A lush, green lawn should be the highlight of your Summer garden, but it takes time to achieve thick-looking grass with blades that seem to stand out! Furthermore, a great-looking lawn sets off pretty flower beds and gives you a beautiful outdoor space to enjoy when the weather’s warm enough for BBQs and long, balmy evenings relaxing outside with a crisp glass of wine.
Start Lawn Care in Spring
Summer can also be a tricky month to cultivate a healthy lawn, especially as there are usually periods without rain that dehydrate the grass, causing it to turn yellow and sometimes even turn brown in drought conditions. It’s always best to start early for the best-looking grass; you should start lawn care preparations in the spring.
So what can you do to achieve a truly handsome lawn?
It takes time to perfect your Summer lawn, and you do need to give it plenty of attention, but it’s perfectly achievable. Follow our lawn care guide below for a beautiful Summer lawn. Get started in early Spring rather than late spring, and your grass should look pristine throughout the Summer months.
Late March is the Ideal Time to Tend To Your Lawn Care
As soon as the clocks “Spring forward,” think about your Summer garden. Cool-season grasses are no longer in fashion! Notice the temperature slowly rising and your grass beginning to kick-start itself back into its growth period. These are the signs you need to begin preparing your lawn care for the Summertime.
Schedule Regular Maintenance
Keen gardeners know that the best way to look after a lawn and banish lawn weeds is through scheduling regular maintenance. If you don’t tend to your grass regularly, you’ll end up with a tougher job later on, and you run the risk of encouraging weed and pests.
While an overgrown garden has some benefits (it’s good for encouraging insects and pollination), it’s also harder to rectify. The end of March is perfect timing for the following tasks to encourage great looking mid summer grass. Here are a few steps for perfecting summer lawn:
1. Get the Lawnmower Out
As it’s March, your lawn should be starting to grow now so it’s time for a good mow. Not only does this encourage healthy lawn growth but regular mowing also gets rid of weeds, discouraging growth.
Of course, some people prefer to mow their lawn less regularly than others, no doubt this is because they prefer a wilder look in their garden but our best advice is don’t leave it too long to avoid overgrowth. Keep an eye on it, summer lawns grow rapidly!
However, May is the ideal month to slow down your lawn mowing rota to encourage wild plants to flower (daisies, dandelions etc.). These lawn flowers provide pollen and nectar for insects.
If you can’t bear the idea of not mowing your lawn, then just leave a section untouched so that wildlife continues to benefit.
Continue Your Mowing Schedule in June
Once June begins, you can resume your regular weekly or forthnightly lawn mowing schedule. Always check your mower blades to make sure they’re sharp enough.
2. Use a Half-Moon Edging Iron For Perfect Borders
3. It's Feeding Time!
Not every gardener feeds their lawn because really, lawns should grow just as healthily without grass feeder.
Always Apply Fertiliser in Spring
If your lawn is looking a little lacklustre, the best time to apply fertiliser is in the Spring. The reason for this is because a quality fertiliser will prevent weeds and moss appearing on your lawn.
If your grass looks healthy and green, then you can skip the summer feedings; fertiliser but if you have bare patches and think your grass could do with a helping hand, then do use it.
For the best results try our Cresco fertiliser spreaders – the perfect tools to evenly distribute fertiliser and nourish your lawn to perfection.
Tips on Fertilising Your Lawn
Here are some extra tips on fertilising your lawn:
Only apply fertiliser if you think it’s crucial to your grass’ health. Many artificial fertilisers contain high concentrations of chemicals that can damage the environment. If you do decide to use fertiliser, don’t overdo it!
Always choose a fertiliser designed for Spring and early Summer. The best time to fertilise grass is the middle of Spring (around April time). This is because your grass is in its growing phase and should be a deep shade of green.
The fertilisers for this time of year contain lots of nitrogen which is renowned for encouraging growth. Furthermore, these fertilisers are designed for slow release, so they keep working over the Summer months and during hot weather.
Always apply your fertiliser evenly and do it when the weather is slightly damp, never during extreme summer heat or dry weather. If it’s very dry, lightly water your lawn for optimum feeding.
The best time to apply fertiliser is when rain is forecast so there’s moistness in the air. If there’s no sign of rain, you can still use fertiliser, just water your grass after application.
Next, it’s a waiting time! Your grass will take time to reach optimum condition but lawn weeds should start to diminish. Keep an eye on it but if you can’t see much difference by mid-June, you can reapply fertiliser.
Never apply fertiliser from August beyond because doing so results in green leafy growth later on in the year, this attracts pests, disease and damage from frost.
Watering Your Lawn
The UK is renowned for damp weather and normally, the standard rainfall between Autumn and Spring is enough to maintain lawn health but over the last few years, the weather hasn’t been quite as wet as usual due to continuing climate change.
What To Do For Warm Season Grass During Dry Summers
If Summer is particularly dry, you still want to keep your lawn healthy but it may start to yellow because it’s dehydrated. During longer periods of drought, you might even notice your existing lawn turning brown, which is the danger zone as it means it’s at risk of dying. This is a sign that it needs a good soaking!
Generally, our summer lawn care advice tells you that a couple of days of rain is all your lawn needs to begin its road back to recovery but if you do want to water it, the best possible quality water is rainwater (which you can store up) or old washing-up water and bath water.
You can use a sprinkler – it won’t harm your summer lawn care, but the aforementioned types of water are better for overall lawn health.
What About New Lawns?
New lawns need different treatment. All of our summer lawn care tips apply to your new lawn but you should water your grass regularly especially if the Summer is particularly dry. However, avoid over-watering as your lawn won’t establish itself as well as it should.
Water Your Grass Once a Week Unless It’s Very Wet
The best schedule to follow is watering your grass once a week to once every 10 days. If the weather is particularly wet, then don’t water it as much.
Another tip for new lawns is to ensure that the water reaches a 4” depth after each watering.
Banishing Weeds and Pests
Some people like a wild looking garden but others prefer to keep their garden spic and span. If you fall into the second camp, to get rid of weeds and moss from your lawn, do so by hand but make sure you pull them out at the root.
Using Weedkiller
If you’re not having much success, you could use a lawn weedkiller. Moss removal needs to be done during the Springtime.
Using weedkiller takes care of most lawns’ pests such as Fairy Rings, Chafer Grubs, Fusarium Patches and Snow Mould.
Restoring Damaged Lawn
There’s no need to completely replace your lawn with a new lawn if it’s damaged (e.g bare patches, unwanted plants, weeds and moss). If you have sparse patches, sow a lawn-seed mix in the middle of Springtime. By the Summer months, your lawn should be restored.
Final Words on Lawn Care
By following the above summer lawn care and beginning your schedule in the Spring, your Summer lawn should look exceptional and be ready to tackle cool season grass too! Never over-water lawns, take care of bald/sparse patches early and keep an eye on weeds – especially potentially damaging weeds.
If you do fertilise your lawn, do it early on in the process, topping up in June if necessary but avoid fertilising grass from August beyond. Even your late summer lawn should thrive if you stick to our advice!
If you’re a home owner, estate manager or professional, our range of high-quality spreaders is designed to meet your specific lawn care needs. Explore the Cresco collection and achieve a beautiful, healthy lawn year-round!
