so, but if not, use a sprinkler and move it within the boundaries and water for 20 minutes a time if the lawn has completely dried out. Do this every day until you start to see green coming back into the lawn; you can then reduce this to once every other day.
If water is starting to puddle or run off, it’s time to turn off or move your sprinkler to another spot. If it started to run off before you could give it a good soak, turn it off for 15-20 minutes to allow the water to soak in and then turn the sprinkler back on again.
To avoid your sprinkler watering everything but the lawn, consider buying an adjustable sprinkler suited for your lawn shape and size. It will ensure that you’re not wasting water, money and time.
Lawns need oxygen as well as water, so it’s important to keep your lawn aerated. The cheapest method is to push a garden fork into the ground at 15cm intervals over the entire lawn, although for large areas it may be easier to hire a machine.
An aerated lawn will be better at absorbing water rather than letting it run off. Hollow tine aeration at the end of the year is a great help in relieving the issues of compaction, caused by the hot, dry weather. If you want good penetration of the water, then solid tine aeration is a great way to help this when you are watering.
A simple way to feed your lawn is with a fertiliser spray formula. This is not the best way; GreenThumb uses a controlled release fertiliser which will release when sufficient moisture is available. This will therefore supply the necessary nutrients to the lawn, helping with the recovery process.
Raise the cutting height of your lawnmower during summer to keep your lawn looking its best. The grass won’t dry out as quickly and the roots will be better protected by the longer blades. Never remove more than one third of the total height of the grass in any one cut.
Don’t water your garden when it’s raining – this seems obvious but it’s easy to make this mistake if you have an automatic watering system. Turn it off on days that it is due to rain and be ready to water again if the rain isn’t enough.
GreenThumb recommends the best way to control weeds is by applying a selective herbicide. This reduces the need to pull them or dig them out, which if not done correctly can and will increase the weed population. Find out more here.
It’s not good for the health of your hose to leave water lying in it and water that does get left can get quite warm – even hot enough to scald the blades of grass. Always ensure you empty your hose after each use but if you forget, ensure you flush the hot water away before commencing watering.
GreenThumb was the first lawn treatment service in the UK and it continues to pioneer the very best lawn treatment products and services. The bespoke fertilisers are tailored and manufactured to GreenThumb specifications based on millions of lawn treatments every year. Visit greenthumb.co.uk.
